Azra is almost 16 months old.

Wow what huge advances we are seeing in Azra's development. She has just started her climbing phase. She is so pleased with herself, she can get up on the couch herself and the lounge chairs and she sits there by herslef like an adult. Sometimes she takes a book with her, climbs up and then sits there and reads. She can't yet get up on the dining chairs yet though, thankfully!
She has also started feeding herself, which is not always sucessful but she will not have it any other way. When it comes to us, mum and dad, she will not be spoon fed, even if what she has is runny soup or yoghurt (The childminder can somehow feed her though). Some of it goes in her mouth, some on the floor and sometimes, when she is experimenting, on her head, her arms our arms and so on. We bought a fork and spoon and just left them with her at mealtimes. We never actively got her to use them, she herself just started picking them up and then after a while refused to be fed She is amazing to watch, I can watch her for ages. Give her a jar, a lid and a few other things and it is just amazing how much she can find to do with these things and how she can amuse herself. She can run around with her hands full and then she thinks where she can put the other things she so wants to carry. It goes in her mouth!
She also without fail carries her nappy to the garbage bin and throws it in. She also, as part of the ritual, looks around to see if anyone is watching and if she has an audience she claps herself. She also claps when we finish something, for example doing up her pajamas before she goes to sleep. Speaking of sleep, she (and her mum) have had a bad 6 weeks. First of all her bottom teeth were coming through and then her top 2 molars and then straight afterwards her bottom molars. Now they are pretty much finished. Now she might be able to sleep a bit better, at least waking up every 3 hours rather than every 1-2 hours. Hopefully we will all have a break.
It has been a month since we returned from her second trip to Australia, to answer the question in the previous entry Nanna waited for us, but unfortunately passed away just after we had returned to Turkey and we were unable to return for the funeral. I guess that's how it was meant to be. Sad as it was. At least we could spend some time with her while we were there. Azra was not really herself for much of the time in Australia. She got ill 3 times, hanging around in the hospital did not help at all. She was great when her cousins were around though. She seems to adore them. A pity that she can't see them more. It was also great for her to be out of the city and in an unpolluted rural environment. When we got back to Turkey and our house she was so excited. She would pull her toys out, as if they were new or as if she were seeing them for the first time or as if she had really missed them. And then she went from room to room. She is also now great friends with the cat, actually what I mean is that they are great friends, she always admired him, he just didn't feel the same. I think that even he (as well as her dad) missed her while she was away.

Azra is almost 14 months old

Almost 14 months have gone.... Azra is growing up, a toddler, running around everywhere no longer willing to be picked up by every Tom and Harry on the streets (and there are many of those around here!) Or even by her mum and dad! She likes to exercise her independence but in a strange way shows her dependence by staying stuck to the back of you leg when you want her to do something away from you! She is running around everywhere and wanting to walk but of course not in the direction that you want her to! This is especially a problem when we are outside and she only wants to run in the direction of danger. I recommend one of those child straps her father violently objects that she is not a dog! True...but... She has a new trike which we bought for her birthday which she absolutely loves. Although she even gets bored of that after 20 minutes or so and she has to get out and walk, and of course if you pick her up to keep her away from danger or because you need to go she screams the neighborhood down- no problem with her lungs! She will probably have no problems expressing her needs! Let's hope at least this is not just a baby thing! We had our family holiday on a Turkish island- used to be Greek- but who needs to know that! It was Azra's first real beach holiday. She had one also when she was around 3 months but that hardly counts. This time she was very aware of everything and really loved the water. She loved the pool and the sea as well, although the sea was more scary but she would run back into the water for more! This was the first time she did not eat the sand, and such a shame as it was so clean. The playground sand is disgusting and she always ate that. But give her clean sand and she has no interest in eating it!! She had a great time on holiday. The waiters usually adored her whereever we went. In one restaurant she fell in love with the young waiter. She would cry every time he had to leave and then she would smile so when he came back! And at such a young age! She is getting better with fruit she ate loads of grapes when we were on holidays, but they were organic and picked straight off teh vine and they were delicious! She probably won't eat the ones here from the market. She also even ate a nectarine which she loved, different to the way she ate in the picture- smearing it all over her body! Unfortunately she ate it before we got on the bus so it came up not long after- one lesson that was learnt while on holiday- that Azra suffers from motion sickness and not to get her to eat before travelling- or actually any food!! Soon we will be on our way to Australia. Azra's second trip. We are hoping that Nanna waits for us!

Azra's first birthday

This photo was taken one weekend two weeks before her birthday. It was this time that she started to walk a little - just a couple of steps at a time before falling down. And here she is in the park showing her fondness for nature and trees.
We had her birthday party a little early due to so many friends going away . I guess that it is the disadvantage of having one's birthday in summer. It was a beautiful day, although torrential rain was threatened (much like we have been having here for probably one third of the summer- 1 day 35degrees and the next 20 and torrential rain and thunderstorms. It seems Azra is lucky as the sun was showing its beautiful colours and was actually quite hot. There were about 10 of us and 3 children. I guess as she gets older it will only be children but at this stage it is an excuse for us adults to gather together! We had it in Fenerbahce park. A beautiful park overlooking the sea and the islands. She had her first cake - sugar free only pekmez, which I guess could be translated as molasses, in this case carob molasses, or maybe carob syrup? I am hoping to keep her from eating sugar in all but its natural forms until 2 or 3 years, until I lose control of such things. The theory as Dr Sears enacted himself on his own children is that she will get so used to not eating sugar that when she comes across it even if she overdoses on it, it will make her feel ill and not want to eat it, or just not want to eat much of it at all. Let's see if I can stick to my aims! Anyway she couldn't blow out her candle herself, I think one of the other kids did so, probably the 3 year old who knew what was happening and what needed to be done. Anyway it was a great day, especially for Azra even if she didn't understand what was happening. She was too happy to be crawling and walking in the grass and flowers, and being admired by everyone to think about why we were all gathered together. So one year has passed. I found it hard to believe and it is a cliche to say so, but it has passed so quickly. Most of it has been fantastic, some of it was really hard work. People look at her now and say she is such a happy, smiley baby. I think back to her first 2-3 months, where she had gas issues, sleeping issues (she still does and wakes up every 3 hours- although more when she is teething- now!) and organization issues and whatever else. Now however she is great. Masaallah- as the Turks say, or touch wood, as others might say. She is now walking everywhere, not at all keen to get in her stroller, although she quite likes pushing it. Maybe I should get in it and let her push it and have a well-deserved rest. That sounds rather inviting! She smiles at anyone who even looks at her. Apparently one day she was in the park and there was a guy with his head in his hands, looking rather pensive. She even when passing him gave him such a smile that he even smiled back at her! Maybe she'll be a light in everyone's life. In terms of developments, she has discovered how to get off the bed and down stairs. She was really pleased with herself this morning as the place we had breakfast in had 2 really friendly cats who allowed her to touch them, even pull their fur. And luckily it didn't end in being scratched in return. If only our cat at home could be as calm and tolerant as these cats. Let's hope that now at home she doesn't think that our cat will act the same or she could end up with some more scratches than she has already had to bear!
Now her favourite item is the rubbish bin, the rubbish bin in the kitchen, the rubbish bin in the bathroom, and wherever else she can find one. Whatever she has in her hand goes in there (and if we are not looking, if she can open it whatever is in there goes in her hands!) We have to be extremely vigilant with the rubbish that is being thrown out- not so easy to always remember- that's probably why some of her toys are missing! Iguess she sees us throwing things into the garbage, so rather than being a garbage it is just a place where things get stored perhaps for her. Children are amazing creatures! What goes on in their heads is really fascinating! She is also into the toilet, the water down the bottom looks very mysterious, and oh what fun it is to throw things in when the lid is left up! Her favourite toys at the moment are plastic containers and lids, she has a great time trying to fit one into the other! One development in her personality is the showing of anger in very definite ways. For a long time when she was angry she would hold out her arms straight in front of her and and scream, for example at the cat when he would scratch her. Now when she gets angry she yells out every word that comes into her head and they come out as a string of angry words 'blblblmamamamgagagagagagwagwagwabababa' etc! In fact it is really funny when she gets angry. Unfortunate that her outpouring of anger just makes us giggle! In terms of her eating, I am still breastfeeding, more at night and when she wakes up. She is completely sold on purees, but not so completely sold on non-purees. She loves her eggs though, she loves chewing on bread, simits, she likes cheese, she loves crackers, she loves cucumber, but most of the time she just chews on most of these and then after a while she just lets them fall out of her mouth. As for fruit, well if it is pureed it is eaten, if not, she will not let it in her mouth! Now we have the most beautiful fruit, because of the season, but because I am making a point of buying organic, and it really is beautiful. Cherries, nectarines, plums, peaches, blueberries, blackberries, apricots, watermelon. She will eat some watermelon with us, although alot of it ends up in places other than her mouth! As for the other fruits, if they are entertained at all it is only to squeeze the juice out of them then she may smear it all over her face and then the kitchen floor and then she rubs her legs in it. This is what she did with the apricot last week. If only I had had my camera at the ready! Her legs were pretty delicious though, even if she didn't appreciate the apricot!

Azra is 11 months old!

Only 1 more month and Azra will have her first birthday! How did that happen? Azra continues to develop. She is a real babbler now. She gets out a sentence of babbling (or a few) and then she crinkles up her nose and chuckles so much as if she has just told the world's funniest joke. I love seeing it, but of course I have not been able to catch it on camera. Of course when you come out with the camera she doesn't babble at all! She is becoming more independent every day. When you say 'come, come' she is less likely now to hold her arms up to be picked up, which is what she always used to do. Now if she does that, a few seconds later she is swivelling her body in your arms to see what else she can possibly do or where else she can go. We are now seeing more of her individuality. Actually right from the beginning I thought she would be a very impatient person, as when she was hungry, she had to be fed immediately, or when she would try to do something, when it didn't go her way she would lose interest quickly, but just in the last week or so we have seen her struggling with simple things for close to 30 minutes and the same thing. Maybe my first predictions were wrong, or as long as she is not hungry she has patience perhaps.
She is turning out to be a very happy and sociable baby which is nice. She doesn't often cry, unless you put her on her back (from where she has a hard time getting mobile), change her clothes, take her out of the bath or other such times. Apart from that she seems quite happy. Lately she has been showing something like embarrassment. When someone smiles at her, she put her head to the side, or looks away and giggles nervously!
She is into everything now. Fridge, cupboards, cds, at least she is no longer interested in my books or the magazines. She has found bottles with pills in them which of course make a great sound when shaken! We have given her one cupboard where she can take the bottles out freely and another drawer where she can take out the containers and lids. I am trying to teach her to put them back in though! Much harder than taking them out!

Azra and her feet

As you can see Azra is still entranced by her ability to put her foot in her mouth. Now she has shoes with bottoms, not just the crocheted ones now so she has even more reason to stick them in her mouth, she can chew on them as well, and she has done this so much that has chewed a hole in the bottom of her shoes, and that is definitely not from walking! Here her friend Ali takes her lead and decides not to miss out on the joy of foot chewing!

Azra is 10 months old!

Today Azra was 10 months old. We have seen leaps and bounds in her development this month. She is almost ready to walk. She is standing up and she can now get herself up just with momentum, without holding onto anything. She is still a yoga baby as you can see!
She is going to the park everyday with her nanny and getting on the swing. Apparently she sings (ahhh ahhh ahhh gahh gahhh gahhh etc.) while she is on the swing. She also likes the slippery dip and just sitting in the sandpit. She loves the sand sifting through her hands. We might have to take her to the beach soon. The weather is beautiful, spring is here. We could comfortable take her to the beach.
She especially likes things which make sound at the moment. She has discovered vitamin bottles and the sound the pills make when she shakes the bottle. So I have replaced the pills with dried beans or rice so as to have different sounds. She loves it!
She can't stand having socks on her feet, as soon as you put them on she yanks them off. What she uses them for is either to swing them in each hand or to have in her hands as she crawls around - to stop her hands from getting cold???
She is not over opening all the cupboards and the fridge yet. Sometimes when I say no, she will cry, perhaps when she is tired, other times she will just turn around and go to something else, but as soon as you turn your back she is back to the original thing!
She crawls into the bathroom as we fill up her bath and now she watches the whole process, the bath being filled up, she sticks her hand in the shower head. It is like she can't wait to get into the bath. After the bath she loves diving into the duvet on our bed and then she jumps over to her bed and swings on the bars of the cot. It is like she is elated that she is going to bed- or maybe she just loves the bedroom and her bed!
She has learned about manipulation. Like I said if I say no to her if she is not in a great mood then she starts crying. Also if she wants something she throws her head back and starts crying. On the plus side outside she smiles at anyone trying to get them to look at her and communicate with her.
She is fine when I leave in the morning but when I come back in the afternoon she often cries. I guess when she sees me she realises that I have not been there.
She is getting more active, she is getting very fast at crawling and sidling along things. It is impossible to leave her alone for more than a minute.
She is not saying anything yet except mamamam, does that mean mum or is it just a string of sounds? gagaga, gwa or just aaaah...
She is eating most things we give her, as well as the cardboard and things that we don't give her. She has even demonstrated a like for beans and lentils which is good! Nothing is as good as yoghurt though!
We took her to one of the big parks during tulip festival time. Tulips are an important symbol of Ottoman Turkey and Istanbul, so I thought this was a nice way for Azra to get in touch with her culture! I even let her get close to the dark purple tulips, not really a good idea because of course a gentle touch is never enough!

Azra is 9 months old

Azra is 9 months old. (Actually 9 months and 10days now!) Life has become much more difficult in terms of looking after her, but more fun. She has discovered the joys of independence. A few weeks ago she was happy just sort of crawling about a metre. Now she races from one end of the house to the other crawling and sidles up to anything so that she can stand and drum her hands on the surface of anything that will make a sound. She is slowly discovering that everything is awaiting her. She loves opening the fridge, opening cupboards and getting things to fall on the ground. Now giving her a bath is a bit of a task. She used to just sit in the bath, we would give her her little ducks, read her books and bathe her. Now when we give her her ducks she picks them up out of the water, stands up and drops them out of the bath and then peers over the side to see where they have fallen, the book that she used to be read to from she does the same, picks it up and drops it then leans over to see where it has fallen. She stands up and whatever is in her reach is fair game, cupboard doors to open, the flush of the toilet, banging on the shower cabin. To wash her has become quite difficult. Now the weather has started warming up so for the past 3 weekends we have been able to take her out to the park overlooking the sea and sit her on the grass. The first time she did it she just sat there in awe. The second time was pretty much the same with a little tasting of the grass, now to keep her from eating the grass is a task and the last time I took her down she started crawling around the grass. Everybody adores her and now, perhaps unfortunately, she is so used to people taking notice of her that she looks at passersby expectantly! It is a nice social thing I think but I am not sure of the effect. We will see! Her nanny and her seem to like each other very much. They seem to have a lot of fun together and when she comes in the morning and says 'morning' Azra always has a big smile ready! She has to started saying 'ga' and beckoning with her hands. This seems to be 'come'. Now instead of carrying her to the bathroom to have her bath I stand in the doorway of the bathroom after preparing her bath and say to her 'come, come, come' and she races down the hallway. She also says 'ga' and beckons to the cat. Funnily enough the cat doesn't come to her though!!! A case of very unrequited love!
In the last month she has had two more teeth appear. Actually one month ago we were thinking anyday they will appear but they have only broken through the gum in the last week (second right upper) and the first right upper tooth has just broken through so these are causing a problem at night still. Azra will be addicted to homeopathic chamomile soon as we have been giving it to her for so long. She sees me pushing one pill out into the cap, she opens her mouth wide and even pushes my hands to empty the cap into her waiting mouth!
As we see her developing there definitely seems to be a very emotional part of her character but at the same time quite a I know what I want aspect as well and I will do things when I want. This would be the Leo part of her character! She loves spending time outside, but then doesn't everybody. This shows that she isn't just a cancer which is a relief!
Something interesting about being a mother has reared its ugly head reminding me of my feminist side. A mother can be ill but very little will change. She still has to look after the baby and life goes on pretty much as before. A father gets ill and the world stops, He can't look after the baby and has to go to bed and stay there and get things delivered, or at least hope for some such thing! Oh this life is terribly hard for the male in a patriarchal society! The more I think about I definitely agree with the thesis that the power structure of the patriarchal society is based on the threat they feel from women's reproductive powers and therefore need to do everything they can to oppress women and their power and maintain their own power. It's all about the baby!

Azra is 8 months old! She is growing so fast before my very eyes. She has 2 more new teeth in the upper jaw on the left and two more just about to come through on the right side. While mum goes off guiltily to work she is being looked after by her nanny. She seems to like her very much. When I am leaving in the morning and Emma comes in and says good morning to Azra, azra always gives her a big smile. When I come back they are usually playing together having fun, which is such a relief for me to see. Even though I have the luxury of working 4 days a week (although only until July) I still feel guilty going off to work and wish that I could spend more time with Azra, but it is a little bit difficult being the main breadwinner in the family yet being influenced either by maternal hormones telling me I should stay home or is it ideology telling me? I wouldn't be able to stay at home completely for too long but I would appreciate a bit more time. Now it is very rare that we are at home alone, but when we are it is great!
Azra has started crawling, although she has been doing it for a week or two now but hasn't picked up too much speed. She has discovered the joy of pulling books off the shelf, or magazines off the table. She is also in awe of our cat Yaramaz. She gets excited when he comes near and can't stop herself from touching (or pulling) his fur. I am hoping that he will be able to resist biting her when she does get overexcited to see him nearby. She claps her hands in excitement and when you put her on her back she also claps her feet! She picks up things with both hands and bangs them together. Maybe she has some sort of musical thing going on....every mother hopes to see such innate talents I imagine! She is getting better at doing yoga, pictured here in downward dog again! She still hasn't got much in the way of hair, just a little down on her head!


This is Azra's friend Ali, he is 5 weeks older than her but his mum has also started work again as well, so it will be difficult for them to find time to spend together unfortunately.

Azra is 7 months old

Azra in 2 days will be 7 months old. Where has that 7 months gone? She is developing amazingly. She has been sitting up by herself for almost 2 weeks. I am on holiday at the moment so I get to spend all day with her again, this I missed very much! I wish I could spend this time with her until she is 2, but economic reality makes this a bit difficult. Today as I was getting her to sleep I was lucky enough to witness some of her latest feats! I get her to sleep by laying her on her tummy and then patting both her bottom and her back rhythmically and massaging her back while laying next to her. In the last few days she has been less likely to lay still as I do this but today she decided to try out her new yoga poses. She has been doing the cobra for ages (getting up on her belly with her arms stright) but in the last few days she has also been doing cat and cow (all fours) and today she started downward dog (all fours and bum up in air)! Actually she had her face down in the sheets and was moving forward with the momentum! Such ingenious things these babies! She has sort of started eating solids in some sense. Actually we started with fruit when she was a bit over 6 months old, not really a meal but just to get the taste of foods. Our aim is not to abandon breastmilk but just to introduce her to foods. So we started with avocado which she seemed to like at first but then a few times later just let it all dribble out of her mouth. Then we went on to banana which she seemed to like sucking when it was whole but was not very interested in as a food. Then we went to cooked apple, a teaspoonful is ok- but only that much. I have discovered that she loves yoghurt. In the effort to try and get her to sleep better at night I give her yoghurt mixed with ground rice. It hasn't really worked yet to that effect though! I also mix in apple as that seems the only way she will eat it. Today I cooked carrot, she wasn't interested in that either until we mixed it with yoghurt!
The sleeping problem!!! Well as can be seen in the photo her two bottom teeth have come through, when these were coming through we had such a nightmare at night, at least crying every hour, so I started feeding her more. This was when I was going to work as well so I would be destroyed the next day getting a maximum of 1 hour of sleep at a time. Now the teeth have come through but the sleep has not got any better, just the crying at night has lessened! Let's hope this doesn't continue. These night times and work do not mix very well! Her bath times have become a lot of fun. She has many little ducks and books to accompany her in the bath. She no longer cries as she gets out of the bath. Except she does resist getting dressed so she will cry a little then. We are looking for a nanny for 10 days as Husnu is studying for an exam and I will be back at work. We have started interviewing, that's interesting. Foreigners are quite expensive but at least they speak English. The worrying thing is trust. How do you know you can trust them? Will they run off with your gorgeous baby, sell her kidneys or something. Interestingly and hopingly unrelated Turkey has an extremely high rate of missing and unfound children.....

Jetsetting!

We are back from our big trip to Oz! Azra did pretty well for a little baby I reckon. She coped with around a 24 hour trip there and back, only crying on the descent (I guess because of the pressure in her ears) and when there was turbulence meaning that I would have to take her out of the bassinet which of course would wake her up from her well deserved slumber. She met lots of new faces during her one month stay and only towards the end of the month cried when she met someone new - for instance my brother- her uncle Tony- but after the initial cry she became attached to him, sleeping on his shoulder more than once. I guess the crying might indicate that she is slowly getting the stranger concept. If this is so does that mean separation anxiety is around the corner? Tomorrow I start work after a 6 month break (how wonderful that was even if that time seemed to zoom by) so we will see if there are any problems caused with the separation. I doubt it seeing that I left her in Australia for 4 consecutive days with family from 8.30-6.30 and she was fine and then for short periods after that I also left her in the hands of family.
Anyway being in Australia was great even if I faced criticism for breastfeeding Azra solely until 6 months. I guess everybody thinks that what they know and what they did with their children is right and the best- just like the criticism that we face here for taking her out in the sun or not bundling her up like an eskimo. She spent loads of time in the great outdoors (as Australians are want to refer to it!) it was a bit strange as the weather has obviously been affected by global warming- one day 38 degrees and the very next day 25! I think she must have suffered a lot after coming back and being lucky to be taken out for half an hour in the cold. Now it is snow weather so we can't go outside for ling periods of time. Today even I froze!
She took about 3-4 days to adjust to the time difference but it wasn't so bad for her as our plane arrived at 7 in the morning and she had slept on and off for the previous 9 hours- her mum however had a different experience! Anyway her dad was pretty happy to see her. We were waiting in the airport as he had been held up in traffic and he came running over to her and couldn't take his eyes or hands off her- at least I got a greeting! Can't expect to much though I guess. He has been great with her ever since we got back allowing me to have a bit of time for myself. He starts looking after her tomorrow. He is not as scared as he was before we left for Australia but of course naturally he still has his fears about it. To be fair it is not something that Turkish men normally do. Today was the first time that he had looked after since us coming back to Turkey. He was stress-free on my return (unlike the previous few times) as now it is no hassle to get her to drink my milk from her bottle, much to her dad's relief! Thanks to my aunt who got her to accept the bottle now he is very relaxed!
Anyway while in Australia we went from Sydney to Melbourne and then to where my family is in Gloucester. Azra has become quite the jetsetter! She seemed to be happy wherever we were and with whoever we were with even if it took her a couple of days to get used to new beds and such. We spent her first Christmas in Gloucester with family. That was nice. You can see her christmas dress courtesy of our friend Mary. In the following photo are the four generations, Azra, me, her grandmother and her great grandmother and Azra's cousins. Everyone says that Azra looks like her youngest cousin- the one on my left.
Since we've been back we have been experimenting with food. She has always loved sucking on apple cores but we have not been able to get her to swallow any food yet. We have tried teething biscuits and avocado everything still comes dribbled out though!
She is now 6 months- well actually tomorrow she will be- a great celebration- her mum leaves her to return to fulltime work! I am not looking forward to it especially the 1 hour journey everyday there.
Until next time!