Elia loves to be silly and we can’t remember if this is just being a three year old, or if this is just indicative of Elia being Elia. The fact is that she cracks us up, and more importantly and even more funny is that she cracks herself up. And while it is often the funny faces she is making or the way she is acting, more often than not, it is the funny things she says. The other day Albert was talking about peeing and Elia said “Daddy! That is potty talk!” She has a fantastic imagination telling us she shoots fireworks from her hands, or takes care of her “baby.”
She still loves her Belle dress and has worn it all summer, and it has become a lot of her identity. In fact, when Curie was wearing a Belle dress that Albert had also bought her, Elia’s comment was: “Curie, why are you wearing my other dress?” She will swap it for an Elsa dress, and understands that it is not appropriate for an amusement park or a beach, but otherwise she wants it almost as a transition object.
Elia sings to every song on the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack when it comes on in the car and knows almost all the words but mostly knows the last word in each line. The best thing about her singing though is recently when a song will come on she will sing her own song as an assertion of herself. She will make up a song in parallel to what is playing or what you are singing. She still sings expressively with her hands and her face and makes up pretty sophisticated words to her songs.
She also loves to dance. She will take you by your hands and ask you to tap dance “let’s tap” or she will take you by the hands and do a dip or a twirl or simply move her hands like a ballerina. Albert likes to let her climb up his front and do a back flip, same as with Curie, but Elia likes to climb up on his shoulders, stand and do a drop from that height. It is okay at this age, but it is pretty startling. Albert also lets the kids climb all over him which encourages a bit of rough housing that Erin does not like when they decide to climb on her.
It is pretty interesting watching Elia’s development both as an individual and with respect to Curie as her big sister. She wants to be independent and do things herself, even when she is not able to yet, and at the same time wants to do what Curie does and have what Curie has, even if that means literally taking what Curie has to play with. Elia is pushing her boundaries as she should, but is having a hard time understanding that Curie is two years older than she is. In retrospect, it makes both of us think about our own childhoods and how being older or younger played a role in our own development and personality. The flip side is how Curie has to give in a lot because she is the older child and Curie is learning how to be considerate as a virtue, though we have to watch out for Elia bullying Curie.
The kids fight for elevator buttons, with Elia usually getting her way. When she does not get her way Elia has learned from Curie to hang her head and just stand there defeated, Albert hates this (and thinks it is cute), and wants them to stand up for themselves more. The dynamic changes with strangers though. Woe be to a kid who pushes Elia aside or cuts a line or anything like that. Curie is on them in a flash and will speak to the kid, no matter what the size to champion Elia in Curie’s role as her protector.
Elia loved Medieval Times, screaming out at her knight and then being disappointed that her knight was the first to fall. She then took up the mantle of the red knight (Curie picked the blue knight which was the champion). It is interesting because she was asleep right before and we were worried that she would be scared or bored, instead, though she spend the entire time in Albert’s lap, she would wave her flags, cheer at every fight, and distinctly remembers the experience weeks later.
Elia still loves stormtroopers from Star Wars, learned to play with the fidget spinner that Albert bought the kids, had a great time with Erin’s parents, calling Erin’s mother, Grammy instead of Grandmom (Grammy is what Erin called her dad’s mother so it is a weird name for Erin’s mom) and loved going to Thomasland in Edaville near Marshfield. She is really into taking pictures with Albert’s camera, painting, coloring and everything else she should be doing at her age.
Each morning at school when Albert drops her off she is shy and stays by herself wandering the playground for the few minutes she is dropped off, but the teachers say that she engages very quickly and when Albert picks her up she is usually playing intently with other kids. Like Curie was at that age, kids yell her name when she gets to school and like Curie, Elia needs a little space when she arrives. It is possible she loves her Belle dress so much because it does give her attention. We will have to watch for that. One day she wore her Batman costume and on that day another boy had a Batman shirt and they had a bonding moment. It is amazing how what you wear makes such a difference.
Over the summer, Albert and Elia have been driving together again and Albert is indulgent on taking her to Target or the grocery store before coming home at times, less so now than before, but still. Albert has allowed Elia to use the handheld reader at the Target checkout to scan each item which has led to some entitlement to scanning when allowed, but it is also very interesting to watch her intent on a task and wanting to go through the process.
In all, Elia is a joy, adorable, funny, and smart in her own way. She has her own personality but is finding her way as the little sister. She asks not to be the baby in role play some now, and continues to be fearless in many activities. She will tell you when things are scary, and does have nightmares on some nights when the show or the activity exceeds her tolerance. With both girls, there is nothing better when they spontaneously want to give you a hug or a kiss or tell you they love you, and there is nothing better than holding them close and reading to them or singing to them or just sitting with them. These are precious times, short lived, and meant to be cherished. So when we are tired and frustrated and a child still asks to be picked up, we do anyway, not to spoil them, but to spoil ourselves while we still can.