Mid-May weekend

This past Saturday, we packed the family in the new car, and hung out in the Elm Bank Reservation in Wellesley. There is a lovely "playground" with a wooden outpost, a fishpond, huge red chair, and other fanciful furnishings. I took advantage of Ivan's naptime to take photos of Nikita, which brought back memories of other photo sessions. I'll have to remember to try to take lots of photos of Ivan solo, if only to make up for not taking as many photos of him - a disadvantage (?) of not being a first-born.





Didn't do much to celebrate Mother's Day, unless you count Ivan's keeping me up half the night, which is unusual for him. Nighttime feeding sessions usually last an hour, but Saturday night, I couldn't put down Vanya for 2-3 hours. Not even with a pacifier.

I did finish two books this weekend, however: the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation of The Brothers Karamazov and Finn Family Moomintroll. The Dostoevsky book is probably the longest book I've read since I started listening to audiobooks. Once I got past the religious philosophizing of the first half, I was surprised by the modernity of the murder mystery and OJ Simpson-like trial of the second half. However, this is not a book that I will read again and again. Finn Family Moomintroll, a children's book recommended by Phillip Pullman, was a good antidote. Although I don't consider it being on the same level as The Little Prince, Nikita may enjoy the book in a year or so. And this advice will come in handy when I throw bigger parties for my boys:

You should have a lot of tables. Little tables and big ones - in unexpected places. Nobody wants to sit still in the same place at such a big party. There will be more fidgeting than usual I'm afraid. And first you must offer them all the best things you have. Later on it's all the same what they get because they'll be enjoying themselves anyway. And don't disturb them with songs, and so on - let them make the programme themselves.

I'm not reading to Nikita as much as I used to, but when I do, Nikita currently requests Zen Shorts by Jon J Muth. He calls it "the Panda book"; I like it, too. I got the book from the library because of the artist, who also illustrated Caroline Kennedy's lovely A Family of Poems. But then, I realized the other day that I actually own something illustrated by Muth, a graphic novel called Moonshadow. Funny thing is that I haven't completely read the graphic novel; I bought it (and the original comics) my sophomore year of college because I loved the artwork! I guess I better put it in my nighttime-feeding line-up, which currently consists of Italo Calvino's Baron in the Trees, The Magic Pudding (another children's book recommended by Phillip Pullman), and The Red and The Black.

Oh, and I've put up an ad to sell Igor's 1998 Honda Civic (with only 64K miles). Wish us luck!