schmits.org

Welcome to schmits.org: , , , and virtual front porch. This web site is just that; a place to visit for family, friends, and anyone, who are too far away, to stop by in person. Pull up a chair and stay a while....

First Running Races

Last weekend, Dylan and I both ran in our first organized running races. That is, unless you count gym class in school for me (and I guess for him). To be fair, I had run 5ks as the last leg of a triathlon, but not a standalone run.

On Sunday, I completed a 10k run and was pleased with my results. At a pace of 10:10 (overall time 1:03:02), I was running much faster than I did during training. Not too fast, though, since I was able to finish strong. I finished in the middle of the pack.

On Monday, Dylan completed a mile fun run with a time of 10:03. Dylan was third out of four boys in the 6 and under category. He and Geoff ran together, but Dylan sprinted at the end and left Geoff a second behind. During the race, when someone shouted Dylan's number, Dylan picked up his pace. Dylan also sped up when he saw me and Andrea cheering for him along the route. He enjoyed an apple and a bottle of gatorade at the finish, and then joined us to watch the parade. Dylan was quite proud of his medal and his t-shirt.

Pledge Drive Please!

Me: Would you like to listen to the news on the radio or your VBS songs?

Dylan: It isn't the news on the radio.

Me: Well, then what is it?

Dylan: It's the Pledge Drive.

Me: You're right. It's the Pledge Drive. So, would you like to listen to the Pledge Drive on the radio or your VBS songs?

Dylan: The Pledge Drive.

I think that I have found the only person on the entire planet who actually enjoys the Pledge Drive on NPR.

In addition, Dylan was asking what the minimum pledge is to get something. According to the WBEZ Premium Gallery, $5 a month will do it, either as a one-time $60 pledge or a High Fidelity monthly giving pledge.

Lose One, Gain Two?

Dylan lost his first tooth today! It is his lower, right, front tooth. It came as a huge surprise to me, since it wasn't loose. I arrived home to a tooth in a plastic bag from school. I tried to get the story out of Dylan about how it happened. Here's what I learned:

He lost the tooth during facts time at school. His teacher noticed that his tooth was missing. They then found the tooth on the floor by his chair. It bled a little bit.

He is now excited that he can do an experiment tonight. He put the tooth under his pillow to see if there is a tooth fairy. Well, he's really put the tooth under his pillow to see if it gets replaced with money. He can draw his own conclusions from the results. Let's hope he's not disappointed with a dollar, since one of his friends said you can get four dollars!

Since he lost a tooth, I figured I should double-check how many teeth he has in his mouth. It had been a while since I did a survey for the 6-year-old molars. The back left molar has been there for a while, since it is more than half-way exposed. I also think that I can see the adult tooth barely poking out of the gap in the front of his mouth.

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.

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!

It Broke

The day that I was fearing is finally upon us. Daddy's Blanket broke. It is now two blankets. The wear and tear of all the pulling of fuzzies has taken its toll.

Fortunately, my reaction to Dylan's proclamation that "It broke!" was a calm, simple, "Now you have two." He accepted that, and is cuddling with two Daddy's Blankets at bedtime tonight.

Now, Daddy's Blanket can be in two places at once.

First Sentence

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"Mommy, what does that say?"

"It says, 'I am going to the park.' Did you write that, Dylan?"

"Yes."

"Who helped you write it?"

"No one. I wrote that in my journal this morning. I sounded it out."

It wasn't until after Andrea brought me a piece of paper and was waiting for a big hug that I realized how excited my response was to Dylan. I gave him a big hug, and was beaming from ear to ear.

I'm almost certain that he did in fact write it this morning. It was accompanied by a picture of a stick figure that was standing in grass with what might be a bench nearby. There is a blue line for the sky and both yellow and black suns. Perhaps I'll get around to scanning this page to share. The picture and writing were done with markers that we have at home, in his journal from school from last week. There was one blank page at the back, because they did not have school on Monday the 13th.

I think that I was about as excited with this as I was with his first steps. A proud moment as my little boy grows up.

Dylan the Scientist

Today, Dylan approach and informed me that his bouncy ball looses energy when he drops it. "What do you mean?" I asked, trying not to sound too surprised that he is commenting on the energy of his bouncy ball. "Like this," he replied and dropped his bouncy ball onto the carpet where it barely rebounded and stopped. "Does the energy it keeps change if you drop it on different floors?" I probed. "I don't know," he answered, as he walked into Andrea's room and dropped it on the wooden floor. "Yes, it keeps more energy," he concluded. He then walked into the bathroom and dropped it on the tiled floor. "It keeps more energy here, too." He then proceeded to roll the bouncy ball along the carpet. It continued for a while and then stopped. "But see Daddy, when I roll it, it keeps more of its energy longer." I was stunned with his intrinsic understanding of the scientific method and inquiry. I decided just to say, "that's very interesting!" and wait to discuss gravitational potential energy, elastic potential energy, and kinetic energy along with elastic and inelastic collisions until he is five.

Long Hair

If you've been observing Dylan's appearance in pictures over time, you may have observed that he hasn't had a haircut since early January. To set the record straight, it isn't for lack of trying.

Dylan is very adamant that he does not want to get his hair cut. He is also very clear that the reason he wants to let his hair grow is so he can put it in a ponytail like Andrea does. He is not shy about explaining this.

Unfortunate for Dylan is the fact that his hair doesn't grow all that fast. At the rate it is growing, he might be starting kindergarten before he can have his hair in a proper ponytail.

Cute Quotes

How many times are there when kids say something cute, and we just wish that we could later remember? Similarly, how many times does something they say sound funny given the context of an adult that it keeps us from getting too upset with them? I'd say that it's infinite.

So, going off on a tangent, Dylan has interest in understanding the concept of infinity, but he still doesn't get it. "Mommy, what's infinity plus one?" "Infinity." "But what's the biggest number?" "Well, there really isn't one. You can always add one more to it." Like I said, he wants to figure it out, but just doesn't grasp the concept yet.

The quote from Dylan this morning was, "Well, then I'm just going to drink all day." The context was that he was mad at me because I didn't have his milk in the car on the way to school. To my credit, I didn't have it because he didn't want it, and I made it as clear as I could that he wouldn't have his cup of milk at any point on the drive to school. Apparently, I wasn't clear enough. As he was ranting, he fixated on his desire to go to school and drink from the water fountain. And, he wasn't going to go to his classroom. He was just going to stand there and drink all day. Some days, that sounds quite appealing.