1+10

So today is Victory Day, but it's actually more of a family holiday for us. I even found myself wondering what time Vladimir got off work, forgetting that he wouldn't be working at all today on account of the holiday. 

I wonder what it's like for Russians today, remembering the past while in the midst of a modern conflict. Not even sure if I can fit my mind around it right now.

American-style, David is 22 months today. But most Russians I know say "a year and 10 months." Is it sort of like the difference between army time and not-army time (whatever the term is)? Whenever I say how many months old he is, I can see people converting into years in their head. 

We are still seeing many changes each month. I really should be doing weekly journal entries or something, but I manage to record some of it via photos, emails, etc. 

The biggest development lately has been the start of "make-believe" play. It started with David constantly putting out two objects, one for himself and one for us to sit on. Those were our "chairs." And then "hats." And now we're in full-blown "tea party" mode, where each attendant has his/her own dishes and even food...macaroni soup is the usual daily special. A lot of times I'll walk into the room to a new configuration and it will turn out that David planned out the whole thing and executed it himself. New seatings around the table, new dishes, etc. The other day he brought coasters in (from our bedside tables) to use as plates, and then went into the kitchen and took some little magnets off the refrigerator...they were placed onto the coasters and became "food." I'm so glad we recently acquired a child-sized table and chairs to help with these scenarios.

David feeding (l-r) "Mama,""Papa," and "Boy"

As far as speech, David still has more English active vocabulary than Russian. We were at a church retreat recently and everyone commented on how social he's become and on how his English is the cutest thing ever...they kept asking him to say "ba-na-na" in his unique way. He also refers to himself as "Boy" whenever he is telling what happened or asking for something. But then they wondered...where's the RUSSIAN? Patience, my friends. :) We just need to get Babushka and Dedushka over here a little more often and he will catch right up. 

Speaking of Babushka and Dedushka, they will be here in a little while with all the fixins' plus some gifts for the "birthday" boy, and I'm still in pajamas...oops. That's all for this little update.