This week's Sunday Slivers come two days late because she whom we love tremendously, and who is now she-plus-one-quarter, made our lives brighter by visiting us--
I, for my part, spent too much time worrying about how much I am going to miss her once she is gone, and thanking my stars that she made it out here one last time before her own little bundle of joy arrives. More importantly, I had many occasions to reflect on how important it is for us as parents to share our friends with our children, and to show them the beauty of loving with all our being people to whom we are not related by blood. It is no secret that Michelle is the best thing that happened to me over several years at Stanford and, if only for that, I could never regret leaving the Rocky Mountains in order to come to California. As I watched her talk to Sava with the sort of deep understanding of his character that pretty much only Rado and I have, and as I encouraged Raya to relax her half-frown and give just one smile to this dear friend (I think she finally did, as we were saying goodbye), I ached with sadness over the fact that right now we live so far away, and I thought with wordless anticipation about the day when our children meet her and Mike's children. The most important thing my mom has ever taught me--through nothing other than personal example--is the value of cultivating deep and lasting friendships, and it is the one thing I also hope to teach our children. In a culture of constant mobility and little permanence, where attention-deficit disorder often defines even our relations to each other, I hope to be able to impress on my children the importance of abiding friendship. And nothing does that better than showing them how we ourselves love our friends.
Sava loves the fiddlesticks that Mike and Michelle gave him for Christmas
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After Michelle, the next best thing that happened to us this week was going not once, but twice, to a train show at the Los Altos History Museum. Sava loved seeing some wonderful model steam and diesel trains, and we are always happy when we find something to feed his passions--
I love watching the boys watching their toys:
Raya's interest in the trains was tepid at best, but she put up stoically with the general commotion:
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In other news, Sava is in his second week of preschool in a the new classroom "C." While he does not fight going there, and has not shed a single tear, it would be unfair to say that he is happy. He tells us that he plays mostly by himself, and even complained once that there "weren't enough things to do" at school. Since the room is full of many toys that are new to him, and all sorts of cool activities, this means that "there is no one to play with" in Sava-speak, which in turn means that there is no one he feels comfortable approaching. He came back from the second day of school with his tongue chewed up to blisters on both sides, which we quickly figured out was the result of nervousness. The tongue is better now, but he is still not thrilled about going to school, despite having a way-cool new backpack, because as a big boy he is now required to carry one:
He also got his first big-boy cardboard puzzle just two days ago and, with some help from Auntie Michelle, happily put together the 35 pieces:
And I never cease to marvel at his inventiveness; during a trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond with the goal of cooling off in some air-conditioning on a 100-degree day when the heat in our house is unbearable, he insisted that I buy a huge pack of colorful straws for $1.99. I resisted at first on principle--more plastic for the landfill--but finally gave in when I realized that he might, indeed, be able to play with them for hours; and he did--
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He and Raya are becoming quite the pair of sillies; I love this photo of him showing off his "pirate underpants," which she inspected with the utmost interest--
He continues to tickle her at every opportunity despite our repeated attempts to convince him that it is not always fun for her--
They are both really into the idea of fitting into tight places lately--
--especially Raya--
And yes, that is a baby in a dryer; please do not call Social Services; she wanted to get in there by herself--
Her bi-toothed smile and signature wrinkled nose are pretty much inimitable--
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She now knows how to answer the question "how big are you going to get?" by raising her hands, and is ever so close to crawling; ever so close; she and Sava love a good tumble on the bed.
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