Azra is getting very close to her 2nd birthday, just one more month! Now adays she is spending alot of time outside in the sun, in the park or with the flowers as the photo shows, she is trying to blow the dandelions but actually just gets all the bits over her mouth. In the second photo in one of the parks we go to there is a dog pen and she loves nothing more than to go into that pen and pretend she is a dog, if there are dogs there than she spends all of her time just trying to talk to them rather than playing in the playground! Developmentally how is she doing? Let's see, linguistically she is still just saying words, words as varied from 'itchy' to 'chicken' and in Turkish she says acayim mi? alot- shall I open it. No stringing words togther yet. Physically she is a little monkey, climbing up chains in the park or going over the top of the monkey bars, holding on to the sides, she is far above the kids her age at the park, but that is more to do with Turkish parents than with Azra as they tend to overprotect rather than let their kids free. They always have plenty to say to me! She kisses alot. That is me and her father and her nanny but also other kids at the park, it is very cute! She has all her teeth but the very back ones. In terms of food she eats no fruit unless the apple has been cooked and we can maybe sneak some grated kiwi or something into it or she east dried fruit. Vegetables...well she will eat soups and things but only really peas, carrots or potatoes but also raw mushrooms. Her favourites are still fish, chicken or turkey or bread, bulgur or rice. She loves her food though. Apparently that is very cancer sign or so says my friend. She has the biggest belly of all her friends in the park! Now though she has learnt to touch and point to ours! Fair enough I guess, even if demoralising! She also loves putting our shoes on. I guess this is normal, her friend ali put on a show for her while wearing his mother's shoes a few months ago. I also remember a photo of me doing the same. Nowadays she is on her artistic phase, drawing over everything, in the hope of preventing that I put paper on the walls but it doesn't entirely prevent her from drawing elsewhere! She is great fun, laughing all the time, at us, at herself, crying, playing....

Azra the tourist

Earlier this month we took Azra to Northern Cyprus on a short 4 day holiday and she showed us how much she can walk! We rented a car and drove around to the places we had not been able to go before, especially the east of the island which is completely unspoilt and undeveloped (there is a picture her of golden beach)- it would be a great place to camp in warmer weather. We explored the ruins to 2 castles and Azra was really great in the amount that she walked and of course when she got tired there was always her dad's shoulders. We also explored some Roman ruins (well half of the ruins as they were to big to walk around for Azra and it was lightly raining). We took Azra down to a beach where she showed that she could still eat the sand! And if not eat then put it all over her and down her back! It was great while we were in Cyprus, lots of fresh air, cheddar cheese and bacon, and Azra went to sleep at night really easily. Just after we got back the last remaining upper teeth came through, now all that's missing are the back molars. We can say a mouthful of teeth.

Azra is 1 1/2 years old!

How has time flown by so quickly? Azra is growing up! She is no longer a baby anymore, actually it was she who became cognizant of that fact not her parents! She picks up photos of when she was smaller, or pictures in books, a babies on the street and she says 'baby, baby'! She also refuses to wear a bib and often to sit in her high chair (which is only a chair by the way which is at the same height as the table and so we all use the same table). Actually baby is one of the few words which she uses. Her active vocabulary also includes apple and doggy (although she usually just says 'how, how') and mummy and baba or sometimes daddy. She is much behind her friends but she is bilingual so no comparisions should be made. We arranged a playgroup a week ago- a total of 4 babies sorry children. Azra had a lot of fun. She and another baby discovered the potato and onion basket, Azra took the potatoes and onions out- first to try to eat them, and then the friend discovered the joy of trying to throw them in the basket- missing the basket but getting the window behind which meant that they still ended up in the basket, then of course Azra would get them out and throw them on the ground. They both had great belly (and Azra's belly is very large, therefore so are her belly laughs!) laughs. She is a great destroyer. You build a sandcastle or whatever at the park, she knocks it down, you build something with her blocks, she comes and pulls it apart. You draw something to encourage her to draw, she scribbles over it. Maybe that is where her creativity lies! Her independence streak shows itself still. Refusing to hold your hand outside when walking, always pushing your hand away when you try to do something for her, or give her food. I'll do it my way she says! Okay! Maybe that is the lesson that I need to learn! It seems that if I am to make any observations about her inclinations that she is musically inclined, always banging on things, dancing, singing away, and she has a great love of books, her own picture books obviously but she has an attachment to a Turkish translation of Charles Dicken's Great expectations! Interesting choice! It is a hard cover but it has only one picture in it and that is of Dickens himself. Yet she continuously gets it from the bookshelf and sits down with it on the couch and flicks through it. Her drawing skills are getting better, but every time we give her markers, after drawing with them she just sucks out the ink from them- they are supposedly non-toxic.....but.... This is the most amazing time so far, maybe as one of my friends says as they grow up little by little you keep on labelling that period as the best! But she is so interactive and communicative and funny. She has her own language which she chats to herself in. But she is just so funny, always doing funny things, always laughing. She loves hiding for example. But she always goes to the same place, we just play the game...'where is Azra'. One night she ran behind the curtains in the bedroom as we were putting her to bed, but just after hiding she let out a great amount of gas! Obviously she needs to work on that one a bit more! She has an admirer at the kiosk at the park. When I take her there, she is more interested in running to the kiosk than playing on the swings etc. I let her go, she plays around the tables and chairs. But last weekend I learnt the reason for this attraction. It is a young man of around 25 who shows great interest in her! Oh Azra, are you playing around with my tables again...??? At which point she puts her head down and stares at the ground but then when he is not talking to her and she thinks he is not looking at her she stares longingly at him and if he doesn't look at her she starts making sounds for him to look at her. This is typical behaviour for her when she is obviously attracted to a man...and at such a tender age...I hate to think what is going to happen later! Her eating habits have changed in that she often refuses to eat unless she is on the table! Have we been to permissive or is it normal or is it because she sees the cat there (yes I know it is shameful but our cat freely roams everywhere!).She is quite a good eater though beans, lentils, mushrooms and the obvious ones like fish, chicken, cheese etc. but I can't get her to eat fruit with the exception of apple! No mandarins or oranges - not even their juice. And she loves her fennel tea!!!

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!