So, I guess I got a little excited.  A tooth!!  Maybe Sophia is ready to each a little something that isn't pureed and served on a spoon!  Hmmm.. this video would indicate otherwise.  (Permanent link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9209926706419684625&hl=en)

   

It was hard getting proof because her tongue kept getting in the way, but after about 7 pictures Sophia finally opened her mouth in such a way that you can sort of see her first tooth.  I haven't noticed that she's been any more sensitive or cranky while this tooth broke through the skin, which is good.  Of course, that coincided with her adjustment back to California time, so who knows.

 

We had my colleague David and his son, Ethan, over for a while this afternoon and then hit the microbrewery for dinner.  Sophia spent much of the time flirting with both boys and teaching Ethan some Turkish (well, she shared her Turkish books anyway).  The best part for me was when Ethan said, "I want a granola bar" but it sounded suspiciously like "I wanna go to the bar."  So we did.  :)

1.  Sophia has pretty much adjusted back to the pacific time zone.  Last night she was up only once and Esen was able to convince her to go back to sleep.  I'd be hopeful about tonight except that she was fast asleep with her butt in the air (see picture below) by 6:15.

 

2.  My dear husband went to the grocery store today.  What a hopeless romantic!  Seriously... once upon a time, romance involved wine and chocolate.  Now it is mostly about random acts of kindness in the area of domestic chores.  Sad, but true.

 

3.  We've chosen Sophia's Halloween costume already.  It's a good one, but a secret.  Stay tuned!!

You decide... (permanent link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1267571405373300465&hl=en)

    

 

I mean, it's not the traditional butt-in-the-air method of motivating around the room, but it does get her where she wants to go (and pretty quickly).  I need to know what date-of-first-crawling to put in her baby book, so you all have to help me decide if this is it.

 

The whole family went to bed at 7:30 last night.  Esen and I even skipped dinner.  Just too exhausted after several nights of very little sleep as Sophia adjusts back to California time.  She was up a little before 5am this morning, so we were feeling pretty good about our decision to go to bed so early!  Perhaps, in a few more days, life will feel more normal.

 

Sophia is helping me with the blog post this morning (as you can see in the video, she has a particular affinity for the laptop computer!).  Here's what she has to add:  r,yj,.,n ofew ,w VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV.  Well, that says it all, doesn't it?

Here she is... jet-lagged, but still cute!  As you can see by the last picture, this little photo shoot lead quickly to a morning nap.

We don't even have a very good bed (as Katie can attest to, given that she was with us when we took 15 minutes to pick it out), but there's something amazing about falling into your very own bed after traveling.  Yesterday's marathon journey home was exhausting.  It was made better by the fact that we flew business class from Istanbul to Chicago (thanks Gulsen!), so we had a lot more room.  We could even spread out a small blanket and let Sophia play on the floor in front our seats for a bit.  Of course, going back to the poor seats from Chicago to Sacramento felt like cruel punishment (and we even had three seats in a row, despite a very full plane).  Anyway, I could go on and on about the flight and the Turkish Airlines flight attendants who I thought about physically hurting and how much we hate Chicago O'Hare and all but a few people in it, but I'll save my complaining for some other time.  It could have been a lot worse.  Sophia was a dream... patient and sweet and flirty with all around her.  Door-to-door this trip is 24 hours long and she was amazing both times.  I nominated her for Baby of the Year.

 

I created an album with my pictures (look to the right).  Because my attention is constantly diverted to Sophia, I don't take as many pictures as I used to (and I believe the quality has suffered as well).  I missed entire events and people because the camera just didn't make it out of my bag, but some of those holes can be filled in with pictures from Gulsen (slideshow here http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ujyojip.atykhj91&x=0&y=-sjdl7x). 

 

I did shoot a few videos that are kind of cute.  In this first one, we learn the clever secrets of grandparents:  teach the kiddies things that the parents will later have to un-teach.  Sophia went on to rip glasses of the faces of several other family members during the trip (so all you vision-impaired friends and relatives beware!).  (permanent link:  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5249743700729125086&hl=en)

       

 

Sophia really started to exercise her lung capacity on this trip.  There was a lot of high-pitched screaching and screaming, most of it directed at the family cat (Minnos), but also done randomly.  It carried over to our plane trip home, which I'm sure our fellow passengers enjoyed!  (permanent link:  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2238992395187719818&hl=en)

     

More screaming (this is the most accurate video of her current vocal activity):

(permanent link:  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4438152149013880036&hl=en) 

  

 

And finally, the poor kitty-cat...

(permanent link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1354234701186862720&hl=en)

  

 

Based on this last video, it looks like she was all screached out after a 12-hour flight to Chicago, waiting in line at Customs, re-checking our suitcases on a different airline, taking a train over to the domestic terminal, and going through yet another long and ridiculous airport security line.  Poor thing still had another 4-hour flight to endure (in coach, no less!).  Again, I can't believe how good she was through it all.  She rode in her little backpack baby carrier through most of the airport nonsense and didn't complain a bit.  Here she enjoys a little floor time before the last leg of our journey... (permanent link:  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=239810143637365373&hl=en).

    

 

And we thought Suzy was a bed hog!  Jeez!  Seems to me that Suzy might have coached our dear Sophia on how to take over the adults' bed.  And because I'm the milk source, she gets so pushy (literally) that she shoves me to the edge of the bed on her quest for sneaky nighttime milk.  Who knew that a not-quite-19-pound tot could be so forceful?!  It's going to an awfully tough adjustment for her back in Sacramento.  Her ass is going behind bars... crib bars, that is.  Of course, it's not like we'll have our bed back because then we'll have Suzy the bed hog back as well.  Note to self:  next bed should be a California KING!

 

Tonight Esen's grandma from Romania came to Istanbul.  I had never met her before and she is the cutest little thing.  Sophia had both great grandmas holding her and cooing at her... so adorable.  We took pictures, but I'm too lazy to download and post now (will post a whole album once we're back in the states).  How lucky is she to have so many great grandparents living?!

 

It's midnight here and I just finished teaching a class online.  I have another one coming up at 1am (that's 3pm in California).  Shoulda just canceled the damn classes.  I'm sick, too, so I REALLY wish I was in bed right now instead of waiting for time to pass.  My sweetie just made me some tea, however, so I'll probably survive.  Might complain a lot, but I'll survive.  What do you think the chances are that my daughter will cut me some slack and sleep in tomorrow morning?  Yeah, that's what I thought.  :)

It's a little after 6am (I think on Wednesday?) and I've been up for an hour.  Surprisingly, it wasn't the 5am call to prayer that woke me up.  Sophia, who slept in bed with us (again), had me pinned up against the wall and I was so uncomfortable that I figured I would get up and do a little work.  My semester is still going on in my absence and there are things to attend to every day despite the fact that I feel like I'm on vacation.

 

It is beautiful right now... the sky is bright orange at the bottom and it fades into dark blue at the top.  That description makes it sound very "University of Virginia," but it is lovely enough that I will step out on the balcony and try to capture a picture (or 20).  If I type too long, the moment will be lost, so let me just briefly update you on us.

 

All is well here.  Sophia's sleeping seems to have adjusted for the most part (with the exception of *where* she sleeps... she naps in the porta-crib and starts her night there, but always winds up in our bed).  Her pooping is also stabilizing.  I'm sure you're VERY interested in these details, so let me be sure not to leave anything out!  Once she got going, she had a whole string of dirty diapers to really wowed us.  Prunes and pears really did the trick.  Although I supposed she wouldn't have held out forever.  Last evening she was particularly entertaining.  Whether she's sitting in her high chair or her walker, she has quickly learned that it is entertaining to make loud shrieking laughs and screams.  It's hard not to encourage her because she's so damn cute.  The evening made me remember when Sally was that young and I'd make googley-eyes at her in church to try to get her to make noise (worked every time, incidentally... she always did -and still does- laugh at the drop of a hat).  It's fun, even if you sort of regret it later when you can't get them to shut up.  :)

 

My two Turks (Turk and a half?) are still sleeping sweetly in bed.  It looks so inviting, but there's no room for me now.  I'd wake them both up if I tried to get in on their snuggle time.  Oh well.

We made it!  I'd even go one step further and say that we made it with our sanity!  

Sacramento to Chicago: ~3 hours

Layover in Chicago: a horrible 3 hours with stupid people, long lines, and no food

Chicago to Istanbul: ~10 hours

 

I would say that Sophia probably slept for about 4-5 hours or so in my arms on the long flight.  She slept another nearly 2 hours in a bassinet (we had bulkhead seats and they have bassinets that are exactly the same length as Sophia that sort of snap onto the wall... looks kind of like http://www.erieaviation.com/images/Baby-bassinet.jpg).  That left us with about 3+ hours of entertaining her... some of it was walking around, some of it was sitting in the bassinet and playing/reading, and much of it was just standing on our laps and swaying/jumping.  She cried some, but the only bad part was the 20 minutes of descent into Istanbul when the pressure really must have hurt her ears and sinuses.  She screamed and was inconsolable, but at least everyone around us was awake and seemed to be pretty understanding given how good she'd been otherwise.

 

Sophia is taking her morning nap right now.  She has shunned the portable crib so far and instead likes our bed.  This is problematic for several reasons.  First, it leaves less room for us.  Second, and more importantly, she can roll off so easily that someone has to sit up here with her while she sleeps.  I don't mind too much on this first day since we're happy to have her sleeping and getting back onto her schedule.  Last night was a little bizarre.  She'd sleep for about 1.5 hours and then be awake for an hour... repeated about 3 times.  Still, that's not too bad when you consider that we just took a trip that lasted nearly 24 hours long from door to door.

 

It is lovely weather here... sunny and warm, but not too warm.  I think it is probably in the 50s at night at the 70s during the day.  We'll probably go for a stroll when the munchkin wakes up to enjoy some of this nice weather.  I'm a little wary of taking her too far on this first day as she hasn't actually pooped since the day before we left Sacramento.  Should be a real doozy of a dirty diaper when it happens.  I'm trying to make sure that someone else is holding her when she blows.  It's not nice to not share, right?  ;)

Well, we're off again... this time, all the way across the world to Istanbul.  It's 10pm and we leave tomorrow morning (early enough that we'll leave the house around 6am).  I've just finished packing.  CLEARLY, my uber-procrastinator husband has ruined me.  I used to spend days just making lists of things I would bring for big trips and then more days laying everything out and making it fit just perfectly in the suitcase.  I'm sure he'll argue that I'm just much more efficient now.  Perhaps.  I won't deny that I was doing too much planning before, but I think I've swung a little too far in the other direction. 

 

We'll have access to a webcam while we're at Esen's parent's house, so if I see some of you webcam'ers online, Sophia and I will get on to say merhaba! 

I can't remember the last time I changed a poopy diaper.  Sophia basically only poops during the day and she's no longer on my watch during those hours.  Nice.  And the timing couldn't be better... with the introduction of solid foods, those dirty diapers are no longer so sweet smelling.  I knew that there would be an up-side, but I totally didn't bank on this!  :)   

TMI stands for Too Much Information.  Can a parent have too much information about their kid?  Perhaps.  Unless your kid is being cared for by someone else all day, then the answer is definitely NO!  So, despite the fact that I don't really have extra time this week to devote to gathering more information, I've spent some time tonight putting together a little "Daily Information" sheet for Sophia's daycare provider.

 

Here's the basic problem.  Despite the fact that Sophia has a routine, every day is still a fluid plan that evolves as the day progresses.  She doesn't eat well or sleep well in the morning?  Then you take pains to make sure that the afternoon nap or meal is more substantial.  She hasn't pooped during the day?  Then you feed her some prunes and hope things "work themselves out" before bedtime.  You see strange colors in her diaper?  Then you make sure those colors jive with what you know she's eaten recently so you know not to worry too much.  The point I'm trying to make here is that I have been feeling a little bit in the dark in the evenings (no pun intended) because I haven't had enough information about some of the details of her day.  The solution?  A little bitty piece of paper that the daycare provider can fill out each day to tell us these things!  (Thanks to Jodi for encouraging me to ask for this!)  I decided to make up my own info sheet that allows us to fill her in on Sophia's details from the night before as well as add her details about Sophia's day.

 

Sophia's Daily Information
Information from Mommy & Daddy:
Last night's sleep:	Good         Just OK         Poor
Any current issues:
Last night I ate:
This morning I ate:
Food packed today:	(    ) Bottles
Information for Mommy & Daddy:
Morning nap	Start:		End:
Morning bottle time:
Afternoon nap	Start:		End:
Afternoon bottle time:
Bowel movements:	1	2	3	4
They were:	Normal	Loose	Hard	Colorful!
Today my mood was:	Happy	Tearful	Playful	Cranky
Stimulation/Activities:	Music	Reading	Swinging
Other notes:
Please bring more:	Diapers	Wipes

 

We'll try this out tomorrow and see if it makes me feel any better.  Maybe this is more about a desperate grab to just know more about what she's doing all day long so that I can imagine that I am as in-tune with her as I've been the past six months.

What's slightly interesting to me is that she grabs with her left hand.  Hmmm...

  

 

She likes to head right for the stuff that's off limits (computer cords and the entertainment center).  Looks like it's time to take the baby-proofing seriously. 

Feeling ignored blog readers?  I'm not surprised.  I won't ignore you any longer, but I'll have to be brief... it's already after 11:30 and my alarm is set for 6:30 (assuming that the 18 pound, 28.5 inch alarm doesn't go off sooner!).

 

1.  Back to school for me this week.  It has been hectic as I am not used to the busy morning routine of getting Sophia fed and clothed and over to daycare while simultaneously making myself fit for public consumption.  I just haven't been in a position where I had to wear nice clothes and do my hair and stuff.  When you go to campus during the summer, you can look like a bum.  *Not* looking like a bum takes decidedly more work!

 

2.  The routine will have some nice features once we get the hang of it.  Right now, we go out for a family walk (all FOUR of us) in the morning that involves Suzy's morning walk and dropping Sophia off at daycare.  Because it is the coolest part of the day, it's quite enjoyable.  Sophia is usually smiley and well-rested, Suzy is thrilled to sniff all the lawns (among other things), and Esen and I are happy to have a few moments together that feel easy.

 

3.  Being away from Sophia during the day has been pretty easy because I've been busy.  Still, my heart breaks a little bit every now and then when I think of her.  Yesterday she took her first ride in a swing (the baby-safe kind that you're strapped into).  They have a nice swing set in the back yard at daycare.  My heart aches to see those first smiles and laughs when she feels the cool morning air on her face.  I am sad that the people who get to see it don't appreciate it as much as we would.  Perhaps tomorrow I'll lurk around outside the fence and sneak a glimpse...

 

4.  I have been thinking about "those women" whom I have seen in the grocery store or Target over the years.  You know the ones... messy hair, no make-up, sloppy clothes with something crusty stuck on in multiple places.  "Those women" often come with whiney children attached and have been the recipients of my (usually) silent disgust on multiple occasions.  I'm beginning to understand how a person gets to that point.  I'm not saying that I'm going to make it all the way there... just that I now see the path.  Pray for me friends that I find another way.  If only I could be more like Gwen Stefani.. there's a new mom that always looks so put together and hot.  :)

 

On that note... G'night...

From approximately the second day of Sophia's life, Esen has been lamenting the fact that he has a little girl who will eventually need protecting from all the dirty, one-track-mind, sex-hungry boys in the world.  Hmmm... wonder how he knows that boys are like that?  :) 

 

It turns out that Esen's instincts about boys are right... they are bad for girls, but not exactly for the reasons that he thinks.  Recent research indicates that girls who go to all-girls' schools do better than girls who go to "mixed" schools.  Why, you ask?  To quote a Slate article that summarizes this research (http://www.slate.com/id/2173028/fr/flyout), "(Boys) wear down teachers, disrupt classes, and ruin the atmosphere for everyone."  I'll say... damn boys.