Saturday, February 26, 2011

And the winner is....

Via random.org the winner of the coffee card giveaway was glogirl

I am following you on Twitter @glogirl3 and tweeted: http://twitter.com/glogirl3/status/38720152996556800

She's been emailed and has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.
 
Thanks to everyone who entered. From reading the comments, it seems for many green foods (broccoli, brussel sprouts etc) were the most common foods that were disliked and now liked.
 
Watch the blog for my next giveaway sometime this week.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Assorted Updates

Cloth diapering is still going well. I've gotten back into the flow of it. I'm planning a review on my diaper stash. I'm still getting a few more here and there. Its not because I dont have enough, but because I have tall boys and with most of the one-size diapers cracks are starting to show. This isn't a huge deal unless there is a less than formed pooped. Yuck. I also found Rock in Green which I'll include in my review. It was a life saver, or rather nose saver.

Weight Watchers is going okay. I've lost almost 5 pounds. Its not much, but given that I will go days without tracking, its pretty good and all in the right direction. I know if I track daily, then I'll loose faster. I've also lost over 5 inches around the usual measured body parts. This I like.

I have enough followers now from the Coffee Card giveaway to have the jewelery give-away. I'll be posting that sometime next week.

No pictures with this post. I have a fun set of pictures for Wordless Wednesday so you'll have to wait a tiny bit.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Wordless Wednesday - Bigfoot



Don't forget to enter my coffee card giveaway. Low entries gives you a good chance to win.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Coffee Giftcard Giveaway - Ends Feb 25 - Closed

This contest is now closed. Thanks for your interest.

So I really want to do a jewelery giveaway of one of my sisters amazing works, but I don't think I have enough followers to give her work the justice it deserves. So I'm hosting a self-funded giveaway to generate more followers.

The winner will get a $10 gift card. For my American friends, it will be a Starbucks card (in their new electronic format). If the winner is Canadian, then you will get snail mailed a choice of a Starbucks or Tim Hortons card for $10.

Mandatory Entry: Follow me publicly on GFC and leave me a comment telling me a food you refused to eat as a child but love as an adult (1 entry)

Optional Entry: Follow me on Twitter @ChrisRFretwell and tweet this "Get your caffeine fix in this #giveaway @ChrisRFretwell http://bit.ly/gUJViE US/CAN" (can be done once daily, you must leave a link to the tweet)

Contest expires Midnight pacific time, Feb 25. Open to US and Canada. 

For good karma, but no extra entries, please click the Top Mommy blogs button to vote for me in the Twins and Multiples category (just click the button and you'll be voting).

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Toddler Temper Trantrums x 2

They aren't 2 yet, but they have already mastered the tantrum.

The hard one to handle is when they really want something but don't have the words or signs to let me know what it is. I feel so bad. They are very insistent and obviously they know what they are pointing to, and its me who fails. Happily this type of tantrum will diminish as they learn more words. For now, I just keep trying to figure out what they are asking for and when I find it, repeat the word back to them in hopes they will pick it up sooner. Being able to nod and shake their heads has helped some since I can now sometimes just say the word to find out if I'm guessing the right thing before getting it.

The next set of tantrums come from the 'he has it and I want it' or 'I had it but he took it from me' mix. With twins this is very common. And it comes less from really wanting what your brother has than wanting to take it from him. If one wants his brothers toy, but his brother doesn't want to share (not sharing is a valid response sometimes) then I do my best to distract him with something, anything else, while telling him that his brother is playing with and he needs to wait his turn. Most of the time it works. When it doesn't, there can be crying, screaming, grabbing and hitting. I try my best to hold and the offending boy to keep him from hurting his brother and explain again that it's not his turn. When the toy/book/food has already been stolen, then I need to first try to get it returned willingly (please give that back to your brother) or with force if necessary. Then the victim is happy and I need to go back through the "he doesn't want to share right now" with the thief. Lather, rinse, repeat.  We get this lots in my place.

The last set of tantrums are the "I want something I can't have" version. The most common of these is Nathan wanting the computer/phone/camera/electronic/boiling kettle/etc. So far, we've lost a video camera and a point-and-shoot camera this way (he's fast). I've tried toy versions and they don't work. I even took the battery out of our second phone handset and gave it to him, but nope. He wants the real thing and wants to be able to throw it. And as for things that are dangerous, well, obviously I can't even let him try. So we work on explaining 'not for babies/boys/kids' and 'that is dangerous' since I'm trying hard not to use no very often.

While its frustrating, so far I haven't lost my patience. Actually, sometimes its hard not to laugh. Tantrums can often involve ending up on the floor "crying". But to get to the floor, its a slow safe process (no flinging). Followed by regular lifting of the head and stopping crying to see what the reaction to the tantrum is. Its amusing to watch. Often times, it will end instantly when something more fun is spotted with no intervention by me.

These pictures are from a short tantrum when I wouldn't let Nathan hold the DLSR (not only the only functioning camera left, the most expensive one). This time, because it would take to long to throw himself to the floor, he decided to turn against the wall instead. Of course, since I already had the camera, I had to take the pictures.