Diaper Duty

Things are going well here. Erbay is starting his new job on April 1st and Lena will start as soon as her work visa is complete. Their new home will be ready for them to move in tomorrow. BabaAnne was in Ankara for over a week and Lena was in Uzbekistan getting her visa, so Erbay was helping out by watching Taylan while I was at work. On his first morning alone with Taylan he cooked him an egg and was pleased that Taylan enjoyed it. His pleasure was short-lived because a few minutes later, Taylan had a huge poop and Erbay panicked. He started to remove the diaper and this made him get the dry heaves, so he found one of his mother's scarves, sprayed perfume in it, and wrapped it around his face. He then called his mother and tucked the phone under the scarf next to his ear so he could talk with his hands free. His Mom talked him through how to use the baby wipes and clean him up. He then hurled the dirty diaper into the bathroom trash can without putting it in a bag first, so the bathroom stank all day until I came home. If I didn't know better I would have though this was a scene from "Three Men and a Baby" but it was Erbay's true-life adventure.

As many of you already know, Nehir was in a big celebration for his school's founding Anniversary. Nehir didn't enjoy himself much because a) he had to wait a LONG TIME in a boring locker room waiting to go on, and b) he wanted to dance but had to hold a flag instead. Apparently the dance teacher told the kids the bad dancers would hold flags and Nehir was unhappy about this, for obvious reasons. We talked to the principal who spoke to the dance teacher. She is generally fine, but we don't want her saying stuff like that to our kid or anyone else's.

Nehir got sick after that day and the Dr. thinks he may have H. Pylori because of a host of tummy issues he has had for his whole life, including being super-skinny and having a poor appetite. He will start treatment later this week and I hope this helps.

In better news, Nehir was STAR OF THE WEEK again and he was very, very proud. He is doing great in school. He can read English now even though he never was formally taught it. He picks things up so quickly! We are really happy for him.

Taylan is experimenting with talking more. He likes to repeat words. He also has learned the concept of being "naughty" and when he does something he knows he shouldn't, like throw food, he points his finger and says "No no no!" In anticipation of what I am about to say. He is so cute and funny it is hard to keep a straight face sometimes when he is pulling his antics. He also likes to pretend to cry when he needs attention. He makes an "O" shape with his mouth and makes a wimpery "OOh hoo hoo" sound. It is funny. He likes to follow Nehir around and do whatever he is doing. Below is a photo of Nehir and Taylan dressed up in what Nehir imagines Harry Potter wizard robes look like, holding make-shift wands. Nehir decided Taylan was Professor Flitwick because he is a short character.

The first photo was taken on a tour-boat on the Bosphorus that Erbay treated me and the kids to. Erbay took about 20 photos before he got this one. The one of Erbay and Nehir is also from the tour. I love it but Erbay thinks he looks like an alcoholic.

I have not written much lately but a lot has been going on.  Lena and Erbay are here and there is great news. I was being superstitious so I didn't want to write about the purpose of their visit until everything was confirmed, but as of today they have definite offers to come and work here in Istanbul. They will be moving within weeks and we are all so excited and happy for them. Selcuk is friends with an entrepreneur and set up the initial meeting.  Erbay's and Lena's excellent C.V.s did the rest.  Erbay has lived half his life in Uzbekistan and has long wanted to move back home.  Erbay and Lena seem more relaxed and happy than I have ever seen them.

 

Selcuk has NYU students here for an abroad experience over spring break.  They have a great agenda for the week and I am hoping to join them for some of the events.  I have been running a fever for four days now and I am really tired of being sick.  If I don't take Tylenol I am freezing, and if I do I am hot and sweaty.  Yuck.  I went to the Dr. yesterday who told me it was probably a virus.  Today I took matters into my own hands and went and bought some antibiotics because I think it is a sinus infection because my head has been killing me.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, antibiotics are over the counter here.  

I spent the whole afternoon trying to embed a video of Nehir dancing into my blog but it didn't work.  Instead, here are some cute photos.

What Is That Burning Circle In the Sky?

After a very dreary, rainy week and a half, during which my mood and temper deteriorated, Sunday dawned with bright sun and blue sky.  It was a glorious day and we celebrated with a family trip to the park.  Selcuk and I played one on one basketball while Selcuk's cousin Mehmet played football (soccer) with the kids.  We then attempted a family football game but Nehir was a bit miffed by our desire to play by the rules.  We then went to another area of town to visit his cousins.  It was a nice day and I hope the weather holds.

Nehir plans to write a series of books about a boy wizard named Jack who goes to a wizard school after his parents are killed by an evil wizard names Sand (the boy LOVES Harry Potter).  He says it is sort of like Harry Potter but sort of different.  The differences are that Jack doesn't use a wand (actually, Nehir changed his mind on that and now he does), Jack can never die, Jack is the first wizard ever, and Jack saves his family in the end after all.  The titles of the books are "Jack and the Boiling Iceberg", "The Volcano", "The Monster in the Cave" and "The Snake in the Temple." He wrote the first sentence in such garbled English I couldn't read it, which upset him a bit until he decided to just read it to me: "One day Mr. and Mrs. Spike went shopping but when Sand showed up the shopping trip was canceled because they were dead."  I guess if I were dead I would cancel my shopping plans too.  Apparently, at the end of the series, Jack will bring them back to life.  I know some of you are probably thinking that I shouldn't expose him to scary books like Harry Potter at his age, but he loves them and I am only letting him read the first two for now.  I keep him as sheltered as I reasonably can, which isn't as sheltered as I used to think I would keep him.  Ah well, I do the best I can.

I wish I had more news about Taylan, I say the same things every posting: he is cute, he likes to dance, he is cute, he likes the Bob the Builder Song, he is cute, etc. etc.  Today he climbed up on the dining room table to sneak sugar cubes so I moved them to the kitchen.  A few minutes later I found him on the kitchen table eating the sugar.  I was pretty impressed because he hadn't seen where I had put them and it wasn't our house so he didn't just go to the "normal" sugar spot.  Did he smell it?!  The boy must be gifted.