Curie February 2014. Curie loves the conveyor belt sushi restaurant which we have dubbed the “sushi choo-choo” restaurant. The other day she told us she wanted to go to the sushi choo-choo restaurant, which we thought was very cute; the thing is, Curie is crazy smart and we just didn’t know it. You see, Curie loves surprise eggs, and every time we go to the sushi choo-choo restaurant, she gets a Kinder egg (which are illegal in the US) from the candy store and instead of asking for an egg from the candy store, she asked to go to the sushi choo-choo restaurant without tipping her hand. Crazy smart right? On the other hand, at the restaurant itself, Curie has already gotten edamame, tomago, and fruit for herself AND returned the covers to the conveyor belt even before we have ordered drinks. Other families tell their kids to not touch the sushi, we ask Curie to get our orders.
The whole family got sick this month (not from the sushi). We tried really hard to keep it from Elia, but in the end she succumbed too. For Erin’s birthday, we did a staycation at the Sheraton Premiere, but Albert had the shakes in the middle of the night from being so tired and sick that he rolled himself into a hot bath to raise his core body temperature and fell asleep – scaring Erin. We are mostly better now, though Erin has caught another cold.
In February, we went to the Udvar Hazy Center Smithsonian Air and Space museum (twice, the second time with Erin’s parents and sister) to see the “space ship” (space shuttle). Curie’s favorite airplane is a yellow Naval Aircraft Factory N3N that hangs above the SR-71, Albert’s favorite. Upon entering the museum she immediately said “that’s my favorite,” about the yellow plane. Incidentally Erin’s favorite plane is the Concorde, Jim’s is the P-40 Curtis-Wright Warhawk, Julie’s was the space shuttle, and Brenda’s was the sail plane.
Erin returned to work at the end of the month, somehow the whole experience seems faster this time around. Having two kids is a little more hectic (those of you with three or more – more power to you), you have less time for either child. Curie gets less than before “put Elia down!” And Elia, as the second child gets fewer bright-eyed photos (we think Elia sleeps more than Curie did, but it may be an optical-illusion based on the fact that we had time to take pictures of Curie when she was looking at the camera). In any case, everything seems faster, more hectic, and with less time to enjoy our time together – which makes each moment something you have to intentionally slow down to savor and appreciate. The moments are always precious – whether it is leaving work at a good time, putting down the camera to hold the children, watching Thomas instead of the news, having a happy life is finding the time to appreciate the value of those moments.
Oh and congratulate Erin, she is officially the Chief Development and Engagement Officer at NatureServe as of yesterday.