Curie and Elia go to the Doctor and…
Curie and Elia go to the doctor and…
Yesterday we took Curie and Elia to the doctor for their 30 month and 3 month appointments respectively. Note that Elia is actually closer to four months. Curie measures a two feet 10 inches, and 23 pounds 5 ounces. Elia measures at 22.25 inches long, and 10 pounds 1 ounce. Her head was 15 inches. For comparison, Curie was just under 10 pounds at 3 months, they are very similar.
Curie did not have any shots and had such a good time that she did not want to leave. Elia had two shots and an oral vaccination, so she was not as happy. On milestones Curie met all except jumping, Elia met all of hers. And then…
…it was as if she heard us because that night, Curie learned to jump. She was so proud that she didn’t fuss when she landed on her bottom. Only parents or friends close to kids will understand this, but we were so proud.
We will have the normal blog entry in a few days, but we really wanted to note when Curie began to jump.
Curie March 2014
Curie March 2014. Curie graduates to underwear. Prompted by the peer pressure of her friends wearing underwear at school, Curie has taken to asking for underwear and telling us when she needs to potty. We are at 4 straight public successes. Yay Curie!
Curie’s month included the visit from Suephy, Jared and Dylan who brought Curie Dylan’s Thomas collection. Talk about heaven, 20 – 30 trains, tracks and Tidmouth station on top of the Legos and things they already gave her. What an amazing gift – thank you Suephy, Ed, Jared, and Dylan! Over the years friends and family have given us their hand-me downs, toys, and books so that we have not had to buy so much for our kids, for this we are grateful, we hope some day to pay it forward.
Curie has had night terrors recently, and we have had to comfort her when she wakes. Okay, so it has been twice so far, but she is inconsolable for an hour or so. We understand that this is normal, but it is wrenching nonetheless – other parents, do you feel protective and helpless at the same time? Curie ended the month with a fever while Bernard, Agnes, Eleanor and Miranda visited and right before our trip to New Orleans. Along with Erin’s upcoming conference, and Albert’s recent return from Copenhagen, it makes for challenging time – protective and helpless.Curie’s needy time is still with Erin, no one calms the kids down faster than Erin, and when the crying starts and the comfort is needed, Erin is the one Curie goes to.
When Albert returned from his trip he and Curie sat in a hug in front of the television for almost an hour. Every day since then, Albert asks Curie “have I already told you today?” She says “yes.” Albert says, “I love you Curie,” Curie replies, “I love you too.” Albert took Curie’s spare rabbit on his trip.
As we have said, Curie loves surprise eggs and Easter has been a crazy time of opening eggs. We try to find non-candy eggs, but it is not easy. Playmobil makes a great line. We are likely going to have to buy eggs when they go on clearance for later, and it may be that Easter is Curie’s holiday.
Normally we end with a thought of the day, however, Albert has started writing again recently (for those of you who didn’t know, he fancies himself a writer). Here is an unedited excerpt that is a little autobiographical and pertains to our daughters: “upon my deathbed, when I am infirm and insensate, I will lose all track of time and all sense of reality; I will be transported once again with my infant daughter snuggled against my neck in the wee hours of the morning, and in the still and deafeningly quiet, marked with the sound of her breathing, I will think to myself that this is worth remembering when it is time to die.” Cherish the time.
From Facebook: Curie may not remember when she is older, but the best times are the simple family times, where she sings in the bed, reads us Green Eggs and Ham, and we go into the tunnel and look for “scaary lions,” where in a low two year old voice while shaking her head, she roars “rawr!”
Elia turns 3 months!
Elia turns 3 months! When you do a picture a day not having a picture means you can’t make the collage. Albert went to Copenhagen one day before Elia turned three months which meant that we couldn’t get the last picture into the collage until he got back.
We are finding that we are more careful with Elia. Whether that is because we didn’t know better with Curie or that Elia spent so much time in NICU, we don’t really know. If you look back at pictures, Curie was face-forward in the Baby Bjorn at this point, we are just getting Elia into the Baby Bjorn – and it is us not her! She is fully capable, in fact she doesn’t like to be held face in normally, her favorite position is holding her beneath her under arm pits faced forward. Easily a forward-facing Baby-Bjorn position.
This month Elia got eye lashes and eyebrows in earnest and in a picture or two looks like Curie did (we will post one soon that shows this). Where Curie liked to snuggle, she was sparing about giving smiles at three months, Elia likes to move, but smiles all the time. She began playing a game with Albert where she would spit out her pacifier and when Albert would put it back she would smile and spit it out again. At three months, that was pretty amazing, at least for her parents. She also pauses when you say “hungry,” but we don’t know if that is understanding or not.
Suephy, Jared, and Dylan came up to see their cousin and both boys held Elia. At first, Jared was concerned because Elia would cry when he held her, but in reality he held her last when she was tired. By the time they left, Elia slept in Jared’s arms. When we write about Curie, we will tell you the crazy things we did.
This month we also went to the zoo, our friends the Hoaglands gave us a membership this year. Elia had cradle cap, so we put olive oil in her hair to help it. An unintended consequence though is that she smells like old oil by the next day. Elia is putting on weight, went to size 1 diapers and Cradle cap. Got chubbier. Baby bjorn, zoo, started size 1 diapers. and 0-3 clothes. Elia still is tiny, and looks much younger than she is.
It has gone faster. Maybe that is the reason we are being more careful – to try to relish the time, but it is a blink of an eye in comparison to when we had Curie. It is precisely that we have two kids that make the days go faster. Changing clothes, getting ready for school, baths, meals, the time disappears in the beauty of the domestic day. Sure there are times of frustration and moments of emotion – being on the edge of overwhelmed. There is work, and family, and life and… everything – but that everything is life, and every moment of perspective, challenge, and emotion reminds us to appreciate what we have, feel blessed that we have, and if we take a moment each day to consider, we can relish what is important.
Curie February 2014
Curie February 2014. Curie loves the conveyor belt sushi restaurant which we have dubbed the “sushi choo-choo” restaurant. The other day she told us she wanted to go to the sushi choo-choo restaurant, which we thought was very cute; the thing is, Curie is crazy smart and we just didn’t know it. You see, Curie loves surprise eggs, and every time we go to the sushi choo-choo restaurant, she gets a Kinder egg (which are illegal in the US) from the candy store and instead of asking for an egg from the candy store, she asked to go to the sushi choo-choo restaurant without tipping her hand. Crazy smart right? On the other hand, at the restaurant itself, Curie has already gotten edamame, tomago, and fruit for herself AND returned the covers to the conveyor belt even before we have ordered drinks. Other families tell their kids to not touch the sushi, we ask Curie to get our orders.
The whole family got sick this month (not from the sushi). We tried really hard to keep it from Elia, but in the end she succumbed too. For Erin’s birthday, we did a staycation at the Sheraton Premiere, but Albert had the shakes in the middle of the night from being so tired and sick that he rolled himself into a hot bath to raise his core body temperature and fell asleep – scaring Erin. We are mostly better now, though Erin has caught another cold.
In February, we went to the Udvar Hazy Center Smithsonian Air and Space museum (twice, the second time with Erin’s parents and sister) to see the “space ship” (space shuttle). Curie’s favorite airplane is a yellow Naval Aircraft Factory N3N that hangs above the SR-71, Albert’s favorite. Upon entering the museum she immediately said “that’s my favorite,” about the yellow plane. Incidentally Erin’s favorite plane is the Concorde, Jim’s is the P-40 Curtis-Wright Warhawk, Julie’s was the space shuttle, and Brenda’s was the sail plane.
Erin returned to work at the end of the month, somehow the whole experience seems faster this time around. Having two kids is a little more hectic (those of you with three or more – more power to you), you have less time for either child. Curie gets less than before “put Elia down!” And Elia, as the second child gets fewer bright-eyed photos (we think Elia sleeps more than Curie did, but it may be an optical-illusion based on the fact that we had time to take pictures of Curie when she was looking at the camera). In any case, everything seems faster, more hectic, and with less time to enjoy our time together – which makes each moment something you have to intentionally slow down to savor and appreciate. The moments are always precious – whether it is leaving work at a good time, putting down the camera to hold the children, watching Thomas instead of the news, having a happy life is finding the time to appreciate the value of those moments.
Oh and congratulate Erin, she is officially the Chief Development and Engagement Officer at NatureServe as of yesterday.
“Tomorrow we will post a Curie collage, but for the moment, here is Elia happy.”
We posted this to Facebook the day before posting the February collage, it got 40 likes in one day.
Elia Turns Two Months!
Elia turns two months. At two months, Elia is 8 pounds 2.4 ounces, has begun to coo, rolls over from front to back, almost rolls over from back to front, and like her sister at two months, has learned to get out of a blanket if you throw one over her. Also like her sister at the same age, she started size one diapers, went to child care for the first time, and has begun to sleep longer. We have begun carrying her in the Baby Bjorn in addition to her stroller.
Elia is just coming into her own. If you look at the pictures, you can practically see it in her eyes. She smiles a lot and loves to be cuddled. She sleeps more than Curie did, but she is also younger at the same age. She will lie on her back unperturbed for long periods of time, she tracks when you hold her, and she has begun to self-soothe with her hand in her mouth (both girls are likely thumb suckers with orthodontic bills in the future).
If it seems that Curie seemed more alert in her pictures, it is because with one child it was easier to capture when she was alert. With Elia, we take the pictures we can and cherish the time we have with each of our kids.
Curie, like her parents, loves to hold Elia, though often in awkward ways, the other day Curie bent over and said “Mommy, I want to give Elia a piggy-back, put her on my back.” This month we all caught colds, and as a baby it takes longer to get over it, so she coughs and has to learn to breathe through her mouth. You would think that with our second baby we would be less at the doctor’s office at a drop of a hat, but we go anyway, including rashes and such, Dr. Dierks, our pediatrician is patient with us and reassures us. Curie has been fascinated with going to the doctor with Elia, though very protective; at the last visit, Curie told us not to take Elia since she was going to get shots.
This month we visited the Air and Space museum twice, Erin’s parents came to visit, and Albert resumed racquetball; Erin gets ready to return to work and we gear up for a different routine. We get a little more sleep, but the weight of being on all the time does take its toll. The days go really fast and if you don’t take the time to appreciate it, carve the time to be a part of it, remember that this time is fleeting, you will miss too much. With work, obligations, family challenges, and the inexorable push of time, we are learning to appreciate every moment no matter how small and be grateful for what we have.
Curie January 2014
Curie January 2014. Curie learns to have a sister. It is remarkable to see Curie as a little girl – up until when Elia was born, Curie was our baby. More than one parent has described this phenomena to us, where all of the sudden Curie seems so big.
At two and a half, she loves her trains with three different sets (thank you to Suephy and Ed, Shaun and Chris, and Cy and Librada for the trains), knows all the names of Thomas and Friends, and loves to play “ramper” which is making a long ramp jump from train tracks and running cars and trains down through a hoop. She has sings a wide range of songs now including “Eidel-bise,” and is always asking what you are singing when she doesn’t know it. We said goodbye to Brenda, had Suephy and Taylor visit, and spent time with the Hoaglands and Tamanahas.
It has been an interesting month for us; with Elia coming home, Curie has been overjoyed, achingly caring, and a little needing of attention. Normally, when she is tired she wants Mommy and when she is rested she wants Daddy, but in the past month she has wanted both of us at the same time, when Albert gets up, she says “Daddy, lay down!”
The flashes of jealousy manifest with things like the boppies being hers again, asking to put Elia down, or asking to pick her up instead of Elia. No eating newspaper like Suephy did when Albert was born. We try to make the extra effort to hold her and play with her and make her feel special still. It is hard sometimes to balance giving her attention and giving in.
On the other hand, Curie can be gentle when she asks to hold Elia, and is terribly proud when Elia stops crying when she holds her or sings lullabies to her. Curie loves her sister and is quick to show you what Elia is doing. It hasn’t been easy having two kids, to all of you parents out there who have already done it, more power to you. With the lack of sleep, the divided attention, and the adjustment of having another member of the family, we are simultaneously overwhelmed and in awe that we are finally together.
When it is late at night, and the two girls are asleep, when you are too exhausted to clean, too overwhelmed to work, and too tired to sleep; you check to see if the baby is breathing, you put your hand on your two year old’s back and let her snuggle up against you, and in the deafening quiet of the night, before the baby wakes up again, you take it all in, give yourself a moment, and are grateful for everything.
Happy One Month Birthday, Elia!
Happy One Month Birthday, Elia! 18 days in the NICU make it feel like this is our second week with Elia, not a full month – our due date was January 18th, Elia was born on December 19th. As recounted in previous posts, the hardest part was seeing her only a couple of hours a day.
Elia was 4 pounds 8 ounces when she was born, and at her month’s doctor’s visit she will be around 6 pounds (5 pounds 14 ounces the week before). Elia has out-grown her preemie clothes and is wearing newborn outfits now. Our favorites are the Mickey and Eeyore ones (the Eeyore has a tail in the back).
Just like with Curie, we are posting monthly collages with every day for the first year – those of you interested can watch Elia grow with us. On our website we include a family picture, on Facebook we collected those at the end of the first year.
Before Elia was born, Albert would joke about the second child – that he would just reuse the pictures of Curie and tell Elia that it was her (actually Peter at Duck Chang started that joke), the reality is Albert has not stopped taking the picture a day – you can call it insanity or dedication (or “insanication”).
(Why does Elia’s collage only have an ultrasound in the beginning? Confession time: when Albert was putting together Curie’s first month collage he forgot the 18th day, he didn’t forget to take it, he just forgot to put it into the collage. You can count it, 32 slots, three taken up by pregnancy test, ultrasound, and monitor; September so 30 days, there had to be a missing picture. So here we have Elia’s, December so 31 days, that means only one free slot, hence just the ultrasound (though we have the other two). Why didn’t Albert ever fix it? If you have ever been to our house, he blew up a 24 x 36 of the collage which hangs in the stairwell, and it would be a lot of work to redo it. Now the truth is known.)
We are out of practice at being new parents, but we try and the sleep deprivation comes back like riding a bike – (wait, we meant parenting comes back). Elia is eating well both from bottle and breast, poops a lot, sleeps a lot, and burps a lot, all part of her job. Elia smiles a lot ,and did so from the beginning – as early as the second day. There are a few hours of awake time where she loves being on her tummy (we burp her face down on our palm, so she probably associates face down with feeling good). When she is not doing tummy time, she is looking around with wonder at the world or looking into your eyes, sharing time.
It’s 3 AM, Elia has just been fed, Curie is sleeping quietly perpendicular to the bed, you can hear the ice maker in the refrigerator gurgle, lights are low and the baby makes mouth movements as she dreams of eating – a smile passes her lips. Warm baby breathing against your chest, you think to yourself, “I remember this, I remember what this was like.” What is this? This is happiness.
Curie Pictures Revisited
Curie pictures revisited. There is a temptation to take some of the iconic Curie pictures and stage them for Elia. There is also a temptation to post Elia pictures as there is an appetite for them from friends and family. Today however we spend a little time with Curie, a little throwback to when she was a baby. Those of you receiving our cards for some time will recognize the upper left hand picture as the back side of our 2010 holiday card. It is a little over two years later and feeling a little nostalgic with the new baby, we took some Curie pictures.