Category: Curie Months

Curie turns two! We went back to Brix and Ale at the Sheraton Premiere for Curie’s birthday. The dress she is wearing was brought from Pakistan by Shazhad’s wife for the occasion.  Below is a collage of Curie born, her first birthday, and her second.

Curie August 2013. Curie turns two in 10 days. Curie’s favorite songs are now “O’Mcdodode,” “Twinkle, twinkle,” and “AyBeeShees.” However if you sing “Daddy’s all right,” she will follow with “Mommy’s all right, ther jus a lilbit wier’.”

She likes yelling “Mommy, where AH you?” and “Daddy, where AH you?” And “Mommy, I want YOU.” and “Daddy, I want YOU.” This morning she said “Oh, wight, let’s go!” When Albert called to Curie in her car seat, “Curie, I love you!” She called back, “Daddy, I love you!” Oh, and Curie finally graduated to the toddler car seat that Bernard and Agnes gave us.

Curie’s favorite foods at the moment are shrimp, soup, crab, and lobster, chocolate, treats, and pie. She still likes her “‘nacks” and loves plums and peaches.  At Duck Chang’s (best peking duck hands down BTW) she rolled her own including hoisen sauce, duck, skin and scallions, took a “big bite,” and asked for a picture of her doing so.

While neither of us are the grace before meals kind of people, Curie has decided that every meal and bedtime require prayers. She holds out her hands a says “hands!” Or says “payers!” Her other dinner thing is that she likes to clink glasses with everyone multiple times before drinking.

Curie loves to “pay bocks!” (play blocks) recently and plays with Kapla, Tegu, and Legos (as we write this it occurs to us that we don’t have any normal blocks -when did we become “those” people?). Curie’s favorite “stuffed animal” is now a doll that used to belong to Eleanor and Miranda that is usually used to teach kids that babies potty and get wet. It is a blue doll Curie calls “big baby.” She also continues to love the “‘tar” and has learned to strum it with a pick.

The “shuperman shirt” has really taken off. It doesn’t matter if it is Superman, Ironman, the Avengers, Marvel, DC or a robot, they are all “shuperman shirts.” Erin and Albert have even taken to wearing superhero t-shirts ourselves (Erin is a staunch Iron Man girl, and Albert has a super-deformed Batman shirt).

In August, Albert changes jobs, we go to the Annual DC Pen Show, fly up to Marshfield to see Nana and Grampy, attend the Marshfield Fair and go to the Baley Bash. We take walks in Huntley Meadows, go to Tim’s River Shore, and have a new living room courtesy of Albert’s parent’s birthday gift for Curie (a drawing table and chairs that have become our coffee table).

Change is a-foot and we are moving through life like everyone else does. Curie continues to amaze us with her problem solving, her infectious enthusiasm, and her innocent declarations. She will tell you that Old MacDonald had a stomach ache on the farm, apologize when she wants to wear a superhero shirt over a dress, and, please, please, someone ask us (offline) what she called a burp the very first time.

-mouth fart BTW

Curie July 2013. The other day Curie stopped saying “Dada” and started saying “Daddy.” Albert was sad, only the other day she had said “Dada nice.”

The beginning of this month seems like so long ago, maybe it is because Curie grew up so much this month. In July we went on vacation in Vancouver, went up to Philadelphia to see Taylor, Eric, Livi, and Emilie, and watched how Albert takes care of Curie when Erin goes away on a business trip (bribing with treats).

Curie potty-trained herself and will regularly tell us “I peed,” which means she is going to pee or poop. She has potty humor including saying, “I peeing,” or “I faating,” and laughing which is probably Albert’s fault as he likes to hug her and say he is squeezing the poop out of her. She stopped nursing, had her first consequence/punishment, and started sleeping through the night – we suspect this is because she was waking up when she peed before and now she is getting better control

Her diction is growing every day including “I ha’ chocolate on my fay (I have chocolate on my face),”  or “I pay water today (I played in the water today).” “I pay ‘tar too (I play guitar too)” -which she does and sings along. Albert bought a Strumstick which is a very easy stringed instrument to play. Curie likes to take it around and accompany herself. She also started blowing notes on the recorder.

Curie is becoming more conversational too. Here is the conversation about dinner: What you want to eat? “Noodo Soop.” Big noodles or small noodles? “Big.” Do you want beans (edamame)? “Yes” Chicken or Shrimp “Shimp (usually).” Then from her – “Freet? (Treat?)” No Curie, treats are for after dinner. “Okay.”

Her repertoire for videos has gone beyond “Mouse (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) and Emo (Elmo) and now includes the documentary Babies, Sound of Music, Curious George and Thomas the Tank Engine. She started watching Teletubbies, but we had to stop that.

Among many things we did in Vancouver, she discovered “pock’es and monies (pockets and money)” and started wearing a little belt with a coin pouch like a fanny pack. She got a helium walk-around dog that she took everywhere (we’ll post a separate Urban Hiking post), that made everyone sigh. She wasn’t afraid of heights on the Capilano Suspension Bridge or the gondola at Grouse Mountain. At the hedge maze in the botanical garden, she would run around with Erin saying “Oh no! We’re stuck!” when we came to a dead end. At the end of the maze she turned around and ran back to do it again.

Finally, Curie has been obsessed about babies “Aw, baby!” she will say whenever we see one. We bought her a doll at Cracker Barrel in Philadelphia with a stroller. Pushing the stroller is her favorite thing. Princesses are still out and those of you wondering how Albert was okay with a doll, last night Curie picked the pajamas that look like she is wearing armor, and called it her Superman shirt. Who said being a girl has to be girly?

 

Curie June 2013. June was quite the month for Curie, she seems to have exploded in her development; it seems there is always something new that she does or says. One of our favorite things that she says recently are “Mama, wheAREyooo? Dada, wheAREy000?” Around the house she has become very family focused with a need to have both Mama and Dada in one place “Dada, sit. Mama, sit;” or if we are sitting too close together she says, “ma sheet! (my seat)” and she squeezes between the two of us.

A lot happened this month too, we saw Emilie and Livi with their parents at the Delaware Children’s Museum, there she got a new baby doll. We went to the pool and two water parks. The Hoaglands went with us to Six Flags for Father’s Day where we spent the day at Hurricane Harbor. With season passes we’ve been two weeks in a row – “waa pak (water park), Curie watched the commercial this morning instead of Elmo.

We learned from last year and she wears a rash guard instead of a swim suit so doesn’t get as cold. She loves to play in the splash park and step on bubblers. Erin holds her in the lazy river and bumps the people around us. Albert’s favorite shirt for her is the Superman shirt with a cape. She doesn’t know who Superman is, so it is really for Albert. If they ever post it, you can watch Albert and Curie doing the waltz with her in that shirt at National Harbor. Someone from the organizers recorded it and said they would put it up on their Facebook page. We saw Vanessa at La Tasca, celebrated Candace’s birthday and saw her parents the Baleys.

Only some rabbits are “Hop” now, other rabbits are “wabbits (yes, a la Elmer). She loves eating turkey off the bone, in fact Albert would keep attaching meat to the bone and Curie would eat it. She still loves noodles, soup and edamame. At the water park, she kept eating ice and has wanted ice ever since in her meals. She got a little tricycle -“ma bike!” which she pushes around; she will ride it but hasn’t gotten steering yet.

She is still a little kid. She sucks her thumb, which we need to change according to her dentist. We tried a bandaid, but she took it off. We will probably buy a thumb guard, but for now, we tell her that her “ow” on her thumb will just get worse and Erin tells her to stick it in her ear. And she does! She is growing though, 30 inches, over 20 pounds now, still a peanut, but she likes to sit on her potty, likes to wipe her bum, is cognizant of peeing and pooping, but we haven’t potty trained her yet but it will happen soon.

When you first have your child you think, wow, it can’t get better than this, they are so cute, and what happens when they grow up (okay ignoring lack of sleep, when they don’t interact that first month etc…)? Experienced parents tell you it is great at every age, different, but great. We miss when Curie was small enough to sleep on our shoulder and when she first sat up, or first said something, or all of that. She runs around now saying “ma ca! (my car), “ma hone! (my phone)” “Abert! (no Curie, he’s Dada to you), she is just so cute that I believe it, every age is amazing. But what about next year…?

 

Curie May 2013. Albert’s parents are “Ah-gong,” and “Ah-ma” to Curie and when you ask about them she will tell you “Ah-dong,” and “Ah-Ma!” But when you ask about herself She will proclaim that she is “Ah-Me!” Which will likely be some kind of nickname like “Ami,” which is “friend” in French right? She now says “Gan-ma” for Grand-ma, and could always say Poppop, for whom she will ask for by name. She still calls Steve, “Steve,” and finally has called Julie, something close to “Juwee.”

Ah-me is only a start though, everything has become “mine,” or “my.” “My-hone” means “my phone (she has an iPod Touch)” – in fact she is scary smart about it. Albert has two phones, one is his personal and the other for work. Curie is fond of the iPhone, so one day she sat with the two phones and handed the Incredible to Albert and said “Dada ‘hone.” Albert took the phone. Then she took the iPhone, and said “my ‘hone.” She first defined one phone as “Dada’s” and then claimed the other as hers. I think this is call appeasement, which will be useful in getting stuff she wants in the future.

Curie is climbing on taller things, can get in and out of a chair herself – she prefers chairs over boosters or high-chairs. She speaks in longer sentences and is more articulate in words “I hold mama water,” with “water” instead of “wawa.” She has started counting though goes from “one, two, eightnineten.” “Nine is her favorite number and will use it if you ask her how many she wants.

Her favorite song is “Wheels on the bus,” where she will act out every part with “the babies on the bus go waah, waah, waah,” being the cutest as she actually rubs her eyes. She will sing the “all through the town,” part with “all…town,” in the right places, and sometimes on pitch. We have it on video it is pretty funny. She still does “row, row, down” with Hop and Baby – all rabbits are “Hop,” and she has this scary doll that she has taken to called “ma baby;” we will have to buy her another one at some point. Albert is against dolls, though he is begrudgingly willing to buy one to acclimate her to a baby brother or sister should the time come.

This month, we met Sarah and her daughter Eleanor, who is also Eurasian, and she and Curie became fast friends. You just have to look at the pictures to see the adoration in Curie’s eyes. Curie had her first dentist visit too. It did not go well with Curie apprehensive and crying. Curie is a thumb sucker and we will have ease her off of that soon. Erin’s parents visited and we had a great time, like with Albert’s parents, Curie adores being with her grandparents. We were able to see Star Trek: Into the Darkness as a result. We went to  some local parks, a farmer’s market, Great Falls, Fort Foote, and Fort Washington, we cooked and ate and barbecued. Overall a nice time.

When we are young people tell you that family is everything, and with everything in front of you, it is hard to believe. When you are older, and you have a family of your own, you realize, however begrudgingly, that it is true and everything else is small by comparison. Years from now when Curie and her sibling(s) read this, I hope they see that they were the better part of our lives.

 

 

Curie April 2013. When did Curie get so big? The other day Curie was walking down the stairs and we noticed that she was holding the banister. Albert thought that he was just getting old or tired carrying her these days, but she is definitely bigger, not big, mind you, but bigger.

When Albert’s parents came to visit, she could call them “Ah-gong” and “Ah-ma” without prompting. In fact, she can talk in sentences with “Ah-ma sleep, Ah-gong nap.” She can say “Pop-pop” for Erin’s father, but “Grandmom” is still too hard. The funny thing is that she can also say “Steve,” Erin’s sister’s boyfriend, but she can’t say “Julie,” who is not only her aunt, but also a teacher at her daycare.

We went on a nature hike while Albert’s parents were here, and where we used to worry about her walking and falling down, now she is so excited to run. “Wun wun wun,” and off she goes. She doesn’t run with t-rex arms like Miranda did when she was little, but kind of runs all wobbly as if she doesn’t care that it is not a straight line. She runs in a squiggle with arms flopping back and forth. Positively beaming.

The other thing is that she has started to is pretend. She listens on the stethoscope, coughs when you put it on her back. Gives you a shot, diapers her rabbit, all rabbits are named “hop.” She has always put phones (and remotes) to her ear, but now when you ask who is there, she says she is talking to “Da-da,” even if it is Da-da asking.  She doesn’t cry as much when she wakes up in the night and instead lets you know she needs you.

And in addition to all of these things, she has begun to sing. “Hi hi hi, hee, hee, hee” from “Sing what I sing” with Madeline Kahn and Grover (not the Elmo and Ernie version). “Row, row, down, merry, merry dream.” “Itsy bitsy spider,” and “the Bumblebee song.” “Ouch, he stung me!” And of course “EYIOH,” where she will “moo” on command.

This month, the wedding, Albert’s parents, walks at Huntley Meadows, and on Theodore Roosevelt Island. Eating soup, driving her car, and picking up acorns from the back yard. What she doesn’t realize is that while she is exploring and learning, we are buoyed by her excitement, and lifted by her joy. When work is stressful or life is frustrating, having Curie lets us let go the shackles of daily life and enjoy the moment, and when you think about it, the moment is all there really is.

 

 

Curie March 2013. “Hotdog!” Curie turned 18 months in March and at her appointment she measured 30 inches in height and a little over 18 pounds in weight. Still a peanut, but  getting taller! Curie now has 10 teeth with her lower molars coming in, she will eat almost anything including the beef jerky that Albert gave her. Curie has fallen in love with meatballs, which started at Ikea (though there was no horsemeat involved), but progressed to these cool meatball packs for toddlers that we can bring on trips. She loves to eat soup with a spoon, noodles with chopsticks, and brisket with a fork.

Curie’s biggest excitement was to get a push car for walks. Curie has always hated the stroller and because she is so small we would usually just carry her, but after seeing a push car in the park we got her one (not the pink one) and it is her favorite toy. You should watch her work the steering wheel, on a real car we would all have whiplash. We haven’t used the stroller since.

Curie is getting very independent, and tells us when she pees and poops, so we bought her a potty where she likes to sit and read the potty book. Potty training is a while away but it is good to know she likes to sit on it. She also got a little Mickey rolling bag for travel that you see kids drag in the airport. She loves it and any bag she can carry on the crook of her elbow.

Curie’s other favorite thing is the slide. Big slides, little slides she loves them, the strange thing though is that she has become afraid of swings, which she used to love.

This month we went to the zoo, had deer in our backyard, and drove up to Massachusetts for Easter and the Children’s Museum. Our favorite things recently? Curie likes to clean and mop things up. Most often she misses the mess and rubs the towel on a dry spot. She wears the kitchen mitts and chases us around the house. She pats the floor for you to lie down, sometimes two people at a time (if you are inches off, she will pat the floor again), and makes sure you are taking your nap – she will put you head down if you lift it, she will pat you on the back to sooth you (though she pats hard) and then she will check to see if your diaper needs changing. Diaper checking includes lifting your shirt, tugging your pant’s and sniffing to see if you have “bee” or “yuck.” How cute is that?

Curie February 2013. We already posted a number of pictures for the month, but we would be remiss if we did not document what Curie has been up to. We started counting to see if she had 50 words, as that would be around when her language would explode, but as we did she kept picking up new words including Ah-ma for Albert’s grandmother and Ah-gong for his grandfather. She continues to say “up-down” a lot, which we need to video – for when we are old and want to remember. So we are counting words well past 50, not all articulate mind you, but she can pull together words and concepts which is pretty mind-blowing as first time parents. Her favorite thing recently though is to say “Oh no!” Something that Albert always says around her, and “Wow!” Though more like “Wau!” Which is something Erin always says around her. She can make a lot of animal sounds on command and loves her books. She still does not watch TV, but she loves “Mau” on the iPad (Mouse, as in Mickey Mouse). The iPad is the new TV, we suppose, so we will need to limit that.

We saw both sets of grandparents this month, Erin’s birthday, went to Disneyworld for Curie’s first time, saw Bernard, Agnes and their family, met Emilie, Taylor and Eric’s newest baby (and Livi too). Curie was 4 pounds 7 ounces when she was born, she was full-term and healthy, but very small. Emilie was 4 pounds and 11 ounces, and when we visited she seemed impossibly small. Curie must have been the same size, but it is almost unfathomable to remember her that way (yes, Albert takes pictures every day and have just have to look). Erin was teary-eyed holding Emilie and we realized that is why every parent and grandparent who held Curie had this look of nostalgic love on their face. We held Curie, and were grateful all over again. So when we are on travel and away, or simply at work and have a moment, even though it is just temporary, it is all right to miss our children isn’t it?

Curie January 2013. I remember when Bernard would get behind in his month updates for the twins and I would get frustrated waiting to read the update, well, now I can relate these days as it is the 13th already and I am only now getting to January. Here is a summary of what happened: Curie stayed up until 1:00 AM for New Year’s. She got two upper molars without too much pain. She talks a lot more, and even more in February. She can make the animal sounds of a cow and a cat, but for dog she simply pants because that is what a girl at school with a dog says when you ask “what does a dog say?” Very cute. She continues to love the guitar (“tar”) and piano, and turns up her hands for “I don’t know?”

She loves the game up and down which she learned in school and anytime she goes up or down she will say so. She learned to say “please” and “thank you” at school, and started climbing and jumping off of furniture. The thing that we found remarkable in January was that she learned to unload the dishwasher including big plates and trays. She hasn’t broken a dish yet. Oh, and she loves to make waffles in the toaster oven.

We went to the botanical gardens, the museum of natural history, went on a nature walk at Huntley Meadows with her first cousin once removed (look it up) Helen (okay don’t look it up Helen is Albert’s cousin), and went to the service day at the art colony (at the reformatory) on MLK Day.

This month’s notable milestone is that Curie got her big girl bed (and full length mirror which is 3 feet tall – and covers a hole in the drywall that Albert made). She has hated her crib since she was an infant. Erin and Albert also got a bigger bed, and we finally put up our photos on the walls using mostly canvas enlargements. Someone commented that the house becomes a home when you put up decorations.

Here is the thought of the month: Writing “my daughter brings me joy” gave Albert more likes on Facebook than most of the photos he has posted. And though Curie is getting a bigger vocabulary, the best conversations are the nonsensical ones that Albert and Curie have for more than 5 minutes at a time.

 

 

Curie December 2012. So we were planning on putting this great picture of the family up that Steve took over the weekend and we realized that we never made a collage for December. With the holiday card, we totally forgot. So, here we are.

We took Julie and Steve to Philadelphia for a quick trip, but Curie got very sick and we ended up staying in for much of it; we posted on how traumatic it was for us to give her medicine. We are happy to say that she has recovered with no worse for wear.

We were supposed to go up to see Erin’s family, but with Julie and her mom not being able to travel, we ended up having the holidays at our house and having Erin’s father down for the holiday. We went to Manassass Battlefield, which, if you have never been to a Civil War battlefield, is pretty cool. Curie, of course, made out like a bandit for the holiday with a monogrammed couch, a play tree house, a work bench (to off-set the kitchen), and a digital camera.

Curie has been practicing words when she hears them. When you say a word, she will whisper it after you but not be willing to say it aloud -“iPad,” “app,” “okay,” “strawberry” she whispers – and you say “What? Say that again?” And she just smiles at you.

When she plays, she, will now physically place your hands on her toys to have you play with her. She loves stickers, and guitars, and pianos. The crazy thing is that she holds a pen properly and loves to write or pretend to write -she will fill pages of writing in a sitting. She loves sitting at a desk and pretending to talk on the phone. She will pick up food with either fork or chopsticks, but will use her hands if she is hungry. The funniest thing, recently, is that she likes to take pictures with our little camera, she points it at herself, gives a photo grin and takes her picture. We will have to post a collage soon. The camera is inches from her face.

Parents love to tell us, not to worry, that though fleeting, every age is great, and so far we have to agree. A woman recently told us to cherish every moment, because when they are 19 and you want a hug, or want to hug them, they are not as likely to give it to you. So we hug Curie when we can, and give her muchas smoochas every night. Muchas smoochas? If you are not a parent, its best not to ask.