Category: Updates

Curie October 2014. Albert is in Brussels for a meeting, and Erin’s parents are coming up to help while he is gone (missing both Halloween and our Anniversary). Albert travels with one of the (now three) Jellycat bunnies that the girls has; this was the first time Curie realized this and she said “you can take Hoppa with you on your trip,” much to Albert’s relief.

This month, Curie got her first “hair cut” when Natalie, one of her friends and her were playing “hair cutter,” and Natalie actually cut a bit off of Curie’s hair, you could tell when it happened and you can kind of see it in the fourth picture on the back of her head.

We related when we all kicked-our-legs-like-the cow-in-bed-story earlier in a separate post, but something else that Curie has taken to want to do recently is to take family pictures with the timer. So a couple of times now she has asked for a family photo where she will tell us if we are blurry or if someone blinked so that we have to take it again. It is very sweet.

We say often that Curie is crazy smart, and this month she proved it again when she wanted to watch something on the phone. We try to distract her with car games, of which one is a bit of a scavenger hunt in the car. We ask her “what do we need to find today?” And she gives us a list. When we find them, she awards us points a la “Whose line is it anyway?” where the points don’t matter. So we said, why don’t we play a game? You can watch afterward (the game can take a long time), so she rattles off a list that is a little odd “dentist office, trees, dirt, a car (usually it is a taxi, a fire engine, a police car, a bus, and a train or similar). She then proceeds to find each of them in successive order totally playing us. She had picked what she could see from the car so that she could fast forward the game and watch something (wait, have we relayed this story already? We may have).

Albert wound up a year-long project of moving the company headquarters this month, and brought the family to see it. In the past she has been a little afraid because of the construction, and has not bonded with Michael, Albert’s boss, because there was no where to run around. This time however was different, after being a little shy, she bonded with Michael over wrapping bubbles and after returning home she said she wanted to go back “because I love it.” and said she wanted to go back to Michael’s office.  On a separate note, because of the building there was a Gala to raise money for needs-based scholarships. It was the first time we went to a business thing and had the kids with a “sitter,” in this case Erin’s sister Julie. Curie had a great time, but when we came back she said “don’t go to a party again!”

Considering how into trains Curie is, it is hard to believe it has only been a year since we went to Strasburg and she rode the train for the first time. Until then she had not developed an interest in trains. Earlier in the month we rode a small train at a local park and she was a little scared because of how fast it went. She wanted to go to the “train station” which refers to Strasburg and ride the big train, so we went up and rode the train, and bought Caitlin, a new engine to take home, and stayed over to go again (last year we had only planned to go one day and Curie asked to go a second so we stayed over). But the next day, she said to us that she wanted to go home to play with her trains at home. She wanted to play with Caitlin on her tracks instead of going back to ride. Albert found it amazing that she wanted to play together at home instead of doing the big “fun” thing. It was her call, so we went home instead.

This month she has taken to playing with her twin Curious Georges named Alice and John as twins, jumping crazy high off the couch, and going to the Halloween party that we wrote about earlier (this is being written before Halloween, so we will probably post that separately). She has become a little more needy recently, especially with the time away at the Gala (Albert remembers the first time they had a baby sitter too), and wants “mommy only, not Elia,” at times. Other times she wants to hold Elia and kisses her spontaneously. When Curie wakes, Elia often makes her smile (and she surely makes Elia smile). Albert often crashes on the couch after needing some downtime as an introvert, but recently Curie has been waking crying for “daddy to sleep next to us (and yes, contrary to what we thought we would do, we did end up with the family bed).” She is sensitive, and smart, considerate and precocious, needy and loving, and everything you would think of in a three-year old. It is not always easy, but it feels more alive to be a parent than it did when it was just the two of us, and really gives us insight on how we see how our parents see us too.

Curie September 2014. The world just gets better. When you are three, you can reach more things, pretend better, laugh at more sophisticated humor, understand nuanced conversation, make up funny words, do word play on names, say “I love you,” without being asked, and hold more stuffed animals in a hug. With a rollicking laugh you ease the stress of a parent’s terrible day. With a heartfelt hug you bring a grown person to tears. What a wonderful age it is to be three.

Curie is constantly checking to see if Albert is feeling better after a little incident he had. She tells him to eat or drink and wants to know if he is better (he is better BTW). We consciously do not hide if we are sick to her, though Albert remembers wondering if parents ever got sick.

Curie loves her pre-school, she is so proud of being there and has so much fun. She has long watched Caillou, a Canadian cartoon on PBS, where the main character, who is four, goes to pre-school; and when she chooses episodes, in general, she chooses going to school or going to the doctor.  Going to pre-school is a coming of age thing for her.

Potty training continues to go well, though she is becoming ashamed of not making it to the potty; as a parent, you never want them to be ashamed of anything. She covers her eyes when she gets her diaper changed after she poops. Everybody poops. But when she is having fun she chooses not to go to the potty, she doesn’t forget, she just chooses. What a kid.

We have been limiting Curie’s TV time, or screen time, in today’s parlance. This means on drives we have been playing more games. The picnic game, the car sscavengerhunt game, egg game, Erin’s stories on cars, and of course I Spy. When we see trucks we all scream “AHHH!” for big trucks, and whisper “ahhh!” for little trucks. We duck our heads with a hand over our head when we go under bridges or through tunnels. At home, Albert has been playing trains more with Curie who sees this as very valuable time; frankly, it must mean Albert does not spend enough time with her at home. Playing has become more valuable than watching something.

There is that study that Facebook makes you feel like everyone else is having a better time than you, and lately, Erin has worried that we are not giving them the same summer memories because we did not go to the beach or go away like many families on Facebook; but this September alone, Curie had three birthday parties, a trip to the Baltimore Science Museum, apple picking with the Tamanahas, a visit with firemen at the condo association meeting, eating at the “choo-choo sushi” restaurant, playing on the river front on K Street, going to Tim’s Rivershore, eating at Ben’s Chili Bowl followed immediately by “dessert” pho at a Vietnamese restaurant and a bit of something at IceBerry. And then there was the spontaneous staycation at the Sheraton Premiere in Vienna, where she proclaimed: “I love this place!” We do love that place. We do all right.

Its pretty wonderful being three, but for parent-to-be or young parents. beware. They say “terrible twos” but the threes are no walk in the park, and maybe even worse than twos. Fussiness, tantrums, testing boundaries, having friends outside family, having favorites between parents, all par for the course. And still it is all outweighed by the fact that they are starting to understand what love is, and what family is. What do you say when your daughter pulls everyone for a big hug and says “we’re one big family, ‘wight?” You say, “yes Curie, that is right.”

Curie turns three. It is hard to believe that our little girl is three. If you recall, she was 37 weeks, three weeks early, and only 4 pounds 7 ounces, barely fitting two hands. She perched on Albert’s shoulder to sleep and soothe. Unlike Elia who was rounder and more filled out even at 35 weeks, Curie was wrinkly from the drop in amniotic fluid and alert to the point of flight/fright. Elia smiled on day three, Curie’s first smile was a month after she was born.

And now, at three, Curie is precocious and gregarious with a fabulous sense of humor. She is discovering plays on words and how to pretend. She is remarkably sensitive and caring with a big heart to match her sharp wit. Never mind her sun-drenched hair and Hawaiian skin. She loves her Mama, and said her favorite thing is “to play with Dada,” and Elia is her best friend.

Curie loves to feed her sister, make her laugh, and breaks out in a grin even after just waking up to see Elia smiling at her. For her birthday, we had three parties, one for three of the girls from day care at Natalie’s house, one with just family, and one with close friends hosted at the Hoaglands. Erin’s mother says you should have the same number of kids as age for parties, and after the big party, we would agree.

Ever since Christmas, presents have mattered to Curie, not to collect anything or get stuff, but to open and be surprised. In fact, it is a lot like the eggs, you can rewrap a present and it would have a similar effect (though she is getting into the “I want this or that/what did you buy me” phase). For her third birthday, among other things, Curie got a slide from Albert’s parents, a basketball hoop and Mommy and Daddy Pig from Mommy and Daddy, clothes and paints from Erin’s parents, figures and books from the Hoaglands, and Octolinks from the Tamanahas. Her auntie Julie gave her and Elia books. Suephy’s family got her a purse (in which she puts her Play-doh containers), and Bernard’s family got her a Peppa Pig and a great books about Crayons going on strike.

Though more appropriate for her monthly blog, Curie is well along in her potty, about to transition to pre-school (along with a number of her classmates), and loves to be the “line leader/waiter.” At her party we learned that she apparently tells the class when Daddy is going to pick her up – and is disappointed when he doesn’t. She doesn’t like to be left alone, and will say “I need someone to look after me,” if we do.

When they say “it seems like yesterday…” it really does. When you are single or even when you are married, life is a bit in suspended animation in that it is only when you look at old pictures that you realize you are a bit grayer or a bit rounder. With kids you mark time with every new thing they do, and if you remember how a year seemed so long as a kid it is probably because so many things happen to you while you are growing up and that each year is a larger proportion of your life. Time gets shorter, life goes faster, and the moments get more precious.

Curie August 2014. Curie turns three in a few days and we will have a particular collage for her on her birthday, but here is the August one where we went swimming with the Yischons, played “golf-ball (mini-golf)” for the first time, rode the merry-go-round and exposed our daughters to art at Glen Echo Park, went to the DC Pen Show where Curie got a pen that looks like a car, and learned to play a little ping pong at the Hoaglands.

Curie has become obsessed with popsicles this summer and has had her first lolipop as well. When she gets hurt she has Albert wrap the part that got hurt in a cast of athletic tape and under-wrap. She loves being carried upside down and has learned to jump from the couch. She is fearless on the playground and will elbow her way to the slide if she feels it is her turn. She is fiercely independent and analytical, but will tell you if she is “a little bit sad,” or if something is “a little bit scary.” When Albert had a hard day at work, she told Erin that “Dada is a little bit sad.”

Curie loves Elia and often is the only one who can make her smile. Elia has become enamored of Curie and will follow her to play with her toys or do what Curie is doing. We bought two toy boxes for them to have their own toys, but Elia just wanted to play with what Curie had and Curie wanted to play with her old toys again. We told her that she had to ask Elia if she could play with them to which Curie asked, “Elia can I play with your toys?” Immediately following with, “Elia says ‘yes.'” When she plays with Elia she calls her “Little one,” and “Sweetheart.” On occasion she will call her “honey.” If she is calling for her attention she chants: “”E-Lee-YA!, E-Lee-YA!, E-Lee-YA!”

Curie most recently has been talking in her robot voice, which she finds terribly funny; started watching Jake and the Pirates, (Captain Hook) and Phineas and Ferb (Perry); and has taken to making up words and songs. This month she went to the dentist which left a very big impression: she will play dentist now as much as doctor, and give you a cleaning, including the water and how you need to close your mouth around the vacuum thing to suck the water out. And though she has the beginning of a cavity, she has was great at the dentist, and has taken to brushing better (and spitting) each night.

As a two-year old becoming a three-year old, she tests her boundaries, has trouble adjusting to having a younger sister who is growing, and is more susceptible to being fussy as she gets less sleep. She especially hates being left alone One night Curie was crying and ever since Curie was an infant, Albert will come up and say “Don’t worry Curie, I am here, I’ll always come get you.” If she was crying in the crib, “I’ll always come get you.” Or if she was playing alone and started to cry. “I’ll always come get you.” Well, after Albert came up and spent some time with her, he got up to get something – now she really wants people to watch with her when she watches TV or the phone, so she got him to come back by saying, “Daddy, stay. ‘Member? I was cwying.” Wow. And she will only get better at it as she gets older, right?