Nikita at 2 yrs, 8 1/2 months

Last Thursday, Igor successfully registered Nikita for preschool with the Boston Public School system. Chances are really slim (not many spots available, and priority is given to those with siblings already in the system), but it would be great if we did get a spot because it's basically free childcare. Nikita had to take an English proficiency test, however, because we said that Russian is his first language.

Frankly, this test makes no sense to me because if you throw a 3-year old into an all-English environment, I'm sure he will pick up the language. But what to do. The questions also didn't seem appropriate for his age. Nikita was asked to describe a picture, which he's not likely to do at the first go. He was able to identify shapes, but not a triangle (which he can) - and the tester gave him a freebie by taking his "o" for an oval (which he can't really identify, but he knows the letter O). He was able to identify colors, but not the color pink (my mom says my dad couldn't identify shades); he couldn't identify the number 4 (at least he wasn't given the numbers 0 or 1, which he calls the letters O and I, respectively); and he couldn't say which was bigger or smaller (Nikita doesn't understand the concept of "or" - plus Sesame Street doesn't cover comparisons!). I think Nikita was able to answer the other questions - none of which were commands I would expect for an English-proficient preschooler, like "Pick up the ball" or "Let's clean up". But overall, he was judged to be non-proficient in the English language, and Igor had to sign something that said that we wanted Nikita to be in an all-English environment.

My friend Rachel says that this is an example of bureaucracy run amok. I was happy that Nikita actually spoke in English the whole time during the test. Plus it was quite a contrast to hear Igor tell me of how Nikita didn't test well while looking at the 100-piece puzzle that Nikita had halfway finished by himself (and later did so). Different things, I know, but still...

Oddly enough, since the test, Nikita seems to be talking in English more to me. His favorite questions are currently "What's that?" (which he mangles in Russian, "Shto takoi eta?") and "Why?"; they used to be, "Mama, where are you going?" or "What are you doing?" We've recently been reading Bill Peet's Whingdingdilly, which is a pretty long story, so we've needed multiple sittings to get through it. But reading it has been taking much longer since he keeps asking "Why?", even if it's something like the author's name.

Now that Igor is back at work, Nikita has been taking afternoon naps again, but I'm considering getting rid of them because nighttime has again become a struggle. Igor can't fall asleep with him because Nikita thinks it's time to play. So, he'll sit on Igor's stomach or back (whichever is available), and pretend he's driving a car. Or he'll sing a song about the detective Shischik (from a Russian cartoon) - probably the first complete song Nikita can sing, and he first heard it about a week ago. Or he'll settle down to sleep, but on Igor - with pillow and all. Nikita came up with this last game over the weekend. I was shocked to find Nikita (and Igor) asleep with his body draped over Igor's side, hinged at the hips.

It has, however, been about a week since Nikita has slept with a pacifier. He had been sleeping with two (one for sucking, and one for playing with his feet), but slowly lost them, until he was down to one, and ripped it a bit. He gave the broken pacifier to me one night when I explained to him that he might choke on it during the night (he definitely understands the concept of choking, having upchucked food due to choking). He's asked for his pacifiers now and then, but I just remind him why we had to throw the last one out, and he doesn't fuss. I guess the pacifier issue is one area in which he can revert when the baby comes.