Eight Months!

Dear sweet Kaan, 

You just keep getting better and better.

In the past month you've gotten much more squirmy. Your sister says you "wiggle and waggle" all over. You don't want to stay in anyone's arms for too long before trying to escape back down to the floor.

And, on that floor, well, you are now officially a crawler! It took you a couple weeks to really get the hang of it but now you can get to wherever you want to be, especially if there is an interesting toy (like an empty water bottle - your favorite!) to tempt you!

Until now, you were easily go from arm to arm, happy to have perfect strangers uddle you close. Now you sometimes cry if I put you down or if someone unfamiliar comes too close. You are in love with your Nene and with Elif though and reach out your arms to them when you see them.

In fact, Nene is the one that can hold you close the longest without trying to wiggle free. She sits in the rocking chair by the window here in the Izmir house and you both quietly watch the world outside. We're lucky that we got to spend so much time with her now and know that we will miss her soon.

No one can believe how much you and your abla love each other. When she's in the room, all your attention is on her. You try to crawl on top of her and reach for her and squeal with happiness if she so much as glances in your direction. You pull her hair a lot but she is pretty patient about that. When she cries, you cry. When she laughs, you laugh. You said your first word this month and, of course, it was "abla".

You continue to be a remarkably laid-back baby. You are still eating well, mostly pureed fruits and grains. Oatmeal and apple sauce is your favorite these days. You usually have a small cup full of food twice a day and I usually offer you a bottle of formula once a day but most of the time you don't want it.

I still very much treasure our time nursing. If you are upset when we start nursing, you often mumble little complaints as you nurse and if you are tired you hum little sleepy sounds and hold my finger. You've had a bit of a cough this month and when you sleep you make a sort of purring, wheezing, snoring sound. Poor little guy.

You have three naps a day now. Your morning and evening naps are short but while Kamelya has quiet time in the afternoon, you sleep for about an hour and a half. At night, you and I sleep together and I love it so much. Crawling into bed next to you, I take in your sweet breath and listen to your deep breathing and hope I'll always remember when you were this small.  I  look down and see you, all pink cheeked and fluffy haired and the sweetness of it is almost too much for me to bear. Sometimes you wake up often to nurse but I don't mind. These days go by so quickly.

You are still exceptionally giggly. As I looked through photos for this post, I see that a majority of the pictures are of you cracking up. Your smile is just magical. We'll be walking along and people start going by all huffy and grumpy and then catch a glimpse of you and their faces light up. You're irresistible.

As I am writing this, Kamelya came up to me and I asked her to describe you. She says, "He laughs, he wiggles, he waggles, he smiles, he needs diaper changes, he has a good sleep, he eats his food well, he tries and i uh, i love him and that's what about him."

Then she wanted to know what I was doing and I explained I was writing a letter to you for when you grow up and she said, "Tell him, when you grow up, you can play with me. You can read my books with me and sit on my lap. That's one of the things I would really like to do with him when he grows up. I'll tell him, "You can play towers with me, my best game. When he grows up, he can make projects with me and talk with me."

Daddy left for Cairo a couple days ago and we'll follow soon. From Pristina, to Izmir, to Cairo, this year has been full of change and adventure for our little family but most of all, it's been filled with love. You've expanded the love in our home exponentially. We all love you so much sweet Kaan.

Love, 

Mama and Daddy

edited to add: I have been keeping a monthly journal for kaan but still have to add photos to the text. hope to post past months letters eventually.