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.