dogs and ducks

My parents met us at the airport together with a friend of ours Leonid Regheta (he and his wife hosted us while we were in Russia; my parents' place is too small for all of us). Once at their apartment, Ryan and Leonid took off to turn in Ryan's and Elijah's passports to be registered with the Russian authorities (required by law), while the rest of us went for a walk in the neighborhood park. It was still pretty cold in Russia. My Dad wanted to push the stroller. He's been dreaming of it ever since we started planning the trip.



Once at the park, we saw a woman walking a couple dogs. My Dad stopped and was pointing them out to Elijah, "Look, Elijah, a doggy!" Now, my father is not a big fan of diminutives. On many occasions while growing up I heard him speak against using the diminutive suffixes which abound in the Russian language. True to himself, he immediately corrected himself, "Actually, there's no need to say doggy. Just a dog. Dog. All these diminutives are unnecessary!"

A few minutes later we approached a pond. A couple of ducks we swimming in it. My Dad turned the stroller so Elijah could see, and said, "Look, Elijah, a ducky!" (He used a diminutive for "Elijah" as well). I just chuckled to myself, but didn't say anything. :)