The other day, we were at Target in the toy section, and Elia pointed out the large First Order Stormtrooper; she loves to push the button and make him say things. Well this time, she pushed the button and it didn’t say anything, Albert pushed the button, it didn’t say anything. They pushed all the buttons on all the Stormtroopers, and they didn’t say anything. Elia looked up at Albert and knowingly said, “batteries.”
He knows it is foolish, but ever since Albert went back to work, the kids seem to have grown faster, Elia especially, but Curie too. Not only did she know the word “batteries,” but knew that when a toy didn’t work, that it was batteries that could be a cause. She also likes to point out things that are big and small; at a railing she pointed out a big part and then a small part. When Albert went to pick the kids up, she pointed at Albert and said “Dada, big,” when Albert asked her if Elia was big, she said “Yeh-yeh small.”
We have been sick a lot recently. Elia most recently had a fever that passed, but at the beginning of this month, Elia, was sick at home with pink eye and said she wanted to call Daddy on his second week of work. She got Erin’s phone, found Albert’s picture on the people widget, pressed the button, and called him. She did this also with Erin’s father on Albert’s phone saying she wanted to call Poppop; she is two. She will correctly identify “Ah-ma,” when Albert’s mother calls and stop to say “hi Ma-ma,” her version of Ah-ma.
This month Elia began facing forward in her car seat, a big deal since we had planned on putting her in the bigger car seat and facing backward. In the Bug though, because it is a two seater, it needs to face forward to get Elia into the seat, so Erin has started driving the Bug again (because she likes it better, and Albert likes the Fit better), and Elia gets to sit facing forward. It is adorable because Curie can now hold Elia’s hand and asks for it regularly. They also share snacks more now, but it also means we can no longer hold another adult in the car. Elia loves facing forward, probably because Curie faces forward and it shows Elia that she is a big girl now. If you recall, Curie was terrified of facing forward when she first started to face forward.
The girls love each other, they play and argue and run, and dance, and do shows, and twirl and all matters of sharing and jealousy. Curie has begun to sleep in the Thomas tent, which we moved next to our bed to encourage her to sleep in her own bed. What this has meant though, is that Erin has also slept in the Thomas tent helping Curie get to sleep after Elia has gone to sleep on our bed. In turn, this has meant that while Albert is downstairs, Elia will wake up crying by herself. We thought she was scared to be by herself, but she was often inconsolable, what we realized was that it wasn’t that she was afraid to be by herself or of the dark, but because she could see that Mommy had gone to sleep with Curie in the Thomas tent and Elia was jealous and angry that Mommy had done so.
Elia still loves to copy Curie and wants to do what Curie does in hero worship. The other day, Elia wanted to wear Curie’s dress which fortunately Curie has a small version and a large version so even though Elia wears Curie’s hand me downs, and even though they have the same outfits often, it was different because Elia was wearing a dress that only Curie had, and the effect of a little version of Curie was even more pronounced. Elia has begun watching her own shows, though she loves to watch her own “eggs (kids YouTube);” “Mother Goose Club” has taken over “Harry the Bunny” as her favorite show. She loves her baths and loves when Albert turns on the shower while she is sitting in her bath.
In the beginning of this month, Elia impressed us by just saying “ma bus!” And knowing what was hers. A month later, she is not only saying “ma bus,” but “daddy, no eat this,” or knowing the aforementioned batteries. She can identify and say “orange” and “purple” now. And, we are a little sad about this, Albert was there when she said “wawa,” and then corrected herself to say “wa-ter,” and has said “water” since. “Mommai” has become “Mommy,” though “Dada” is still “Dada,” probably because Albert encourages her and Curie to keep saying it. It is a trade off though, we guess, because though Elia has begun to correct her words, this month she has also begun saying “love you Dada,” or “love you Mommy,” which is a development that fills your heart.