Elia’s Clothes Choices
Curie March 2018
Curie continues to grow and become more sophisticated. She is in size 6 at this point and can think of the wind as God. She wants to be a to be a scientist or a chef, loves showing Elia how to do things and is proud of her sister when she can do the things that she taught. She is trying very hard to be helpful and is generally so unless she is tired or Elia has taken something away, or she wants something Elia has. Her drawing has become more sophisticated too with her learning to draw giant eyes with sparkles in them like in anime or manga and will ask you if you want her to draw your picture with both eyes open or winking (the picture, not her while she is drawing. While drawing with Albert, they worked through the proportions of a face and she took to it very quickly (as did Elia). Continue reading “Curie March 2018”
Siblings Day 2018
During our respective weddings.
Easter 2018
This Easter we returned to Pinstripes for brunch on Easter with the Isabella’s family. We had our expensive brunch, and went back out to the bank of the Potomac to have our Easter Egg hunt. The kids had a great time and after they had brought in the eggs, Albert told them, “save 5 eggs to give to other kids who come by.” Curie put aside her five and Elia held up her finger and said, “only one” and proceeded to open up all of her eggs.
Well the first kid comes by and we encourage Curie to go give the boy an egg, she does and has this amazing smile on her face when she returns. “It feels so good to give,” she says – mind you she is six. Elia wants to give eggs too but wants to give Curie’s eggs not her own. Curie gives a few more and then starts putting more in the “give” pile instead of the “keep” pile. Continue reading “Easter 2018”
Spring Break 2018: The Chens and the Tamanahas go to New York
Elia March 2018
Erin found a nice video on Facebook about how this is a crazy time but a time to be cherished, a feeling that we share; the time feels even shorter especially because the years seem shorter than they did when we were young ourselves. There is something undeniably amazing about children at this age, the near-unconditional love is something that sadly will disappear, so the importance of relishing it while we can, even at the expense of personal autonomy.
Elia and Albert share the kind of bond that Curie and Albert did before Elia was born, when both girls are tired though, they want Mommy. There is another meme circulating where the kids are on a little sofa chair with the mother while the father sits by himself on the sofa in a robe with a pipe. In our family the roles are reversed minus the pipe. It is a joy to be sure, but at the same time Elia at her age is less likely to respond when you ask her to do something she doesn’t want to do, Albert spoiling them with attention might contribute to this a bit. . This was the same with Curie at the same age, so it is a phase, we know. Continue reading “Elia March 2018”
Curie February 2018
The months go by faster and faster it seems. Within a blink of an eye both girls are growing and learning and it is crazy to think that just a while ago both were babies. In February, we celebrated Erin’s birthday and Valentines Day, and while we decided not to celebrate Valentine’s Day between us, for the kids we buy big heart boxes of chocolate and extra flowers in addition the ones sent to work so that the girls have some at home. Both girls are so excited to plan and celebrate that they forget that you want to surprise at times. This means getting more gifts and chocolate making it a month-long celebration. Nothing wrong with that. Continue reading “Curie February 2018”
Elia February 2018
Being behind on blogging means that the entries we write late are generally on single topics or recounting the goings on for the month and less about the quirky little things we began these entries for in the first place. At this point in writing we are behind by two posts and are trying to recount what happened between January 16 and February 15 for Elia. We have also not been as good about keeping notes throughout the month so that writing is easier. The reason we have not been as good about these things is that we have been more overwhelmed by work and responsibilities lately. At the end of January Albert went to Atlanta for a Board meeting during Erin’s birthday, and because it was February we had Valentine’s day as well. Continue reading “Elia February 2018”
Drawing Late at Night
So we were drawing late one night and Curie a picture (top left) of a princess then asked Albert to draw one too (on the left top). Elia in the mean time drew her first people that we know of (top right). Curie was going on about Albert’s drawing so he asked if she wanted him to teach her how to draw and so drew Curie using the basic egg proportions as a template (lower left). Curie then drew her version using the lesson (middle bottom), and then Elia, who had only started to draw people drew her own version using the same lesson. The improvement is remarkable on all three.