Circumcision, Princesses, and silly babies that spit up

I have gained knowledge in some pretty interesting areas since moving to Moscow.  Case in point- Colin and I started talking the other night while giving John a bath and he told me that the boys in his class have been making fun of him in the locker room because his penis looks different from theirs.  I had to laugh a little bit because boys are so ridiculous with those things, but then I had to comfort my son.  I have discovered that Russians and many Europeans do not circumcise their little boys.  So of course, Colin does look quite different from the other boys in his class.  I did explain to Colin that we are Americans and many Americans do this, but he is still a bit upset over why he does not look the same.   I will let Jesy tackle this when he gets home.  Later on that night we were looking at pictures from his class and  for every boy picture Colin would say "his penis is different than mine, his is different than mine".  I asked him why he knew all of this about other little boys in his class.  He looked at me like I was crazy and told me that's what they do in the locker room- look at each other.  I am so happy I am a girl.
Amalie has many friends in her preschool class, but one little boy, Toby, is her favorite.  They are very cute together and they have lots of fun playing.  Two weeks ago Toby made Amalie a very pretty necklace at the craft fair.  On Tuesday when I picked Amalie up from school he had made her several crowns and told his teacher that of course he would make Amalie a crown- she is his princess!  Only four years old and she is already a princess for someone besides Daddy.  Poor Jesy.  Jeanine- the good news is that Toby's mother is Italian, so if they were to ever marry maybe we can fulfill our dream of living in Italy.
I would say that about 80% of the time Kathleen is very nice to John.  But we all know how she is, so she cannot be on her best behavior all of the time.  Last week John was crying alot while I was attempting to make dinner.  He was in his swing and Amalie was trying her best to comfort him while Kathleen walked next to him and hit him.  Of course Amalie almost had a breakdown over this, and when I asked Kathleen why she hit her brother she replied " he was crying too much.  That's what you do when someone will not stop crying- you hit them."  How delightful- anyone looking for a babysitter in a few years?  On Sunday John was playing on his mat and he spit up.  Whenever John spits up Colin and Amalie go crazy and you would think it was the end of the world.  They get so concerned.  Not Kathleen.  She walked by him and said "stupid baby that is always throwing up".  I laughed so hard at that after I corrected her.
The weather in Moscow had not been that bad.  There is some snow on the ground, but after living in Iowa for 4 years I know it could get worse.  This morning I went for a lovely walk in the woods behind our neighborhood with a friend of mine.  It was so peaceful to be walking amongst the trees and snow.  Mom- she is Hungarian, so I was thinking of Grandma and how she would get such a kick out of me walking with my Hungarian friend while in Moscow.  Life is so funny that way.