Back in November, we wrote about Curie being the youngest in her class (and school) and that Bright Horizons in Skyline had not prepared her as well for kindergarten in Fairfax as it could have. Mrs. Best reassured Albert that Curie would be fine. Well, Mrs. Best called Erin yesterday to tell us that on Curie’s developmental reading test that Curie scored a 187/193, a huge jump from her score of 90 when she started. We are so proud of her. Note, this follows countless hours of parental worry, diligence from Mrs. Best and Mrs. Campbell and hard work on everyone’s part, especially Curie’s!
We are grateful to Curie’s teachers and proud of Curie’s hard work. We made a cake to celebrate, but the cake mix was expired, so Albert went out late at night to get another one so that Curie could have her cake.
Cure has taken to her Tsum tsum dress as much as Elia with her Belle dress. It is flattering on her, and lets her twirl, but we suspect there is more. It is red and reminds her of Wonder Woman, and oddly she has made it a point to say that it isn’t fair that Elia gets to be Belle all of the time (we have not bought a Belle dress for Curie yet, but we might just to make it fair).
We have seen Beauty and the Beast four times in the theater now. This most recent time, we had to sit in seats apart (amazing that the movie can be almost full right before it will release for purchase). Curie wanted to sit with Albert and the two of them had a little daddy and daughter date. When we left she was intent on telling Albert that he is her prince – the same way Elia says it to her and when Elia said “You are my Beast.”
This month too Erin took Curie to two field trips, one to the National Zoo, to which Albert met the with Elia. The whole district went and while the kids had blue t-shirts, so did their entire school. One of Curie’s classmates was good and listened, but the other two kept wandering off. Curie was hungry when we arrived and insisted on seeing the ponies first, as her parents we did it. There was only two hours, which was really not enough to do very much. Erin also chaperoned the trip to the Natural History Museum which was easier, with just the kindergarteners going and Erin’s group being much smaller.
We spent time on Burke Lake, with Curie and Albert in one boat and Erin and Elia in another. Curie did seem to get a little bored by the end, but she really wanted to row even though we had a motor. In the end we blew bubbles and had a nice time. Along the same lines, we went to Huntley meadows and saw the animals, with Elia and Curie each finding a snake, and both pretending the tower was a castle. This was the month we had live crawfish and the kids picked out all the dead ones before boiling them. We staycationed at the Sheraton, and somehow got Susie and Isabella to come along Curie’s friend Etta even came to swim! We went to Curie’s schools entertainment day, saw Bella’s play and much more. At the end of the month Albert went to Cambridge to attend a certificate program at Harvard and Erin’s mother came down to take care of everyone.
In the middle of the month we noted that Curie has been turning to crying again when things don’t go her way and we could see that it was correlated with needing more sleep and eating better. More to the end of the month though she seems to be better about it, hopefully that means she is getting more sleep and eating better.
Curie has been getting more and more thoughtful. She has always been a sensitive, conscious girl, but recently she has taken to offering massages when we say we are tired. Of course this also means she wants one too and loves to get her back rubbed saying “ah, what a nice massage.” With reading she has begun reading to Elia, especially reading Green Eggs and Ham to Elia (which they have both memorized). Curie is growing up but she is still a little girl in many ways, playing with dolls, wanting to have playdates with us, and being unable to say “ravioli (raviloli)” and laughing about it.
Curie is a joy, a wonderful big sister, a great student, friend and daughter. We are proud not just because we are parents, but because in many ways we can look up to her and let our child remind us as a role model for appreciating life.