Winter in Moscow

What does winter in Moscow look like? When you're a sick kindergartener, it looks like this:

1. Zig asked me to make a sweater for his friend, and once I got started on it he said "Mama, teach me how to knit." It was a quiet, early morning with just the two of us, so we cuddled on the sofa in the kitchen and I showed him how to knit. He picked it up quickly and completely understands the process of how the new loops hold the old loops. He's slow but careful, a true Avetisyan.

2. This morning he amused himself by stacking a bunch of things on the kitchen scale.

3. When you can't go to school you can still play LEGOS!

For Dedo and Babushka:

На первой фотографии Сережа вяжет свитер своей подруге. Он меня попросил сделать ей что-нибудь, а потом решил что он еще лучше сам сделает. Так ей теплее будет...

На второй фотографии он построил инсталяцию на моих кухонных весах. Это заняло у него почти все утро (много раз менял).

На последней фотографии - сами понимаете что!

Letter to Eddie

Uncle Eddie, how can you fix the helicopter? It is broken. Bye bye.

Дядя Эдди, как можно починить вертолет? Он сломался. Пока.

More January Pictures

Self-portrait

Robot costume from school play

Modeling new LEGO-themed sweater.

Birthday Boy

Ziggy's buds Artur and Robert love to dress him up whenever we come visit. He was hamming it up for the camera yesterday and I thought to myself - I guess this is what it's like to be the mom of a six year old boy. Six!!

We still have the quiet moments sometimes. Which is good. For his birthday Zig got a new Bionicle, two little cars (one of them a rare SMZ S-3A), a copy of Treasure Island in Russian and some birthday money to spend on whatever his little heart desires.

Letter to Santa

"I want a car and a truck Ded Moroz (Santa Claus). Thank you. Kisses kisses."

Wherein Jane Austen Updates the Blog

The boy's mother had previously held a middling opinion at best of her husband's cousin David, fearing that he was the sort of uncle who, when in high spirits, might be prone to playing energetic games with the boy that, while undoubtedly a source of delight to the child, could result in grave injury to her maternal nervous system. And he had an unfortunate habit of giving long-winded, obscure toasts at gatherings of the extended family.

But when she observed the uncle's unreservedly glowing estimation of her child's mental qualities and his subsequent gift of a first-rate microscope, accompanied by the most detailed and patient explanations on its scientific potential and proper use, her estimation of his worth as an uncle increased in an instant, and she found herself noting as if for the first time that he seemed to be a doting father to his own infant daughter.

Three Again!

We're back together again and it feels amazing! Here's a picture Zig painted at his kindergarten:

Here's a shout-out to Marisha from Ziggy:

i love you Marisha. i would love to see you. i miss you a lot. that's it.

This is a mermaid, or русалочка.