The highlight for Nikita was chess, of course, but in a big way: he solidly won the grade championship in MA. Here he is proudly showing off his trophy and, more importantly, his Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle:
On the other hand, his showing in the RI state championship was dismal, but it wasn't entirely his fault. The second game was delayed because his opponent didn't want to play with a timer or with someone who had lost the first game; the third game had two false starts. The day was so long that Nikita actually wanted to go home before the last game, and who could blame him: up until that point, he had started/played 7 games (having played two games before the tournament).
With Nikita's busy schedule (chess lessons nearly every night of the week!), we had to drop art, but added math school at his request. Nikita still continues with piano and violin, and enjoyed the Evgeny Kissin piano recital at the beginning of the month (though he had a meltdown during the numerous - I think excessive - encores). Nikita says he wants to write three operas (2 in German and one in Russian), but keeps writing books in English; his latest is Peter, the Three-Headed Monster. I'm glad that stories still play a part in his life. He made a cool Dumbledore in ceramics class (see right) and read aloud his first book, Titch, to me and Ivan at bedtime.While Nikita is a chess lessons and tournaments, Ivan and I cook, run errands (currently to Glee 5 or Nat King Cole), watch films, and play the Garanimals Matching Game. He attended his second concert (Boston Civic Symphony), but fell asleep because it was his normal naptime. His memory, however, still impresses me: Galina was wondering why there was a towel by the door, and Ivan said I had used it to cushion my laptop in a bag.
For me, highlights of this month include helping edit MIT's latest report on women in science and engineering, and finally buying a buffet for the kitchen. The boys had a blast with the boxes and packing material; they even made coats out of the wrapping material, with styrofoam buttons. We also acquired a couple of laptops for my work and Nikita's chess. I discovered more bizarre (Sheen Family Circus; knitting your own Royal Wedding) and practical (KenKen; illustrated recipes) websites, but still got some real reading done (1984, Gamestorming), and successfully baked a Boston Cream Pie (Cook's Illustrated March/April 2011) to celebrate Nikita's grade championship. Igor and the boys loved it, but the boys are too young to appreciate bittersweet chocolate ganache.
