We're in Turkey!

We arrived here in Turkbuku late Wednesday night. This time we decided to break journey in Frankfurt, which lengthened the journey but provided a much needed bed and place for the girls to run around. And the crazy thing about traveling 8 timezones is sleep is very confused...in fact, as I lie awake in my bed at 2 AM, I began wondering when the gym in the hotel would open. So around 5 AM I got up and decided to find out. But first, coffee! I went downstairs to the lobby where I found a very empty cafe. I ordered a coffee and inquired about the gym, and mentioned our flight out was at 1pm. The lady then informed me that the volcano? In Iceland? Caused a how-do-you-say-in-English? Smoke cloud? And very many flights and airports have closed? Yes...perhaps call your agent?

So...knowing Ajay and the girls were finally sleeping, I decided to check out the gym, which was still closed since it was 5:15 in the morning and you'd have to be crazy to want to exercise at that time. So I returned to the room, and eventually Ajay woke up and got the wheels in motion to gather the necessary information that would determine our destiny. And luckily? We weren't impacted at all and arrived Istanbul with just the right amount of time to catch our connection to Bodrum.

And once we were finally on what was the newest plane I had ever been on (it actually had the new car smell!) just as we were about to close the door and prepare for take off? The baggage cart hit the landing gear of this sparkly new aircraft, and once again, we deplaned, but not at our final destination. And the spoiled child in me? What did I think? Not I hope they have a different plane for us so we are not stranded. No, no! I thought, I hope they have another brand new plane for us! And they did!

Amelie is 18 months old

The past months have been busy ones. I have been inconsistent to say the least at keeping up with the girls monthly blogs. But here we are...getting ready to go to Turkey in a week. Amelie is 18 months old.

Amelie amazes us on a daily basis with her language development. Similar to her cousin Allison, she is a very early talker and can repeat just about anything you say. She has a true understanding of hundreds of words. Amelie counts to 10 easily and is actually quantifying while doing so. I'll watch her move 10 blocks, one at a time, from one side of the room to the other. 1! 2! 3! she counts all the way to 10. And happy? Nothing makes her happier than showing off her mad skills. 

Amelie chains 3 and 4 words together now to get her point across. Yesterday at the bank, she found a penny, picked it up, and pleaded with me with desperation in her big beautiful sad eyes. "MIMI! PENNY! THROW!" she said with all the emotion an 18 month old can muster. She wanted to throw the penny in the fountain. So we did.

Amelie is only happy with one shoe off. I put them both on. She takes one off. Then the accompanying sock. So anytime we get anywhere, I have to find the shoe that she's thrown behind her in the car, and do my best to get it back on. But lately? I just let it go. So she won't wear both shoes....who cares? But what will she wear? Her jeans jacket. All the time. She puts it on and smiles as big as she can, and runs around shouting "Mimi Jacket Cute!!!!!" 

And speaking of running around....Amelie is a little rascal. In fact, after every diaper comes off her sweet little bottom (ok, not always so sweet if you catch my drift), she takes off running shouting "Rascal! Rascal!" because some time ago, she just happened to take off when the diaper was off and I followed her, tickling her, saying "you little rascal"...and the game was born. 

Amelie has full command of the the brand new iPad. She plays lots of games, her favorites being iTots Flashcards  and A Bee Sees  but sometimes accidentally deletes her favorite apps by holding down the home button for too long...the icons wiggle and she deletes them.  She also has full command of YouTube on the iPad, and watches endless videos. She prefers Elmo videos to anything...her favorite is the Outdoors song with James Mraz. She knows all the Sesame Street characters on sight and calls them by name. She also knows the letters of the alphabet, although not in order.

Amelie is showing that she is very socially aware. Take today for example. She was absolutely humiliated when I confiscated the paper cup of milk with a straw in it at Ruby's. See, she becomes obsessed with taking the straw out, putting it back in, taking the straw out, putting it back in until it inevitably ends up on the floor, spilled everywhere with her in tears. So when I took it from her and poured the milk from the straw cup to her very babylike sippy cup, the look on her face said, "how dare you humiliate me in front of all these people". And she cried. And cried. And cried. Baaaaad Mommy. 

Amelie loves to dance. She has a little electronic piano that plays a variety of songs; she will push the button again and again until it plays the Hokey Pokey. And when it comes on? She busts a move.

Amelie has a very sweet disposition. She is a total Mommy's Girl and plays the innocent roll very well. Although I am aware of her evil darker side when I leave the room. She will taunt and provoke Alia to a point of hysteria, and inevitably Alia will snap and push her away, and Amelie will cry pathetically with the "but I'm the baby!" look on her face.

Amelie enjoys fairly bland, simple foods. Turkey lunchmeat is still among her favorites, along with smoked Gouda cheese, yogurt, macaroni and cheese, and cheese pizza, and ripe pears and avocados (which she calls Da-Does) are sure to please.

Amelie has made it through her first ear infection. Poor thing catches everything Alia brings her from school. Amelie is a leaner version of Alia right now....she ranks in the 95th percentile on height but 75th percentile on weight. And her hair is starting to show signs of coming in...finally! A couple of months back we eliminated bottles and she ajdusted well and easily. Alia held on to her bottle for let's just say much longer.

Amelie is very sweet natured. Since Alia loves all things Froggy or green, Amelie is on a constant quest to gather such items and run them to her sister. Green balls, green crayons, green bowls, green legos...nothing makes her happier than sharing her newfound booty with her sister...who promptly shouts at her for doing so. Poor Amelie. But did I mention her latest favorite trick? She has conquered the zipper on her pjs and undresses herself in her crib. Every morning I find her looking up at me pathetically with one arm out and a look of distress on her lovely little face.

Amelie hugs and kisses animal pictures in her books, and her current favorite book is a new counting book her babysitter brought for her. She loves Mickey Mouse, Dora, and blowing bubbles. Amelie loves to paint, and basically wants to do everything Alia does. She loves going with me to drop off Alia at preschool. She is always so excited to see all the neat things at Montessori. While she could technically start in January, I'm not sure I'll be ready for that. I absolutely love her age...it may be my favorite age...she's still a baby but can do so many things and is happy all the time.