The Boyfriend, M&M and I were perusing the aisles of Toys R Us. M&M and I were looking for a third toy on the Bruin 3-For-2 offer which she could take on holiday. We needed something that would be small enough not to take up too much space in the suitcase, ideally something active that would tire her out and make her sleepy enough to tolerate long train journeys and confined cabin spaces. The Boyfriend was unhelpfully distracted by video games he wanted to get for himself.

Eventually we settled on the Bruin Peek-In Roller. I'd seen this at my cousin's house, being put through its paces by her extremely tough and bouncy little boy. Being inflatable, it fit in the suitcase easily. Obviously we forgot it was there as soon as we went on holiday, but I inflated it the day I got back and we've been playing with it since. It's a long blue cylinder with three balls inside; a small blue one, a small green one and a slightly larger pink ball. The ends are clear plastic and there are cute colourful pictures on the outside with windows that show the balls rattling cheerfully inside.

I have been concerned lately that M&M is a little on the lazy side. This was fine before we went away, when it saved me the worry that she would want to be on the move while we were travelling. Now that we're back, I notice that she'll stretch out and get things when she thinks I'm not there, but if she can see me, she'll just yell and point to whatever she wants. I thought this might help her start to move about independently, but in terms of motivation, this hasn't quite done the trick. She'll happily roll it away and wait for Daddy or Grandad to roll it back, but I haven't seen her attempt to follow it as it rolls away.

Her favourite activity so far is to peer through it at me, like a telescope. I often look down from the sofa to see her laughing as she points it in my direction. Sometimes she sucks on the valve like a nipple as she does this. Second up is using it as yet another musical instrument and rattling it vigorously to listen to the balls inside. As she generally waves it over her head, it must go some way to building upper body strength. She also loves to chew on it and I think it's stood up well to this. Sometimes she sits on it and bounces too, but somehow it still hasn't popped. It may even have encouraged her to lie on her belly a little more than she did, because it's easy to manoeuvre in this position. Last, but not least, hitting us, visitors and herself with it gives a great deal of entertainment. Getting clocked with this by a cackling baby as you try to watch telly needs to be captured on video.

Overall, I think it was a tad expensive at £4.99, but I bought this as part of the 3-for-2 offer with a rainmaker and stacker set, so somewhere along the line it didn't cost me the full RRP. It's a good toy all considered and it's nice to have something where she doesn't have to sit upright in one place to play with it. And if she is lazy, it's probably genetic.