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.