Elia has become more cute and more frustrating at the same time. Not only does she simply not acknowledge you when you say something she doesn’t want to hear, she may also throw a tantrum, or flop to the ground crying. She is learning that you can’t always get what you want and that often asking nicely is the best way to get what you want. All at the the same time she will do her pushing back in the most adorable ways. She will literally growl at you, or practice her mad face to use later. And then when you get through to her and ask if she is really mad or crying, she will break into a laugh and say it was just pretend. Frustrating and adorable at the same time.
She is definitely opinionated. For Mother’s day, Albert had already bought roses for Erin, but Elia insisted on an additional dozen yellow roses and she was right, they were better and healthier. For Father’s day she almost insisted on not wearing the matching dresses because she was asserting herself, and it was only when she saw that Albert was going to wear the tie and pocket square did she relent. She has outgrown her naps and is more awake late at night making bed time more challenging for both of us. She still idolizes Curie simultaneously wanting what Curie has and challenging Curie with her choices. And yet, in the quiet times of reflection, she asks Curie if she is Curie’s best friend in a question of validation.
Of all the family members, Curie is Elia’s best love, the one she wants the most attention from, though Albert does get his share because he is such a softie. And when she is hurt or most upset, it is always Mommy.
Elia loved the wedding, from the tiara, to the amulet necklace, to the gold dress and the gold jacket, and the gold shoes. She loves the slipper socks she has discovered and loved being dressed up with her cousins. She was scared of being a flower girl, but Albert carried her as she walked down the aisle and dropped her petals. She loved the wedding, but most of all she loved to dance at the wedding. She danced by herself, with others, trying new things, swaying, singing, and danced until the last dance practically (though she did have a great time coloring with her grandmom at the end).
Her most adorable time during the days around the wedding were her times with Jim. They sat on the stoop in the back and Elia leaned against him, together they watched Trolls together in bed. While Curie was busy learning to draw and help with the wedding, Elia and Jim had a few hours of time together.
Elia loves twirly dresses, a requirement amongst her friends at school, almost like Curie’s dresses had to be long, something at school is about twirling in dresses. Recently Albert has started parking in the lot at work monthly so Elia and his routines have changed a bit with the two of them going up the stairs, and going up to his office more regularly. Slowly she is becoming more comfortable with his co-workers and they get a chance to see Albert with her. We have to make sure to take Curie at some point as she relates to Albert taking her to work back in the day.
It has been a challenging time with Erin switching jobs, Albert going on a trip to his conference, the house and the impending move along with Board meetings and the occasional cold. In the end though it is time with the kids that get us through all of this and we have to remember that they bring joy into our lives. The kids love to fly and even when we don’t have a trip, they might ask us to fly. So on the wedding trip, they loved the flying part as much as the rest. They loved pushing the luggage around – Elia now pushes one of the bags herself. She loved the big SUV we rented and called it the red car and now wants a convertible and a red SUV. On the flight back we got all of us first class tickets, and the girls got to experience a flight that was different than they have had in the past. They can’t appreciate the legroom or the space or any of that. Getting a video monitor is more important. But they loved the free snacks and popcorn. They ate all of the popcorn. We won’t do it very often, but it was nice to see it from the kids’ point of view and it was nice to pamper them just a little bit.