So I just watched An Inconvenient Truth. You know, the Al Gore global warming movie. Tray and I are not always the most eco-conscious people, but we do try in a lot of ways. We've recently been trying to not use our clothes drier at all and hanging clothes up outside instead. One of the reasons I chose to use cloth diapers was because I couldn't stand the thought of all those disposable diapers and wipes (and untreated sewage) going into a landfill. So, we are conscious of it.
We've also always wanted eco-friendly toys for Penny, but I find it interesting how such a desire for eco-friendly baby things can be derided. Like, there seems to be a fair amount of eye-rolling about it, as though parents who want only wooden toys and things that don't require batteries are crunchy hippy types who are clueless about children "really" want to play with. That saddens me greatly because I think they miss the point. It's about doing what's right for the environment, which is also what's right for our children in the long run. I believe that it is important to buy products made from sustainable materials using sustainable energy sources and things that are made as locally as possible. (Tray absolutely refuses to purchase anything made in China, and always complains when we get stuff that is, but that's another story.) It's a tall order to find things like that, but we try.
What got me thinking about all this (besides the movie)? I read a blog post over on the Crunchy Domestic Goddess website recently about junk toys and it came on the heels of an article in the Times about people who overdo it at Christmas. I don't know why it hadn't sunk in for me before, but the combination of the two really drove home the idea that all this stuff winds up somewhere. As the article states, you don't throw things "away." They don't go away. They go to a landfill. So while I know that a certain amount of junk stuff is inevitable, we will continue to try to limit it in our house, regardless of the eye-rolling.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Penny is...
... a talker. All day today she's been working out "here" versus "there" and "too big" versus "too little." Also, she calls the vacuum cleaner the "vacuumacleaner" (all one word). When she sees it, she says, "Hey, vacuumacleaner!" So. Cute.
Penny is...
... not a sleeper. Devoted readers to this blog will recall that she will not sleep in the car. No matter how tired, no matter how utterly exhausted. It will not happen. Beyond that, in her entire life she has never slept more than 12 hours in a 24 hours period, and most days she gets 10 hours at night and maybe 1 or 1.5 during the day. And she has an amazing ability to self regulate that. If she sleeps for a long time during the day, she will sleep less at night and vice versa such that the net total is never more than 12 hours. I don't know at what age toddlers drop naps all together, but sometimes I think we are close. She took a 1.5 hour nap yesterday and today and both days stayed up past 930, whereas on those days when she doesn't nap at all she'll fall asleep at around 730.
Penny is...
...very brave. She wants to venture out on her own all the time and frequently will disappear when we are all outside only to be found climbing the stairs up and down to our deck or front porch. You can hear her say aloud to herself, "hold the rail, Penty."
Penny is also...
...very scared of some things. She does not care for loud noises, particularly loud vehicles. The vacuumacleaner wigs her out. The can opener is a no-go. As is the blender. Balloons are ok, unless they move by themselves.
Penny is...
... very much a toddler. Demanding of independence and demanding of comfort.
Penny is also...
...incredibly affectionate and loving and just such the joy of our lives.
We love her so much!
Penny is...
... not a sleeper. Devoted readers to this blog will recall that she will not sleep in the car. No matter how tired, no matter how utterly exhausted. It will not happen. Beyond that, in her entire life she has never slept more than 12 hours in a 24 hours period, and most days she gets 10 hours at night and maybe 1 or 1.5 during the day. And she has an amazing ability to self regulate that. If she sleeps for a long time during the day, she will sleep less at night and vice versa such that the net total is never more than 12 hours. I don't know at what age toddlers drop naps all together, but sometimes I think we are close. She took a 1.5 hour nap yesterday and today and both days stayed up past 930, whereas on those days when she doesn't nap at all she'll fall asleep at around 730.
Penny is...
...very brave. She wants to venture out on her own all the time and frequently will disappear when we are all outside only to be found climbing the stairs up and down to our deck or front porch. You can hear her say aloud to herself, "hold the rail, Penty."
Penny is also...
...very scared of some things. She does not care for loud noises, particularly loud vehicles. The vacuumacleaner wigs her out. The can opener is a no-go. As is the blender. Balloons are ok, unless they move by themselves.
Penny is...
... very much a toddler. Demanding of independence and demanding of comfort.
Penny is also...
...incredibly affectionate and loving and just such the joy of our lives.
We love her so much!
Swagbucks Update
Today is Swagbucks's second birthday and they totally redesigned the site since I posted about it. Basically, they multiplied everything by 10. You now earn 10 times the points, but prizes are now also 10 times as much. BUT, it appears that you can win more often and in much larger amounts too. Anyway, if anyone is interested in signing up today, lots of blogs around the net got codes for you to enter when you sign up and you'll get 60 points just for signing up. SouthernSavers is one - you can enter the code SOUTHERNSAVERS (must be in all caps) when you sign up.
They are giving out all kinds of codes all day today there was a code for 7 swagbucks out earlier, but there will be tons more throughout the day. In terms of searching I've already one two 10 swagbucks and Tray won a 50 earlier! Right now I have 257 swagbucks and need to get to 450 for my next $5 Amazon card. Bet I'll have at least 300 by the end of the day with all the codes*.
If you all are even remotely interested, I really do encourage signing up. It's totally free, and you earn free stuff.
*Update: as of 10 p.m. I have 381 points - it's been a good day! I should make it to 450 in no time now.
They are giving out all kinds of codes all day today there was a code for 7 swagbucks out earlier, but there will be tons more throughout the day. In terms of searching I've already one two 10 swagbucks and Tray won a 50 earlier! Right now I have 257 swagbucks and need to get to 450 for my next $5 Amazon card. Bet I'll have at least 300 by the end of the day with all the codes*.
If you all are even remotely interested, I really do encourage signing up. It's totally free, and you earn free stuff.
*Update: as of 10 p.m. I have 381 points - it's been a good day! I should make it to 450 in no time now.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Swagbucks
Have any of you ever heard of Swagbucks? It's a search engine like Google (and in fact uses a lot of Google technology), but you can earn digital "money" called swagbucks for using it. The way Google works is the company makes money every time you click on a sponsored result in the search result list. Swagbucks works similarly in that they make money from the sponsors, but then they also pass along some of that money to you the searcher in the form of swagbucks.
What can swagbucks be used for? Well, they have a bunch of stuff for sale on their website and through various partner sites, but the big thing most people do with them is to redeem them for Amazon gift cards. 45 swagbucks equals a $5 Amazon card. I have been using Swagbucks since November, and am now on my 8th $5 Amazon card and for doing nothing more than using Swagbucks to do my internet searching instead of Google. I used 3 cards to buy Penny's $17 booster seat for 2 bucks. How cool is that?
If you are interested in signing up, go here and register. You'll get 3 swagbucks just for signing up and you'll probably earn at least one within your first two or three searches. You can't just search words over and over though. It really works best if you search naturally, remembering to use Swagbucks every time you would otherwise go to Google or some other site. I usually will get 1 swagbuck in the morning, 1 in the afternoon, and 1 after Penny goes to bed.
There are also special swagbucks codes released in various places, but you don't have to worry with that if you don't want to. If you do want to, they are having a big second birthday blowout on Thursday and should be giving away lots of codes.
What can swagbucks be used for? Well, they have a bunch of stuff for sale on their website and through various partner sites, but the big thing most people do with them is to redeem them for Amazon gift cards. 45 swagbucks equals a $5 Amazon card. I have been using Swagbucks since November, and am now on my 8th $5 Amazon card and for doing nothing more than using Swagbucks to do my internet searching instead of Google. I used 3 cards to buy Penny's $17 booster seat for 2 bucks. How cool is that?
If you are interested in signing up, go here and register. You'll get 3 swagbucks just for signing up and you'll probably earn at least one within your first two or three searches. You can't just search words over and over though. It really works best if you search naturally, remembering to use Swagbucks every time you would otherwise go to Google or some other site. I usually will get 1 swagbuck in the morning, 1 in the afternoon, and 1 after Penny goes to bed.
There are also special swagbucks codes released in various places, but you don't have to worry with that if you don't want to. If you do want to, they are having a big second birthday blowout on Thursday and should be giving away lots of codes.
Stickers
Penny wearing stickers:
Penny is becoming our own personal echo. Tonight I swear she repeated every fifth word we said in conversation. My current favorite words/phrases that she uses are: "dangerous fish" in reference to Tray's fishing lures, and "sketti noodles" as in spaghetti noodles. I also continue to love how she pronounces Mister Bear, "Missah Bay-uh."
Penny is becoming our own personal echo. Tonight I swear she repeated every fifth word we said in conversation. My current favorite words/phrases that she uses are: "dangerous fish" in reference to Tray's fishing lures, and "sketti noodles" as in spaghetti noodles. I also continue to love how she pronounces Mister Bear, "Missah Bay-uh."
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Situated
This evening as Penny was flopping around trying to go to sleep she paused briefly to say, "get situated." That's something we say from time to time in other contexts, but she took it and applied it to herself and I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.
In other developments, this week I was cleaning up and I stacked her orange rain-sound block on top of the red one. A little later she and I walked passed them to go upstairs and she said, "orange on top of red." I didn't know what she was talking about, but looked over and saw that. I was amazed at her observation first of all, and then secondly I had no idea she understood the concept of "on top of." So we've been playing hide-and-seek with her, taking toys and hiding them places and then telling her where they are to go find them. Like, we'll say "your phone is under pooh bear," or it's "in Daddy's boot," and she always goes right to it. She totally grasps on top, in, under, behind, etc. I had no idea.
In other developments, this week I was cleaning up and I stacked her orange rain-sound block on top of the red one. A little later she and I walked passed them to go upstairs and she said, "orange on top of red." I didn't know what she was talking about, but looked over and saw that. I was amazed at her observation first of all, and then secondly I had no idea she understood the concept of "on top of." So we've been playing hide-and-seek with her, taking toys and hiding them places and then telling her where they are to go find them. Like, we'll say "your phone is under pooh bear," or it's "in Daddy's boot," and she always goes right to it. She totally grasps on top, in, under, behind, etc. I had no idea.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Valentine's Day 2010
We had a really nice Valentine's Day this year. As seems to be our custom we took the opportunity of a holiday event to do semi-major household repairs/maintenance (one year we cleaned all our carpets on Christmas Eve). This year we replaced the kitchen faucet and installed a sprayer.
Here is a picture of our new faucet:
We are so proud of it; we keep wiping it off to make sure it stays nice and shiny! :)
For breakfast, I made us waffles in our waffle iron that makes heart shapes. I mixed in some cinnamon and brown sugar with the mix and they turned out extra yummy. Penny ate two hearts. You can't see it, but her jacket says LOVE on the front:
And Tray bought me flowers. He handed them to Penny to hand to me and she said, "here you go, Mommy." Ha!
Here is a picture of our new faucet:
We are so proud of it; we keep wiping it off to make sure it stays nice and shiny! :)
For breakfast, I made us waffles in our waffle iron that makes heart shapes. I mixed in some cinnamon and brown sugar with the mix and they turned out extra yummy. Penny ate two hearts. You can't see it, but her jacket says LOVE on the front:
And Tray bought me flowers. He handed them to Penny to hand to me and she said, "here you go, Mommy." Ha!
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