Much better activity...

 Last night we decorated sugar cookies to give to our neighbors and classmates. Micah surprised us all with his perseverance in painting the whole batch with Mom and Dad! Notice his intense concentration.

 Ten points to the best caption for the face below. Perhaps something like...all this hard work, and we don't get to eat any?

 Again....where is the cheesy smile for the camera? I think he is on to us and frustrating our plans to paparazzi his life. So grandparents, you'll just have to visit to get the real Micah in his silly state. ;-)

What's wrong with this picture??

Here is a quote from the baby center update I got on my 2 year 3 week old PRESCHOOLER (read: not toddler!) yesterday: "The little sponge following you around has big ears! So give her plenty to listen to. Research shows that preschoolers whose mothers talk often to them build bigger vocabularies. And kids with fathers who also frequently talk to them develop even larger vocabularies. (Moms tend to use more comforting and nurturing words drawn from the child's own world, while dads are more likely to talk about less-familiar interests, researchers say.)" 

 

Do you think a "less familiar interest" could possibly be zergs and terrans and other StarCraft words I should not know? Why does my child look so engrossed? and worse yet, gleeful (if such a word exists)?

That elusive Christmas photo...

Well,  I told Rick he had to chase Micah around the house with a red blanket hoping that we could capture Micah in his Christmas sweater with a smile. This is the closest we came...

 This is his clothing advertisement face...

 And this is an outtake...with the best smile of them all. Micah thought playing magic curtain with the backdrop was more fun than standing in front of it. What can you do?

Losing the belly button

Tomorrow we will be at 25 weeks in this pregnancy...and as of last weekend we are mourning the loss of my belly button. A friendly classmate asked me last week if I was going to have twins. She is single and thus I forgive her. I'm rediscovering the creativity needed to be pregnant. Here is how I have survived the first 1.5 trimesters....

1st trimester:

- I decided I would not do any house cleaning as the cleaning products made me extra nauseous.  This was Rick's favorite decree.
- As I was easily getting woozy on buses, I attempted to go against my people-pleasing nature and force my way into the last remaining seat on the bus. Even if an old man got on, I would let someone else offer him a seat. This took a lot of willpower..but I affirmed myself with the thought that I could only truly be responsible for one of us not passing out while standing.
- I bought lots of heavy groceries on grocery trips so I could justify taking a taxi up our hill instead of walking. :)
- I decided I would just not wash any pants. Without the benefit of a wash and a dryer, my pants would stretch with me. Supposedly. 

2nd trimester:
- I get to eat double portions of my favorite foods....and claim pregnancy nauseau for my less-than-favorite foods.
- I unbutton my coat when getting on the bus so people know I'm pregnant and freely offer me a seat.
- We've convinced Micah that only Dad should be rough-housed with for 'everyone's health'.
- I've decided I won't drink any liquids after 2pm so that I can sleep through the night. I have yet to follow this one. 

Finished product

They have many Christmas decorations here because they decorate trees for New Year's...but we had to bring our own nativity set from home. Most of the decorations focus on snowmen and Santa...though I don't think Santa comes to visit. We'll learn much about this season and how it is celebrated in the next month! We've heard "This This"/Greensleeves twice in the subway stations now.

Christmas horse - aka Reindeer

Decorating the house

Birthday party celebrated, balloons still out, dishes put away.....time to set up the Christmas tree!!! Micah was much more involved this year, but a bit frustrated by the fine motor skills needed to put the little ornament loops on the tree. Mom and Dad had to work at it too. Best parts? The reindeer/Christmas horse that says 'neigh' and the red bead garlands that were dragged around the house. We were really thankful for a day off from classes to get ready for this month. We won't have any holiday days off in December, except for those we self-initiate. Rick and I both passed into the next level of language learning...so here we go! 

Micah's 2nd Birthday!!

We celebrated Micah's 2nd birthday today with a bunch of his friends. We were blessed to have several families share with us in making this day fun. Thomas the Tank Engine was also a featured guest. We attempted to play "Pin the hat on Sir Topham Hat" and "Drop clothespins into Thomas' Chimney". The older kids thought these were great. The younger kids did not want to interrupt their independent play for such community activities. Maybe in a couple more years. :) We had Cincinnati Chili (Chili over pasta with whatever fix'ins you like), turkish style pig-n-blankets, veggies, and chocolate cupcakes (thanks to an $8 box of Duncan Hines cake mix). 

Micah's latest word update

For the grandparents...

The words we hear most often:
up, down, in, green/green one (often used to express Micah's desire for his green cloth diapers above all the other colors), no, bye, cheese, uh oh, mom, and dad

and the following animal sounds:
meow, how how (dog), baa, neigh (horse/cow), ka ka (duck/chicken), toot toot (train-specifically Thomas)

Yesterday Rick & Micah called me from home and Micah greeted me with a "MOM!" and just before we hung up, he gave me an assertive "BYE!" I smiled all the way home.

advertisements

 Well, a friend once told us not to learn our language from advertisements. I think it is quite wise advice. But you do have to wonder sometimes...what is the thinking behind this?

Here is a pseudo translation of this ad for honey. It makes me think of something other than honey.

"renewed every day
like a miracle
like a light of the world"

And here we have the second holiday doughnut ad. The first we saw was for Krispy Skremes. Now they don't celebrate Halloween or Christmas here...  and supposedly it only snowed 3 times last winter in our city, so.....how are we going to "meet with the new year snow man"?

A first cousin!!

 Hooray! We are so excited that our first niece and cousin has arrived! Selma Magdalena was born on November 19.  We got to meet her for the first time on Skype when the family came home from the hospital...Micah thought she was pretty amazing. We can't wait to meet her in person!

Turkey Day...

What do people have for Thanksgiving in a foreign country??

Final Achieved Menu:

·         Cranberry Spinach Salad

·         Cheese & olives

·         Turkey/Chicken & Stuffing & Gravy (turkey was nearly not available as the grocery store declared it needed a 3 week window for the possibility of a whole turkey. butchers in our neighborhood were noncommittal at best, decidedly negative at worst. Finally Tom found a whole frozen turkey downtown at a seller of ‘exotic birds’…another option being pheasant. Hooray!)

·         Dill Mashed Potatoes

·         Pumpkin & Cauliflower Casserole (broccoli casserole became cauliflower when the packaged broccoli at the store had visible worms residing on the florets)

·         Corn bread (sweet corn casserole involved way too many steps and too small of an output. Corn bread was much easier)

·         Peas

·         Can of Cranberry Sauce discovered in friend’s pantry

·         Strawberry Pretzel Jello Soup (jello did not gel. enough said.) (cool whip became whipped cream made from a powder and milk.)

·         Pumpkin Cheesecake

·         Rustic Apple Torte

·         Apple Cobbler

·         Ice Cream

·         Punch

Rick & Tom model the delicious turkey (augmented by a few chicken legs)

Steph leads 'craft time' (leaf rubbings and thanksgiving coloring pages) with the kids.

We had our special celebration this week because all of our neighbor’s were celebrating Kurban Bayramı, a week-long holiday commemorating Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice everything, including his son, to Allah, and to celebrate God’s deliverance of Abraham by providing a sheep as a substitute.  Families here sacrifice a goat, sheep, or bull, and divide it three ways – your own family, your neighbors, and the poor. This is a special time here when all government offices and the majority of businesses are closed for 4-5 days. People visit with family, neighbors, and friends. This aspect feels much like our 4 day Thanksgiving weekend back home. We were delighted to have several friends join us for our pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner. It was much less stressful to prepare a big meal when you don’t have to attend class or work all day (which will be the case next week).

Life with a toddler…

So, in honor of thanksgiving, we (I) decided to introduce Micah to some craft projects beyond coloring with his four fat crayons. First attempt? Finger painting. Failed. Micah was quite distraught at the sensation of gooey paint on his fingers. Second attempt? Stamping. Loved! Why is it that he is willing to rub his finger in an ink pad (that is not washable) and not in finger paint (that is washable)??

 As I grabbed my scarf the other day, I threw it over my head to be goofy. Micah proceeded to run around the house for 20 minutes with a scarf over his head saying "ooooo!" I asked Rick, "when did our child learn how to become a ghost?" Rick's response, "20 minutes ago, when you said "ooo" under the scarf". Ah ha. I guess we need to pay even closer attention to what we're teaching this little sponge!

 As Rick started getting Thanksgiving jello ready, Micah decided he needed an apron just like dad. This was fun for four minutes until mom got the camera out. Then he was ready to be "all done!"

Walk in the Woods

We were ecstatic to find a forest within a 15 minute walk from the metro line last week! Having waited a few weeks from our last trip to the forest, we were delighted to see the fall leaves falling. It was a beautiful day and a refreshing respite from the city. 

 Here I am at 20 weeks! Hooray...the nausea has finally abated and though I'm tired a lot, I am thankful to not feel sick all the time.

 Micah was excited to discover gravity....

 ...even as it relates to leaves being dropped on Hugo's head.

 The boys with their walking sticks.

Micah and Dad and the Gandalf style walking stick Dad provided Micah to aid his trek.

Kiah's 5th Bday

Last night we attended a birthday party on the Asian side. It took an hour to get there, but it was well worth the fellowship and the kids hyped up on candy and cake. Did I also mention they had out of this world Tomato Basil Soup and Burritos with BLACK BEANS!! It's the small things in life. The stores here don't sell black beans. I was thrilled to find red kidney beans last week so that my chili might be a bit more authentic...but tacos have been limited to pinto-style beans. I need to learn to cook more local dishes that use the ingredients available here.

Micah's favorite part may have been the pinata bashing. I know the older boys loved it! Sorry I can't get this video to turn sideways...you'll just have to turn your heads and imagine.

advertising worked on me!

So....the poster below has been posted at nearly every bus stop in the city for the past month. For someone who never eats MickeyDs in the States, it is odd that I found myself suddenly craving a big McChicken. I blame it on pregnancy and the completely 'brushed up' tantalizing version of the sandwich in the poster.
Anyway, not having bought fast food in awhile and not really paying attention to currency exchange rates, I imagined that you could actually buy these super menu items for $1.40, $2, and $3.60. When we got to the counter and the cashier informed us they were for the "ikinci menu", I then thought "ah, so we buy one at regular price and get the second one for this great deal price. Slightly better than a 2-for-1 deal. That sounds more accurate."
The cashier continued to try to convey to us the true meaning of the ad which we finally understood after we ordered....you buy one at regular price ($6-7) and then you get the second one for $1.40 less....thus $4.60. Not such the great deal we envisioned...especially when I was reminded that the McChicken is just a big nugget on a bun. Lesson learned. Next time it's BK all the way...my way right away. Or a nice local sandwich. ;-)

Republic Day

 Many times this year we have found out about a holiday the day before. This week, we had a little more warning for Republic Day - the celebration of when the constitution was amended and the country became a republic. We thought there would be a parade of some sort, but were pleasantly surprised to find out we had fireworks in our harbor instead.  This first set made our giant bridge invisible!

 Micah was actually quite enthused to point and clap at the different fireworks...especially the 'green' ones as that is his new favorite word. It is difficult to capture that enthusiasm on camera, but believe us, he enjoyed staying up past his bedtime!

Our plaza was packed with people watching the brilliant display. Boats throughout the harbor set off rockets so that you could see the show all the way down the Bosporus. Very cool. We'll definitely put this holiday and event on our calendar for next year!

on being pregnant...

Last week I passed out on one of the public buses. Thankfully Rick and my mom-in-law were there to catch me and such. That's not the interesting part...

At the doctor's office the next day...
Dr: Any issues you want to talk about or questions you have?
Me: Well, I passed out for the second time yesterday.
Dr: Hmm.
Me: Should I do anything about that?
Dr: Make sure you always do it in a safe place.
Me: Hmm.
Me: Anything else?
Dr: You have low blood pressure from your pregnancy, eat more salt.
(My mom-in-law, the ob nurse, had told me I should eat more sugar...so I guess I'll just eat more in general).

A bit later...
Dr: Would you like a prescription to prevent stretch-marks?
Me: A what?
Dr: Many of the women here are concerned about stretch marks. I'll write you a prescription and you can choose if you want to have it filled or not. It's very easy.


Moral of the story:
I may pass out on a bus full of strangers, but at least I won't have stretch marks.

another banner year - 31!

Last Friday my boys served me breakfast in bed as a precursor to a lovely birthday. Micah jumped right up next to me and proceeded to eat half my breakfast. Rick must have predicted this as he had extra large portions available.

 

After such delicious service, we took off on an adventure. Those who know me best know that the best gifts are "adventures" and "words of affirmation". So, we headed out the door in pursuit of the Belgrade Forest - a beautiful forest outside of Istanbul that we have only previously been to by friends' car. After a bus ride, a subway ride, and a taxi ride, we arrived at the entrance...only to discover that the walking trail inside the forest was a 2.5K walk from the entrance...a factor not necessarily anticipated by those who have only been there by private car. Anyway, we had a lovely walk through the woods. Micah was excited (mostly) to run free and I enjoyed the exercise. The leaves are not yet changing here, so we will have to go back in a couple weeks. We saw the start of the walking trail, but decided a 2 year old and a pregnant lady could only handle so many miles in a day. On our way to the exit, we were escorted by two street dogs that Rick named Limpy and Skinny. They kept Micah entertained, which is the important part...as nap hour approached.

On our way home, we stopped at a mall to enjoy some McDonalds...another posting to come...and then headed home.  Some family bonding time, and the best gift of all...to bed at 7:30. I slept 12 hours! I've since discovered that was the first night of a cold, but thankfully I only felt tired that night and not the itchy, sneezy, ickies of oncoming days. All in all, a great birthday with the fam. Thanks to all who called or sent cards or e-mails. I got warm fuzzies all over! :)

Visiting the Hagia Sophia

Our first family visitor arrived this week! We have been excitedly showing Rick's mom around all of the major touristy spots. Micah and I go along for the morning and then head home for a nap after lunch while Rick and Ginny continue their touring. Unfortunately, there has been A LOT of rain this week. But, there is plenty to see indoors. We started with the Hagia Sophia. Micah was excited to play hide-n-seek behind pillars and such. Who knew that the once largest church in Christendom was also the largest playground?

We're glad we sat inside the bus for this tour...

First School Field Trip

Our school organized a trip around the city. We got to bring Micah with us on the fancy tour bus. We saw a beautiful mosque and drank cay (tea) at a cafe that overlooks the city. And then Micah needed to go home for a nap.