Erin and Albert…

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.