I opened the door to the condo. “Tadaima”, I said - as usual. I heard the pitter patter of hands and feet as Jerry crawled towards me. I quickly opened the gate and stepped through, just as he came around the corner.

He crawled up to my legs and then started to pull himself up - clearly indicating that he wanted to be held. I put my bag down, picked him up, and asked him about his day - showering him with kisses - as usual.

On Sunday, Eriko attended

Well… I’ve had very little time for anything but work and home these days. My new position is stretching me at both ends, since I need to be up early to address the needs of Moscow and at work late to address the needs of Seattle.

Jerry is more active than ever, crawling on all fours, standing (with assistance) and starting to babble. He’s a lot of fun to watch and interact with. Eriko’s doing well, but needs me to take over Jerry-duty as soon as I return home.

Thanks to Awesome Uncle Zack, Eriko and I were able to attend the Seattle Symphony last night. The first half was Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #5 with Fuzjko. Fuzjko is a wonderful piano player and we were treated to two encore performances of Chopin and Frances List. Eriko thinks Fuzjko is a little rough, but I can’t tell the difference.

The star of the show, though, was the second half - Sumi Jo. She is a Soprano singer with an amazing voice. Her songs were mainly French, so I couldn’t understand the words but I was blown away by the quality. In one song, she was matching the notes and timing of flute players. She also wore two stunning dresses and looked very pretty. Eriko is a big fan of Sumi Jo.