Before coming to the DMV area, Halloween was never a very big holiday for us, however since the Hoaglands have a party each year to celebrate Bella’s and Quin’s birthdays, we have gone to their Halloween haunted house party since 2007. Curie’s first year was as a Red Hot Chili Pepper, but the following year we started our meta-costumes (well documented) which resulted in us being judges for the costume contest this year. We were worried that the kids would decide last minute that they didn’t want to wear their costumes, but they embraced being judges wholly with Curie leading the charge.
For Halloween, was going to be Wonder Woman from the start; this led to Elia also wanting to be Wonder Woman. In previous years, Curie’s friends were more into princesses and queens, and this year they naturally shifted to superheroes, led by the rise of DC Superhero Girls and the Wonder Woman movie.
As Curie grows up she is more aware of getting bigger with her and Elia making the cut for the IKEA play room, which Curie really enjoyed, but Elia not so much. We even got half an hour to ourselves to have lunch together while the kids played there (crawfish). She has also gotten too big for her XS purple Shopkins dress and black Minnie dresses which she has loved, and is quite sad about it (Elia on the other hand is excited that she might be able to wear them), to the point that Albert went on eBay (they are discontinued) to find a larger size in at least the black one (she has the purple one in a small). The purple dress has become her favorite dress and she asks to put it on every day after school. The red Tsum Tsum dress has also made a comeback, though not requested as before.
Toward the beginning of the month we made a note that she was still whining a lot and getting frustrated to the point where she would go to her place at the top of the basement stairs to be by herself at times or hide behind the blue wingback chair, places that she would go when she was upset in the past; but we have been noticing (as most parents would have already told us) that the whining is mostly a sign of being hungry or tired, Curie doesn’t eat enough, and doesn’t eat enough protein or dairy because she distracted by TV, or toys or books.
Speaking of books, her reading has greatly improved and she loves reading before bed. She gets all sorts of books from libraries and Erin spends time patiently reading to her and listening to her read. The burgeoning love of books is quite amazing to see. Elia is also loving to read mostly because we are spending time with Curie reading. Curie is quite intentional about taking care of Elia, spending time at EMA drawing presents for her – to wit, both Curie and Elia’s drawing has improved dramatically. Elia has also started drawing for Curie at her school, it is adorable how they play together. There is a sophisticated mind at work though. Recently, at a birthday party, Curie got a non-branded pony in her goodie bag and generously gave it to Elia. It turned out it was a strategic and sophisticated ploy to ask for a different toy from us later. We were very proud (and a little scared).
Curie’s latest obsession is … Phineas and Ferb. We didn’t let her watch it earlier because Erin didn’t like the character Candace’s attitude toward her brothers, but Curie is more able to discern that that is a bad attitude (Elia just likes Perry and the fact that Curie is watching it – we hope). Both kids have played Doofinshmirtz as a the bad guy, and have sung the songs from the show. Curie’s other obsession is the Great British Baking show. This is a continuation of the America’s Test Kitchen watching that she and Albert used to do for some time. In fact it is America’s Test Kitchen, Beat Bobby Flay, and Top Gear, all rolled into one. Curie plays a lot at looking at bakes, seeing if there is a good snap, and being a judge, a contestant or a presenter. All-in-all, not bad shows for Curie to love.