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....

Child Proof

Andrea enjoys reading all sorts of items in her environment now. Sometimes, it leads to interesting questions (some not to be repeated here!). However, other times it leads to items not being as "Child Safe" as they were prior to her being able to read.

Recently, Andrea shared with us that to open her vitamin bottle, you just need to press and turn. And to close it, you turn the other way. After reading this information on the lid, she proceeded to do exactly as the bottle instructed and opened the supposedly child-safe container. I guess we need to be sure to keep things in the closet when we don't want her to get into them.

Which reminds me of the time that we had the supposedly child-proof doorknob cover. A bit of persistence and the strength of a two-year-old put an end to that solution when Dylan opened the closet door. Instead, we put the sliding bolt lock on the door. The closet isn't child-proof any more since the kids are tall enough to stand on a stepstool and reach the lock.

Just as we can no longer spell to communicate between us, we now need to be more cautious about what is around and stored. And we need to hope that Andrea reads the warning information along with the instructions!

Four Four-Eyes

In about a week, Andrea will join the rest of her immediate family in wearing glasses. She had her eye exam this morning, which revealed that my motherly instincts were correct. (It had been a year since her last exam, and she needed one for kindergarten, so the visit wasn't all driven by instincts.) She had been holding the book a bit close, and she had been leaning toward the television to help see. She has both nearsightedness and an astigmatism in both eyes. And, there is no doubt about her need for correction. The eye doctor commented that she was very consistent with her answers to "which one is better, one or two?"

Andrea picked out a pretty purple pair of frames. I'm not sure how much was driven by the Disney branding on them. However, the trusted woman on the staff at the eye doctor's office agreed that it was one of the best looking on Andrea. I might have had a slight preference for one of the pink frames, but I'll defer to Andrea's fashion sense. We will be able to pick them up in about a week.

We knew that eventually Andrea's genetic deficiencies in the area of vision would catch up to her. I am surprised that my ability to see without glasses until the age of seven and a half is the record among the four of us. I guess if a need for glasses is the worst trait that we pass on, she'll do okay in life.

She Can Read!

For the first time, I heard Andrea sounding out words as she read a book by herself last Sunday. She has slowly, and somewhat secretively, been making progress toward this for a while. There was the "First Words" book that she enjoyed reading, which involved some guessing of what word matched the picture. With that, she was often confused by words such as 'knife' which don't start with the sound you'd expect.

The first book that I heard her read to herself was "If You Give a Pig a Party!", and the word that she had to really think about before saying was 'want.' In the past week, Andrea has impressed me with the many words that she can read. She has read books that I was not even aware that we had, which convinces me that she hasn't simply memorized the words. I expect her repertoire to expand rapidly. I only hope that she will soon start to read during the day in addition to at bedtime. It's tough for me to remind her that it's time to sleep when I hear her practicing such a wonderful, life-long skill.

Pictures from 2010

I finished cropping, titling, and uploading the remaining month's worth of photos from 2010. It's been a while since I updated the index, so many more photos may be new to the casual observer. Feel free to peruse photos from December and prior months. Click on the Family photos link to the left and enjoy!

TYR Durafast!

It's been nearly two years since I started swimming laps regularly, and I'm afraid that I've lost count of how many swim suits I've had in that time. What I do know is that I've found one I'd be willing to pay more for: the TYR Durafast material.

According to descriptions on their website, "Durafast (TM) is 100% chlorine proof for 72 hours of exposure. This durable fabric lasts 20 times longer than traditional swimwear." What I've found with my suits is that it is no longer the fabric that hits the end of its life, but it is the straps that lose their stretch. I used to be able to get ~3 months of wear out of a swim suit, and I think I have gotten more like 6-8 months out of my recent one. Granted, I'm not wearing any of them until they fall apart, but I am wearing them until I'm afraid they may lead to indecent exposure at the YMCA.

I've been pleased with my Durafast suits, especially since I bought them both on sale! Here's to many more years of swimming, but many fewer swimsuits that those years require.

Whaddyou Say?

I'm reminded of an interaction between Andrea and her cousin Abigail over the summer. Andrea and Abigail were playing in and around a tent made of blankets and chairs in Abigail's living room. Andrea must have said something to Abigail, which Abigail questioned. The following dialog went something like this:

Andrea: "Whaddyou say?"

Abigail: "How come?"

Andrea: "Whaddyou say?"

Abigail: "How come?"

Andrea: "Whaddyou say?"

Abigail: "How come?"

Andrea: "Whaddyou say?"

Me: "Andrea, 'How come?' is another way to ask 'Why?'"

Andrea: "Oh."

It wasn't until this exchange that I realized that a phrase so common to me in my childhood has become foreign to me as an adult. So foreign, that my daughter doesn't even know what it means! Is this a east-coast phrase not common in the mid-west?

I asked my brother (not Abigail's father) if he knew a two word phrase that means 'Why?', and he immediately responded "How come?" Whether he was questioning why I needed to know or answering the question, he apparently hasn't forgotten his roots.

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.

Titles

At church, Andrea likes to fill out name tags for us. The last couple of weeks, we have been arriving at church with little time to spare, so she takes name tags for her and me with us to the pew. With no hesitation, and no questions, she fills mine out and puts it on my shirt.

There are many different titles that could be put on my name tag, as well as no title and just my first name. The options include:

• Ms. Schmit
• Carolyn Schmit
• Mrs. Schmit
• Dr. Schmit

But, the one that I think I am most pleased to have written is the one that Andrea has written these past two Sundays: Mommy Schmit.

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.