22 May 2009 8:40 pm
ttyl
Andrea is very interested in knowing how to spell various words. I often hear, "Mommy, how do you spell... (fill in the blank)?" More recently, she's turned it around to something such as "Mommy, what does c-a-t spell?" Earlier this week, the question Andrea asked me was, "Mommy, what does t-t-y-l spell?"
So any of you who are wondering whether kids these days are just inherently different than we were as kids, the answer is a resounding y-e-s (which spells yes)! I still have no idea where she got that letter combination from. It is not a phrase that I use, nor is it something that I have heard (or seen) Geoff use. However, it certainly is odd that Andrea picked that combination of letters from all 456,976 possible 4-letter permutations.
For those still wondering, t-t-y-l spells "talk-to-you-later."
25 April 2009 8:57 pm
Swim, Kick, Reach!
It is always interesting to me to see the videos that Oma takes of Dylan and Andrea swimming. Since I am still in the water with Andrea during swim lessons, the video allows me to see her swim from a different perspective. And I am constantly amazed. Dylan has made incredible progress in six weeks of private swim lessons. I put together a compilation of some of Oma's video taken last weekend. Note that there are no flotation devices on either kid!
4 April 2009 11:25 am
Preschool Friends
Andrea is now in a pre-school class at school. She turns three later this month, and moved with four of her friends from the "Twos II" classroom to the "Pre-school I" classroom. For Dylan this was one of the harder transitions to make, since it means starting the day in a different room. For Andrea, it was the easiest!
This week, Dylan and Andrea started the day in the same classroom. They also ended the day in the same classroom. It was very rewarding to see how they enjoyed being together. I think that at both the start and end of the day, the two of them were no more than two feet apart. Dylan appeared to enjoy having his sister there, and Andrea seemed to appreciate having the comfort of her brother. I got stories that the two were apart at times, but still would look up to see where the other was. During each day they go to separate classrooms.
I am very reassured that Dylan and Andrea seem to be friends in addition to siblings.
21 March 2009 9:36 pm
Back on Track
I thank you for your patience during this delay. We are now back on schedule. I apologize for any inconvenience or undue distress this has caused. Grandparents and all you die-hard Dylan and Andrea fans, get your mouse ready to click and your cheek muscles ready to smile.
There are five new albums recently posted, covering the last three months of 2008 and Dylan's birthday in January 2009:
- A visit to Brookfield Zoo with Will in October
- October 2008, which includes Halloween
- November 2008, which includes Thanksgiving with Oma and Opa
- December 2008, which includes Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa and a post-Christmas visit from Tony
- Dylan's 5th Birthday
21 March 2009 8:39 pm
Toys Aren't Us
The return policy at Toys R Us makes me not want to shop there. Especially, not for a birthday present.
Dylan got a Power Rangers toy for his birthday that sat unopened for a couple of weeks. We decided to ask him if he'd rather return it and exchange it for a toy that he would enjoy more, and he actually agreed. That's when the "fun" began.
Of course, any gift receipts were long gone, since I never entertained the idea that he'd be willing to exchange a gift. I looked at Target, but they didn't sell the toy. I found the toy at Toys R Us, and tried to return ours. Unfortuantely, that's when I learned of their no tolerance return policy: no gift receipt, no credit card used for purchase, no return. No. No. No.
I have devised an elaborate scheme to return it, but just don't have the time to try implementation! Here's how it goes: (1) Buy Power Rangers toy, with cash. (2) Get gift receipt. (3) Get a friend and each return a Power Rangers toy simultaneously. (4) Be sure to do an exchange and not get store credit! (5) Hope that their computer systems aren't good enough to track returns done at two stores miles apart within minutes of each other! If only I had the time...
Anyone interested in a Power Rangers RPM Formula Wolf Transporter? I'll give you a good deal!
5 February 2009 8:53 pm
Stream of Consciousness
For the past week or so, Andrea is in a phase that I call "Stream of Consciousness." My guess is that her ability to speak words is catching up to her ability to think words. The result is that we get to see an unedited version of what is going on inside her head.
This can be good, and this can be bad.
Her teacher at school shared a story that was more on the bad end of the spectrum. Andrea wasn't waiting her turn for a toy, and it was explained to her that she needed to wait. Andrea verbalized what we all would think, which something like, "Well, I'm just going to say it was two minutes and take it back from her now."
On the good side of the spectrum, it allows me to understand what is motivating Andrea at any given moment in time. Instead of wondering why it is taking her twenty or thirty minutes to go to the bathroom, wash hands, and brush teeth, I get a running commentary on what is distracting her.
I know that this phase won't last long, so I'm going to try to take advantage of it any way I can.
3 February 2009 8:38 pm
Budding Scientist
Dylan shared with me that he wants to be a scientist when he grows up. He wants to do experiments. And he wants to write about them.
Yes, he wants to not only do science, but he wants to also share his findings with others.
Dylan is well on his way to his goals, as he wrote his first lab report last weekend. He did some experiments with his new science kit ("Mind Blowing Science"). Then, later that weekend, Dylan actually drew pictures to represent what had happened in the experiments.
Dylan was also creating a bar chart last week. He was polling his friends at school to pick a number. He then added a box to each bar to see which number was picked the most. He had some other complicated grid system that was designed to indicate how many friends he still had to ask. Unfortunately, I was there to pick him up and he didn't get to finish his master plan.
17 January 2009 9:10 pm
Four Years, 365 Days
For many, that means five years old. But not for Dylan. Since last year was a leap year, he has to wait one more day to turn five. Regardless, we celebrated his birthday today with a great party! We had a magician come who was great for the kids and parents alike, dinner of chicken nuggets, meatballs, and macaroni & cheese, a Wall-E cake, and a pinata this year. I think that I'd skip the pinata in the future unless I'm really coerced!
Tomorrow we'll open presents and celebrate at a more relaxed pace with just family. Happy 5th Birthday, Dylan!
13 January 2009 9:16 pm
Triathlon Training
My goal for this year is to complete a sprint triathlon.
Seven hundred and fifty meter swim. Twenty kilometer bike. Five kilometer run.
June 14, 2009.
Come cheer me on!
21 December 2008 8:17 am
United States Patent 7,465,824
Abstract
A process is disclosed for producing at least one high purity aromatic carboxylic acid by oxidizing an aromatic feedstock with oxygen in a reaction medium comprising the aromatic feedstock, a promoter, a heavy metal catalyst, and a solvent which comprises benzoic acid and water to produce a reactor effluent wherein substantially all of the aromatic carboxylic acid produced remains in solution; and then hydrogenating the reactor effluent in the presence of a catalyst and hydrogen. This process efficiently and effectively produces high purity aromatic carboxylic acids by utilizing a common solvent for both oxidation and purification and eliminating the need for intermediate process steps and equipment.
Inventors: Schmit; Carolyn E. (Naperville, IL), Sikkenga; David L. (Wheaton, IL), Meller; Christopher G. (Carol Stream, IL)
Assignee: BP Corporation North America Inc. (Warrenville, IL)
No offense taken if you decide not to read the whole text. I read it enough times for all of us!
