Spring in Moscow

It's hard to say when "spring" begins here. If you go by traditional definitions, like warmer weather, and appearance of sunshine and flowers, coupled with the disappearance of snow, it usually starts the end of March beginning of April. But this year I can tell that spring is already on its way. Not because it feels particularly warm, but I can tell by the standing mud and water everywhere that the temperature is staying above freezing most of the time. One downside of the shifting season is the endless mud and water everywhere. It can be particularly hazardous for drivers.

It is impossible to keep anything that goes outside clean, our clothes, the stroller, the car, are all constantly caked in mud, no matter how often we wash them.

But at least this has never happened to us, or at least not yet.

I've Been Wondering

The Russian man purse phenomenon has always baffled me. It's a very masculine culture, and yet, most of the men are toting around some kind of purse-looking bag. Most of the purses aren't as feminine looking as this one in St. Petersburg.
A lot of them are small satchels that men carry like this or with a long strap across their chests.But it makes me wonder, do little Russian toddler boys like to carry around man bags, in imitation of their dads just like Ella likes to carry purses around imitating me? I found at least part of the answer at the open house last week. In the few moments when Ella wasn't going buck wild, I managed to observe little Artyom, one of the quieter children at the party.

And I noticed that Artyom was sporting a little baby man bag that looked like shark (probably not designed for little girls). So I guess the answer to the question is yes, Russian boys start their relationship wtih man bags about the same time their female counterparts do.

Very Open House

Last week President and Sister Cranney had an open house for both of the new district presidencies and their families. There were about 45 people total, including quite a few children. About 3/4 through the evening I came to the realization that our child was by far the most rambunctious child in the group. She monopolized most of the open space to display her "fancy moves" to anyone who would watch, and then tried to get her new acquaintance, Masha, to join in. She must have done at least 25 somersaults.
Masha in the red sweater, being encouraged by Ella.

Ella giving the reluctant Masha an unwelcome congratulatory/fraternal hug.

This was her look after a particularly impressive somersault.

Now I think I have a better appreciation of how my parents felt after we behaved badly in front of company (which was often). When we took our leave, Ella capped off the evening with a grand mal tantrum-- her final 'fancy move'. Only when she was restrained in the straight-jacket confines of her carseat did she stop screaming. I guess that means she had a really fun time. As for me, I kept wondering why no one else's kid was quite so noisy and disruptive.

Hair Twirl

Ella is a big hair twirler. She almost always falls asleep with a thumb in one mouth and a finger in her hair. In this case, the finger got caught in the hair and remained suspended until I could reach back and disentangle it.
Doesn't looks that comfortable, but I guess it beats listening to her whine while we're stuck in traffic.

Water Art

With these new bathtub markers, Ella can combine two of her favorite activities, being in the water and coloring. She draws a lot of snakes.

Who needs toys?

Sometimes I wonder why we bother buying toys for the kid at all. She's perfectly happy playing with whatever household items we have laying around, in this case, drawer organizers from IKEA.

Honey Honey Honey

On Thursday my friend Kathryn and I went to the biannual Honey Market held each February in the Manezh, an exhibition hall by the Kremlin. There are literally hundreds of vendors there selling honey from all over Russia. There are about eight basic varieties, but they taste very different depending on the bees and the region and the flora and fauna they visit. The Russians are serious about their honey. Many believe that particular varieties have medicinal properties. I'm just looking for something good on toast and maybe in some honey artichoke dinners, but it's always an interesting excursion, and a great place to stock up on a very genuine Russian product.

It's actually sold in vast quantities. I don't think I'll ever see this amount of honey together outside of Russia. They also sell lots of bee biproducts like pollen, honeycomb bits and other things I couldn't identify, making the whole place smell a little bit like my Grandma Haslam's house used to.