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.