Nikita went to his first ever chess tournament at the beginning of the month. It was in Providence, RI, and the whole family went to watch him play. Thankfully, the tournament was very low-key, registration was only $6, and the players did not need to be rated. Nikita was in the Elementary level, which meant that he played with boys (there were no girls at the tournament) as old as 10 years old. He only won one of the four games he played, but I was impressed that he seemed focused on his game. And it was so cute to watch him make a more and then immediately record it (even if incorrectly).
The tournament ended with an award ceremony, where all participants received certificates, and Nikita actually received a medal for being the youngest participant:
As if chess weren’t enough, Nikita also played at his first piano recital on Father’s Day. I actually was working that day, but was able to slip out for Nikita’s performance (my boss sees it as saving my son therapy fees). As one of the newest students, Nikita performed first: “Lullaby”, then “Turkey in the Straw” as a duet with his teacher. Here is a video of the second piece:
What made the recital very special was the presence of my parents. My mom told me that Nikita was listened intently to all the other performers, especially the last one, who recently played in Carnegie Hall, and at the recital, played Chopin’s Etude Op. 10 No. 12, a.k.a. “Revolution”.
Meanwhile, Ivan this month learned to swing by himself and started pooping in the potty. Unlike Nikita, all it took for Ivan was to run out of diapers. Hallelujah! And the other day, Ivan made his first recognizable toy out of Legos, a car:
Not bad, eh?
And lest I forget about Igor, Igor got quite a number of toys this month. The first is a magnetic chess set made out of wood. It’s perfect for putting on his lap and moving from room to room. The other “toy” is a bagless canister vacuum cleaner. Carpets actually feel cleaner. Igor also learned about South Park this month because a grad student in his lab made him up as a South Park character for his birthday. I think the resemblance is uncanny, even down to the Nepal T-shirt.
