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!
