With Halloween, our trip to California, and our anniversary, we have not had the chance to post Curie’s monthly collage so, seven days late, here we are.
If you recall, for her birthday, Curie got an Elsa nightgown which was a capitulation on Albert’s part. We told her she could wear it for Halloween as well. In the meantime, Curie saw Brave, Wall-E, Finding Nemo, and Monsters, Inc, (of the movies, only Monsters, Inc was too scary for her), and went to the doctor – who always impresses Curie. So for Halloween, she wanted to be Dr. Elsa Merida, this we have mentioned before in the Halloween entry. When we asked her what Elia should be she at first said “Anna,” but then changed her mind and wanted Elia to be just like her complete with her own bow and stethoscope, which we thought was pretty considerate. The result was that Elia went as Curie for Halloween.
You may also recall that Albert bought Erin’s bow long before he ever met her, and before we had kids, we used to shoot almost every weekend. We haven’t been since having Curie, but we have always intended on going back as evidenced by Albert buying a bow for Curie before she was born. While we were in California for Erin’s work and visiting relatives, Curie found a toy bow at Daiso, a Japanese dollar store ($1.50) which she wanted. It was in someone else’s basket that looked abandoned on the floor, so we waited for a while and when no one came to claim it Albert took it and bought it for her. She loves to shoot. She shot at the park, in the hotel room and posed for the infamous “Merida and Horse” picture. “Brave” definitely has made an influence, and she was very interested when we told her about her real bow that she could get when she turned 5.
Also for Halloween, we went as Acapella Mimes to the Hoagland party, where you can see in the photos from that party that Curie was just as game to pose as a mime as any of us. For trick-or-treating, we went with Natalie and her parents around our neighborhood which was adorable to watch the two together. In addition to Halloween and California, we went to the Great Country Farm, where Curie demonstrated a great affinity for the animals, saying they were her favorite thing even more than the jumping pillow, though she does call them “aminals.” It is funny because Elia is particularly afraid of actual animals at this point. It was also amazing to watch Curie go from very tentative to getting big air on the jumping pillow. In California, we went to the Exploratorium, which is amazing if you haven’t been. Albert’s family used to go to the older location a lot as kids. Curie’s favorite exhibit was the animation station where she spent the most time at any one exhibit.
Activities aside, she has really started to play with Elia, jumping into the playpen from the bed yelling “cannonball! (and Elia copying her)” She and Elia like to sit on top of the back of the couch and jump down together. When Elia gets upset, Curie has taken on the role of making the “shh, shh, shh” noise to calm her down and you know, it really works. They play trains together, Legos, and dance together. She thinks it is great that Elia is starting to talk more and likes to play a game in the car to see how many words we can make Elia say. Its funny we thought it was important for Curie to have a sibling, and as they start to be best friends for one another, it warms the heart to think that they will have each other even after we are gone (okay, really it is Albert who thinks like that).
As Curie grows, she has become more complex and engaging. In California she showed the Chen competitiveness, and made it a point to eat three servings of macaroni and cheese to prove she could eat more than her cousin Eleanor. At school, she came home once and said that she got married to a lot of people (boys and girls), and rumor has it that she has been holding a little boy’s hand and having him get her coat. She loves saying “boo!” to Albert when she gets home from school to startle him.
Curie loves to help cook and is upset if there is nothing for her to do. She wants to have a grown-up look after her which is code for “spend time with me.” She wants us to play with her, and watch with her, and take care of her. She is perfectly capable of going to the potty by herself, but insists on someone helping her. She loves when we do things as a family, or feeling special with Erin or Albert separately – “Mommy and me are going to do that, right?” She is still learning what beautiful and pretty means (she told her cousins that she can get an Elsa doll if she smiles more and does good things – no, she has not forgotten), but she acts beautiful all the time holding the door, waiting for everyone to come to the table to eat, wanting to say grace together, watching out for her sister, and so many more things. And she continues to make us laugh aloud with her antics: earlier this month, when she had to go brush her teeth, she turned mid-way to the bathroom, looked back at us with one index finger raised and said “I’ll be back in a jiffy!” What four year old says thing like that? Adorable.