Category: Elia Months

Being behind all the time in blogging is evidence of how little brain space there is to do very much. Laundry is always behind, the house is not cleaned, and we work day-to-day to get the kids fed, homework done and the kids to sleep. We parent by screen time a lot just to keep the kids busy, but recently we have noticed, that if we ask the kids not to watch, after an initial whining, they will play and prefer to play. We have a lot of toys, and really could do with a purge of older and lesser toys, but Elia is of the age right now that it would break her heart to give them away. Continue reading “Elia March 2019”

In January, Albert had a work trip that meant that Erin would have the kids for two days. Unfortunately Erin also had a trip immediately following which meant trouble if it wasn’t for the fact that Julie was able to step in and take care of the kids during the overlap. The reality was that they only needed care for dinner and bedtime since Albert’s flight got in just after bed time, but there was the possibility that his flight could get canceled or delayed. So it was fortunate that Julie was there and prepared to stay with the kids just in case. Continue reading “Elia February 2019”

So Elia’s birthday party was in the beginning of January instead of December mostly because of scheduling around that time. Elia originally wanted her birthday to be at Busy Bees again because she has had her birthday there a couple of times before, but even though Curie was at the minimum cut off at 46 inches, none of Curie’s friends would be able to make it if we held it there. We had a few discussions about where to have the party, but Elia was pretty adamant. Then one day after going to Jumpin’ Joeys for a friend’s party. Elia came to us and said that she wanted to have her party at Jumpin’ Joey’s because otherwise Curie’s friends couldn’t come. What an amazing little girl! Continue reading “Elia January 2019”

Even though Elia’s birthday is in December, because we write hers from the 15th to the 15th, the events of her birthday will fall in the next blog post. Strangely, we will write about Thanksgiving now and her birthday and Christmas then. We could have made Elia’s posts on the month but that would have meant writing two at the same time, which would be quite onerous. In any case, Thanksgiving.

Our Thanksgiving, Christmas schedule is largely decided upon by Albert’s family and since they met up in October for Columbus day, we found ourselves not having any Thanksgiving plans. We did need to take the kids out to another country this year, but since our house had not yet rented and we were paying both rent and mortgage, we felt hesitant to do anything more than to drive to Canada again. Continue reading “Elia December 2018”

When times are challenging, even when they are not anxiety producing or dire, there is a sense that life is a constant uphill battle. This is an attitude that is easy to fall into as much as it a choice of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Much of life is about choices, and the stress comes when you are not choosing and not in control. Choose to be content, and happiness will follow – note, I did not say choose to be happy, as more often than not, when there are challenges, and happiness is not achieved, you won’t be content. You have but to look at a four-year old’s life to see truth in how to live life. Continue reading “Elia November 2018”

Sometimes we don’t always know who the audience is for these blogs, though it is fairly certain that in the end it is for the kids to read about their childhood. What started out as a listing of Curie’s milestones as a baby has become more. Elia is working hard to carve out an identity for herself and this has good and bad consequences especially when she sees identity as something that someone else does not do rather than owning the things she wants to do.  So if Curie wants one thing, Elia will identify with another. Curie likes udon, so Elia wants ramen, and so on.  Lately, Curie has done the reverse and is exceptionally helpful when Elia is misbehaving. Continue reading “Elia October 2018”

Elia transitioned into K-Prep and missed her old teachers a lot. That translated in not wanting to go to school as much at first, however in recent weeks she has liked her new class and her new teachers more. She also asks Albert to pick her up early when he can as a treat for her, and Albert has come to lunch once to cheer her up. Continue reading “Elia September 2018”

Watching Elia discover the world around her has been amazing with times of revelation and times where she is becoming more self aware. She tries so hard to do what Curie does even though she knows she is smaller. At Curie’s Congressional Camp luau, she was so proud to make it up on stage with Curie do practice the hula. When it came time to take bows, she was beaming as she waved to us on the stage, she was with the camp kids and was one of them. Her joy was boundless and unabashed.  Continue reading “Elia August 2018”

During these months we have been in the middle of buying a house and moving, so we have not been doing a great job with this blog. July’s blog for Elia encompasses June 16th to July 15th, So we will recount the happenings for this time even though we are a month late.

Albert went to his company’s big conference at the end of June necessitating asking Erin’s parents to come help for the time he was away. With Erin’s parents, Elia was playing royal family with Curie and them, and her punishment for Pop-Pop was, “You must sleep in a bed with no pillows.” And while Albert was away Elia would tell him “Daddy, I very miss you,” and later, “Daddy, you said we had to promise to face call.” Albert notes that it is quite a thing to have your daughter miss you so much. On his return, Continue reading “Elia July 2018”