Curie November 2012. Isn’t terrible how the days start to run together as you get busy life seems to accelerate just beyond you? November was filled with a lot of changes and developments, but I find myself having to look at the pictures just to see what they were. Curie is still a peanut but is getting too big for her car seat. The regulation is 30 pounds or two years for rear-facing, but her feet are hanging over the side. She also outgrew her shoes which were expensive to begin with. We have begun shopping at the outlet stores for her shoes. It is hard to keep it straight without a reference, in fact it was in October, but we thought we went to Baltimore to see the fish.
In November, we elected a president, took a staycation at Tysons, went to Charleston, had a pre-Thanksgiving here in DC, and had a Thanksgiving family reunion in Atlanta for Albert’s side. At the staycation, Curie decided that she wanted to sit at the desk in the hotel room, and since then, that is her favorite place if we travel. She is very communicative and pats the chair to tell us she wants to get up. Very recently, she has started saying “up,” which is clear communication and makes it hard for us to pretend we didn’t understand. We took a page from Bernard’s playbook and took Curie to the pet store to see the animals. There we saw birds, ferrets, hamsters and cats, and of course the fish.
In Charleston, Erin went for a training with Albert and Erin’s mom coming down to take care of Curie in shifts. Curie’s favorite food became blueberries, and she started carrying bags everywhere, one in the crook of her arm (not because it is a purse, but because it takes it off the ground) and the other in her hand. She would run up and down the hotel room with the bags. We went to the beach, collected shells, went on the USS Yorktown, and visited the market. We had great food on the water including a bucket of steamed oysters for only twelve dollars. While Erin was at training, Albert and Curie went to the Charleston aquarium to see the fish.
Julie and Steve did not go home for Thanksgiving, so we had a pre-Thanksgiving with them with all the trimmings.
In Atlanta, Curie is the youngest of the cousins by 6 years, so she didn’t get a chance to play with her cousins as much as she might have. The oldest cousin, Jared, was fantastic and took care of Curie a great part of the time (10 years old). He called himself her “protector.” We went to the New Coke Museum which wasn’t as good as the old one (ironic – New Coke vs. Old Coke… never mind) before everyone came. Suephy ‘s family hosted Thanksgiving this year, and Ed smoked the turkey, which was fantastic. And in November no less, we went swimming in their pool. On Saturday afternoon, we went trout fishing with the family, but that morning we went to the Atlanta aquarium to see the fish.
So in summary, we had two Thanksgivings, took two flights, went to three cities, saw the fish three times, and all got sick. Curie, has become more vocal with distinct words and communication, she has gotten more fearless, which is unnerving. She is excited to see you and recognizes people even from a year ago. Curie loves to draw while lying on her belly, wave when you arrive and wave when you leave. She says “hi” all the time and is the toast of the daycare at school. The holidays mean different things to different people, family, thanks, spirituality, and giving. They can also mean blues, and reflection, hope, and stress, whatever they mean to each person, having a child changes your perspective on the time and the importance of family and tradition become more and more apparent to us. It was great to see Albert’s parents and his family and it was nice to host Erin’s sister and her significant other. Next month, Erin’s family, Christmas, and Albert’s birthday, all shared with a little girl who brings so much joy to her parents. And maybe we will go somewhere to see the fish.