April: the rest of it

Nikita spent nearly half the month at home because his spring break is two weeks long. What impresses me is that he doesn't get bored between piano and Legos; he even practiced his violin. Although I worked during his spring break, Nikita was able to have a playdate with one of his classmates at the Museum of Science. Ivan joined him, too, and they both had a great time. Warmer weather towards the end of the month meant being able to bike again. He loves it, and can easily bike for an hour at the park.

Although Nikita did pretty well (4th place) in the CT grade tournament, his chess seems to be in a rut. His big wins last month helped persuade Igor to have Nikita play in an older age group (11 and under), but he hasn't been doing well. Part of the problem is that Nikita's earlier wins makes him believe that he doesn't have to think too much in games with people he has beaten before. He also doesn't like analyzing the games afterwards. I do believe, however, this is a temporary phase, and I think the important thing is that Nikita simply learns to play well, regardless of his opponent.

Ivan is definitely growing up. He behaved so well during his well visit, which lasted an hour and included 4 vaccinations. He didn't cry at all, and it was so cute to see him deep breathly (without being asked) when the nurse put a stethoscope on his chest. This month, I've also been impressed with how he can keep himself amused and come up with games with others. The most recent game he developed involves a ball of clay used to seal the windows: we either throw it into a basket or play "catch" with it. I put "catch" in quotes because one person actually throws the clay onto the floor and the other person retrieves it. We have to play this way because the clay can really hurt if you don't catch it!

As for me, probably the highlight of my month was being taken out to dinner by some of my students from last semester. I was just touched for being invited, but I had a great time catching up with them over Chinese food, which I hadn't had in ages. The dinner capped off a day of oral presentations - I commented on 16 of them! I also had great food the weekend before, partially because of my Dad's birthday (described earlier) and partially because we were in the New Haven area for Nikita's CT tournament. I finally got to try Frank Pepe's pizza for lunch (fabulous with locally made Foxon Park Soda), but we also had a fantastic dinner at Jordan's, a Greek-Italian family restaurant in Norwalk. It was packed with families on a Saturday night. Jordan's makes excellent pizza (Greek-style), too, but I had the moussaka. Yum!

A lot of good music this month, too. Started off with a bang (despite the snow) with Evgeny Kissin playing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (in case you're keeping track, my first weekend can basically be described as what my Dad has to do with Kissin and chess). Kissin was wonderful as usual, particularly when playing the Grieg 1st piano concerto. But the real showstopper for me was the St. Petersburg Philharmonic later in the month. Gorgeous music in gorgeous Symphony Hall - kind of makes it difficult to go back to hearing free concerts at Longy.

On the other end of the spectrum, I picked up my 6th Glee CD (Glee: the Music Presents the Warblers) and my first CD of Adele (21). I love how the Warblers sound consistent despite the different styles of the covers (different from other Glee CDs). Adele's voice is incredible, but only the first three songs of the CD are memorable to me, probably because of the musical style. Gospel music also got some time on the CD player. It was great listening to Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration while preparing Easter lunch, and to old Boston Pop's Gospel Night tunes while cleaning windows and the kitchen hood the week before. Of course, I also bought tickets to this year's show. I paid the BSO before the IRS.