Elia’s catch phrase is “doo-doo face.” It comes from when she makes up words when she can’t think of words to say, but has evolved into whenever she wants to be funny and will tell you you have a doo-doo face or she has a doo-doo face. A doo-doo face is what you think it is, revulsion at a food you don’t like, frustrated face, angry face, a face of annoyance, or of disgust. It is a grimace and a contortion usually followed by a burst of laughter. You can say it to her when she is frustrated and it will make her laugh,
Elia is so funny and has taken on the roll to be funny. She and Curie both have Albert’s sense of humor, but because Curie gets to dictate the terms of play often, being the mother or the baby when she wants to, Elia has been defining her personality and identity in her own way. Most of the time it is by being funny and inadvertently very cute. She has a wonder about the world still. “Curie, we have talent!” Elia said after we told them they were talented.
The kids have potty humor. It is Albert’s fault. When he was teaching them box breathing before Curie’s dental appointment, he was saying “breathe in through your nose, count to four, breathe out through your mouth.” Well Curie happens to fart right at that moment, and so it became “breathe in through your nose, out through your butt,” and they were so eager to tell Julie as a part of their yogurt/yoga (encouraged by Albert of course). Elia in particular cracks up about it and will repeat it at times to this day.
In the car they were learning call and response (Albert again), we were talking about a birthday party when a person said “Captain…” trying to get “America” from the kids, when Albert blurted out “Underpants,” making Erin lose it. Well the kids burst out in peals of laughter to which they wanted to do more call and response, getting “America,” “Marvel,” and “Underpants” in various forms. Then Elia remembered that we used to do “Yahoo” which is of course followed by “poo-poo!” Something Albert and the kids used to say when they went potty. Sometimes the kids to it backwards too “you say Captain I say Underpants.”
Elia and the kids drink orange juice and ginger ale (diet ginger ale and Tropic 50 orange juice normally) the same drink Curie ordered at the airport lounge bar at three. We drink it to get them more calcium since Curie has stopped drinking milk. In any case, often Elia just wants the ginger ale since that is the fizzy part she likes. One day though she told Erin that she wants more orange juice than ginger ale since that is where all the healthy stuff is. We credit school/camp for that.
Elia has loved Camp, she missed her preschool and does from time to time, but even from the first day she got to ride ponies and she has felt very grown up even though she is a the little school. We suspect that she has to learn to navigate the changes from week to week but that is good leading up to kindergarten. She has met new friends, has really gotten into swimming and generally tells us what a great day she has had. There have been hard days and times where she is looking for the familiar, but she also has exciting times going to the big school, or seeing Curie in the middle of the day. Ezra has been at camp with her at times and she has seen Chloe and Lucius.
One surprising turn of events is that Sophia is also going to camp, Sophia is from Elia’s old school and we remember her from time to time sitting on Albert’s feet and being funny. We had invited Sophia to a few of Elia’s birthday parties, but had not seen her in a while. Sophia didn’t remember us as much as her mother, but we are excited to see them. We really should arrange for play dates with Sophia and Agnes from Elia’s Rosslyn school. Albert went to pick up Elia’s poster and other stuff and the kids went wild with questions asking about Elia. Elia has also been so excited to share what she has learned at camp, she has brought home recipes from dessert camp and we have made her cookie and berry dessert for dessert at home. Outside of camp, we also begin archery which both girls take to very quickly and we have a great time at the range.
One of the challenges is that we have been going to kindergarten play dates with the kids about to start to help acclimate Elia into kindergarten, so have not arranged for playdates with Sophia, and Elia’s friends from preschool, but we need to make the effort to keep those friendships alive for her. Curie has Natalie and Chloe, and it would be a shame if Elia did not keep up with Agnes, and Ezra.
As a part of our birding life we bought new binoculars for Albert and on a trip to Philadelphia for a get away, the kids thought the smaller binoculars were for them and so they would ask for them. We went to the museums in philly and ate some good food, though it rained while we were there. Curie got sick so we only saw Reggie and his family once. We did go to the pool though (it is possible Curie got sick there), but we found that Elia wanted to swim and would put her head under the water. She was so proud that she could do it and excited that she could do something that Curie was still not willing to do. Curie was pushed into trying some herself, though we encouraged Curie to take her time and do it at her own pace. Elia ended the day learning to float and to swim a little under water, though she has to stand up to breathe.
Curie’s name is easy to talk about, both with Marie and Irene Curie, but when it comes to Elia, we have to tell about what Gertrude Elion actually did, she was one of few Nobel Prize winners that did not have a Ph.D., and won her Nobel Prize shared with a doctor in medicine around anti-rejection drugs and if memory serves, HIV prevention. Elia wanted to learn about her namesake, and since then has brought it up and told us about it, which is amazing and wonderful. So when Curie talks about Marie Curie (more than Irene), Elia will ask us again “what did Gertrude Elion do again?”
Elia, like Curie, is amazing, but they have their own things that make the so amazing. And then there are the little things, like wanting the pink hat, or the JoJo Siwa bow or clothes. We have been planning a trip to Japan and when asked she says she wants to wear a “kumono” in the park. It is wonderful to see her grow and develop and amazing to have her so into connecting with us. Curie is inherently empathetic, not unlike Albert, but Elia will find a way to cuddle when she can. The other day, at night, after the lights were out she turned to her side and had a moment with Albert. Under the blanket, Elia looked at Albert in the dark and smiled at him without a word, and when he smiled back she gave a giggle and laid back down. How amazing is that?