Category: Curie

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Crafting July 2020

July 11-12, 2020 This is the product of buying googly eyes, pipe cleaners, construction paper and clothes pins. And what you notice is this: age makes you think inside the box. The dragonfly is Albert’s and very cute, but very… predictable. Look at Elia and Curie’s work when imagination has not yet been reined in by society. Albert did weave the dustpan that Elia asked for help with to match Curie’s broom, but the rest? A bottle family by Elia, her foot staring at us, Curie’s Christmas tree and the sheet of a thousand eyes? Clearly they see better than we do with their imaginations.
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CurieBear and EliaCub Lullaby

April 5, 2020 We record the CurieBear and EliaCub Lullaby. A little history, we wrote CurieBear when Curie was a baby and you can still find the version with the video on our website. When Elia was born we had intended on writing her own, but we didn’t and Elia learned the CurieBear song. A year ago we wrote the last three verses and gave Elia her own part. This is the first time we recoreded it. I tested this earlier so it should work if you click on it:

You can find the lyrics and recording here:

https://www.erinandalbert.com/writing/alberts-work/childrens-lullaby/

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Curie December 2019

December seems like a long time ago and we should say that it is in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic as we write this in May. So back in December we had worked out that we would see Erin’s family for Christmas in New Jersey having just seen Albert’s family in Atlanta for Thanksgiving. The idea was to find a place that was equidistant and an easy drive for everyone, including Julie and Steve. In fact we had planned to rent a large car or van to make it easier to drive. Continue reading “Curie December 2019”

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NICU 2019

“They say you never want to be in NICU, but you are grateful if you have to be.” Curie and Elia are NICU alums spending 4 days for Curie and 18 days for Elia. We go every year to say thank you and bring chocolates, even though in Labor and Delivery most of the staff has turned over – people like our friend Emma have long moved on. Analise, Ray, and James are still at NICU but we went after 9:00 PM so we didn’t see them. This year the Labor and Delivery nurses were all at the nursing station and asked the kids their ages it was so nice to interact with them, at least one of them remembered us from past years. At NICU, the lady let the kids into the front doors into the foyer and also asked them their ages. For some reason we take a family picture in the security mirrors in the hallway when we go, so here is this year’s – we Chens have a lot of traditions.
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Curie November 2019

IT is fascinating to write blogs in such retrospect; it is January 24 and we are just writing the November blog; to be fair we have been sick and work has been stressful. To write blogs so far past we rely on any notes, if any that we took on Erin’s Google Docs, and Google Photos for the daily description. We we miss though are all the funny things that the girls say each day, the real reason for these blogs, to capture those things because you will forget even by the next day. 

Curie continues to develop and grow, she has lost her front teeth and will need orthodontic work, but she is a trooper and her smile is relentless regardless of having her front teeth or not. Sometimes she smiles with her mouth closed, self-conscious, but invariably life lets her laugh and smile all the same. Of course all kids go through this, but when it is your child it is an important reminder that we must let the joy rise. Continue reading “Curie November 2019”