Today Benjamin joined the crew and started crawling, too. One of their favorite activities seems to be to go to the doors next to my desk and try to stand up and look out the window. (See above and below.)
Here they are gathering at the doors. They get particularly excited when the dog comes by.
Phoebe really likes trying to stand.
And here are the boys together. For a few more photos, click here.
Well, the babies turned 8 months old today, so to commemorate that, here are some photos of Phoebe and Paul crawling around! Benjamin, meanwhile, has mastered holding his own bottle.
In these photos, Paul and Phoebe are playing in the tunnel that their aunt Makrina brought back in September. Phoebe has really got the hang of crawling, so she went back and forth through the tunnel several times and really liked it.
Paul, meanwhile, is just finding his stride.
Here's Benjamin with his bottle.
And here's a photo of Benjamin playing with mom. He loves to be swung and tossed around.
For a few more similar photos, click here.
On Monday evening this week, Monk Moses of the Holy Mountain (Mt. Athos) came to our parish in Panorama and gave a talk to a packed church on the Revelation of God in our daily lives.
Afterwards, a small group of us went with him for dinner at a place near our house and we enjoyed a very interesting conversation about many things, including his personal experiences with Elder Porphyrios and Elder Paisios. (See photo above.)
We've also been fortunate this week to have Fr. George Dokos with us. Fr. George, a Greek-American, lived in our apartment for two years immediately before we came, and helped us by arranging things for us when we came.
The English-speaking Orthodox world is indebted to Fr. George for his translations of St. Nikodemos, who is at the center of his doctoral dissertation. Fr. George came back to Greece this week to defend that dissertation on Thursday evening. In the photo above, you can see Fr. George on the right and the professors in the middle, including his advisor, Anestis Keselopoulos.
Interesting, another American, Fr. Alexis (Trader) of Karakallou Monastery of the Holy Mountain also defended his dissertation on Thursday. His elder, the abbot of Karakallou, Fr. Philotheos, even came to the defense, and I was able to meet him and take his blessing. Fr. Alexis' dissertation was a comparison of the modern psychology and the neptic fathers. Both Fr. Alexis and Fr. George passed with a grade of "excellent," which is the highest honor.
Afterwards, Fr. George and his father treated us and the professors to dinner. We passed through the Tsiknopempti revelers on the way.
