Tima - age six

When Eric was trying to pull the second tooth, Tima found it too painful. "Daddy, please let's just wait until it falls out." And then he turned around and saw the tooth lying on the table. His tears dissolved into giggles. He feels very grown up to have lost two teeth this week! (Though we are a little concerned that the permanent teeth are 3-5mm back from where they should be. Fulfilling the prophecy of a dentist we didn't believe!)

Tima is getting ready to start Russian kindergarten. It's called the 'prepatory class' of preschool, for six-year-olds. (Russian kids usually start school at age seven.) He seems to understand enough Russian to get by, though I'm sure there will still be a steep learning curve. His playground group has helped him start to speak more. I am more anxious about it than he is! According to the other parents, the group he is entering is not the 'good' one. There has been a lot of turnover in the teachers, and it's always difficult to enter a class that has been together for three years. We are praying that God would help him thrive there, emotionally and linguistically.

Tima has finished our kindergarten curriculum for American homeschool. We are about a month into first-grade reading, and he is doing great. I have loved the easy, step-by-step approach of the Sonlight curriculum, using Explode the Code. He can read the readers easily, and is starting to notice the simple words in other books. Not reading complicated words doesn't stop him from constantly looking through books. He spends at least 30 minutes at bedtime looking at books.

The favorite games right now are: Rat-a-Cat-Tat, War, Connect Four. (Just this week Tima figured out how to beat the computer on level 1.) He still loves to play with little figures (animals, Star Wars, soldiers) and Lego ships, and he only occasionally builds them. It's hard for him to play totally quietly, because these characters fly and shoot and make all sorts of gutteral noises.

Outside, Tima has enjoyed being a part of the school-age crowd (see Playground Chronicles post) but he also loves to swing, slide, and play in the sand box. Until the kids group jelled, he spent about half the time playing soccer with Danya, and half playing on the playground with Ella.

This year had been great for Tima's relationship with Ella. Until this summer, the two of them played so well together, that sometimes I didn't know what to do with myself! After homeschool, they would play happily for an hour together in the room. (Unless, of course, I was depending on that and had scheduled a phone call. Somehow, then, it all fell apart!) However, the last few months, there has been a lot more conflict between them, and it seems I can't leave them alone for more than two minutes without screeching breaking out! Time knows how to quietly provoke, but often it seems that Ella demands whatever toy Tima is playing with. And she doesn't like to wait! Tima has a lot of patience, but he also refuses to give up every toy the minute that Ella wants it. (And I think he must derive some pleasure from watching her get angry!)

Tima loves to figure out and explain how things work. He describes (and inscribes in the air) elaborate diagrams of the playground, how a certian play in tag happened, or how the fort was constructed. When my dad was here, he mentioned that Tima had a certain aptitude for construction--he paid a lot of attention to the instructions, was willing to watch tedious activity patiently, and picked up how to do it intuitively.

Ella's Dramatic Flair

"I'm sad that I'm a guy who's not a baby..." [why?] "Because I like to whine and cry."

"Momma, that's so sad. There's only one flower here."

"Look, Momma a dog. That's so sad. He's all alone. He lost his owner."

"I didn't have any fun." [Usually said after a particularly fun time, when she's been forced to leave the activity and come home."

She loves making sad faces at herself in the mirror. In fact, if she's already sad, a mirror is the worst thing to make her feel better. She really likes watching herself cry, and exaggerates it more if she can see the results.

After the second day of preschool, she reported that two of the kids cried because they missed their mommas. (It is considered normal for kids to be miserable at first, since it's full-day childcare for kids 1 1/2 and older, as long as 7am to 6pm --not preschool as you imagine it!) Then she said, "I was sad without you. But I didn't cry. I was just quiet."

When I suggested that she go to her teacher for a hug, asking in gestures if she doesn't know the Russian words, she thought, then said, "But I love YOU!"

(The next day she was excited to go, though said she would be sad without me. And she was, but not too badly, I guess. We'll see how next week goes!)

Playground Chronicles

Danya, Tima, Dasha, Ira, Ira, Lena... This is the core of the local gang. Danya's classmate Elya and her brother Ernest connected them, but then they left for a month. The rest of the kids are here for the summer--a rather unusual situation for kids in St. Pete, where most children spend months in the village or dacha with relatives. Now, everyday, from 11-1 and then from 6-8pm they all play tag, freeze tag, skeleton, teacher or shark on the playground in front of our building. They play soccer sometimes, but mostly prefer their other, made up, games. They have also built a little fort against the preschool fence, with one big branch and some rope to define the edges. They decorate it with sticks 'planted' upright in the dirt, and have a liter of orange unedible berries as 'food'. Dried nettles are part of the weapon collection, which they anticipate using to keep other kids away. (And yes, I'm sad to say we occasionally hear reports of other kids 'attacking' and being driven off from destroying our kids' fort.) Mostly, though, it's a fun, creative and linguistically developing situation for our kids. I'm hopeful that Tima is learning a lot and gaining confidence in having Russian friends. (Danya doesn't need anymore confidence, but refining his grammer and gaining vocabulary are plusses, of course.)

That is the usual playground situation. It has been hard for me to fulfill my dream of daily walks in the woods, though the boys love riding their bikes, and I can only keep up running (with Ella in the jogging stroller). But our kids are so addicted to their friends, that it's like pulling teeth to get them to give up an hour of playground time. Thankfully, there is almost always another mother or grandmother, so I can run to the store or go around the corner to the sunny playground with Ella. However, I don't feel quite free to take a 30 minute voluntary walk.

This evening, Eric brought the baseball equipment outside. Danya surprised us with a watershed moment. "Dad, I think I want to go play with my friends instead of you," he said, for the first time ever. But later, when Eric and Tima's play attracted a group of boys, Danya came back. As more kids kept coming, Danya was energized and Tima wanted to hide in a hole.

Russian kids are intrigued by baseball. Most kids identify baseball bats more as weapons than sports equipment. So we have to watch them closely! Some had a pretension of knowing what to do. At one point 10 kids were playing, though it was hard to count, for kids would bat and then drift into the outfield and then drift away. But Eric encouraged and coached and they all had a great time.

Guess Who....

... lost his first tooth?

Building with Grandpa

My dad taught the boys a lot as they built this table for our balcony planters. It is delightful to watch him as he patiently explains each step and coaches them in how to do it correctly.

Singing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1ih_kv-lgo


A little B-I-N-G-O entertainment from last month. Anyone notice anything odd in the song?

Visitors

We were delighted to welcome my parents to Saint Petersburg for two weeks. It is a blessing to have so many relatives who are willing to spend their time, money and strength to see our daily lives. Our time was full of reading, playing, building a table, seeing the historical sites, and walking (or racing) in the woods.

On my request, my dad built a table for our plants on the balcony. I meant it to be a small project, for the boys to learn some skills from and spend time with their grandfather. Of course, I underestimated the hours of labor involved in making a simple thing. It will help me keep from complaining when I have to pay for something!

The kids came with us to see the historical beginnings of the city--Peter and Paul Fortress. We accidently ended up there on Saturday, when a group of soldiers does a rifle drill-like- performance. And the daily lighting of the canon--which was quite spectacular. Ella was scared of it being loud, and covered her ears for about 10 minutes before the boom. We said that there would be a puff of smoke--but it was actually a huge plume of flame! Let's just say that wasn't Ella's favorite part!

We were surprised to see Formula One Grand Prix boats racing in the Neva River. Not exactly the historical use of the river, but exciting none the less!






-

And we enjoyed a delightfully hot day at Peterhof, built to rival Versaille. I was surprised by how impressed I was! The fountains are huge and well designed, the grounds beautiful, and it is a great picture of imperial Russia.

Train Ride Home

Our return trip to Saint Petersburg was fun and uneventful. We enjoyed the overnight train from Kyiv to Moscow. This time we had working toilets and a long evening to enjoy the ride. Although the midnight border crossing is never welcome.




We arrived at 6:30am, played cards outside of McDonald's until it opened for breakfast. Our kids enjoyed learning what a McMuffin and hashbrowns are.

Then, another pitstop at the Richardson's. It was nice to have sunny weather this time, and be able to continue our conversations from the week before.

For some reason, the Сапсан (Peregrin Falcon) high speed train brings out our kids' kung-fu moves. This trip was the first since we have had kids when we didn't use a taxi to get home. Our kids did well on the Moscow metro getting to the Richardson's and back to the other train station. Upon arrival in rush-hour traffic, we decided we could take the metro-bus route instead of a taxi. Thanks to our energetic kids, and umbrella stroller for Ella and packing light, we made it without killing ourselves! All told, a delightful trip!

Saturday at the Stemples

Scott and Cymp Stemple were generous to host a gathering of people last weekend. It was delightful to be together with friends from our time in Kyiv, and some new acquaintances as well. The Claxtons and Vrzheshches where there, which was amazing since the Claxtons are moving to the States this week, and the Vrzheshches had only one day between trips. We were so grateful to spend time connecting with all of them.

Ella getting help from Katherine Claxton. (Marina is in the background.)

Marina Stemple showing the boys how it's done.

It was delightful for me to be at the Stemples' home, where we had spent many pleasant days. Except when Ella was little, I was constantly having to put aside my desires for connecting with others in order to take her upstairs, or up and down the stairs, or outside, or inside, or wherever she wanted to be. It was great to have all of our kids at an indepent age, where they could play with the other kids for hours without parental involvement.

Brian Birdsall levitating.

And when we left, Tima said wholeheartedly, "That was FUN!"

It was, and more.

Day Two in Kyiv

Though Danya complained, "What are we going to do there?" we took the whole family to Independence Square the first day. I don't think the kids ever went farther than the McDonalds at the Khreshatik station. This time, we counted ice cream stands, and bought sunglasses to protect ourselves against this strong Ukrainian sun!

Next step, observe and play in the fountains around the monuments. It turns out, though there was nothing to 'do', it was fun for all.


The metro is loud.


Friends who used to be coworkers in Russia now live in Kyiv. Vlad was gone to South Africa (suffering for the gospel) but Olya and Amalia ran us around a large park that we'd never seen before. And I mean 'ran' literally. Amalia was ahead of us the whole way!




The Birdsalls has always been to us a house of rest. And though we missed our hostess, it continued in its tradition.