nine weeks

emre's nine weeks today!  it's been a tough week with his 2-month check up and vaccinations.  those shots are not easy on him... or ME!  i think i cried more than he did, but he amazed us again with his quick recovery.  he's now weighing in at 12.92 lbs - in the 75th percentile!  the doctor literally told us he is perfect in every way - which of course we already knew : )  man oh man do we love this kid.  

sleepy baby

spiked 'do

chillin' with my homey

loves to sleep on mommy

mellow in yellow

playtime with buddies conrad & wade

hangin' with dad

happy boy in his bumbo

loves his doctor hande

recovering from the shots

we're glad it's the weekend and that the trauma of the shots is OVER - at least for this month.  tgif!

two months!

happy two months, sweet pea!

we can't believe how you've grown.  you're now sleeping through the night (knock on wood!), 'talking' to mommy and daddy (the sweetest babbler ever), smiling and sometimes laughing, grabbing things with your little hands, and growing out of your newborn clothes (fitting into 3 months, loosely!).  

oh, my goodness, do we love you so!

emre sleeps through his first road trip - and turns two months old!

this weekend we took a road trip to istanbul - emre's first road trip!  ben had to go for work, so emre and i decided to tag along.  i had not been out of ankara since november, so i really needed to get the heck out of dodge.  emre and i had a great time hanging at the hotel, taking lots of walks and soaking up the sun while ben worked... truthfully, emre mostly slept the entire time, but we still had fun.  the weather was gorgeous and warm, and we enjoyed walking the streets of my favorite neighborhood, nisantasi.  emre was a champ and slept the entire way there & back (5.5 hours!), and even started sleeping through the night while we were there (6.5 hours!).   here are some pictures from the trip:

watching soccer with daddy the night before our trip

excited for his first road trip!

resting, at the rest stop

slept through the whole ride despite the snacks mom packed & music mom played to make his first road trip fun (that's ok, he couldn't eat the snacks anyway).

a little playtime at the hotel

annnd more napping, at the hotel

beautiful sunset - emre missed it!

bjornified.

first sun cap - too big, but it did the trick

another bosphorus sunset

handsome lil' guy, ready to go out

slept through our walks in the park

slept through drinks & snacks in the executive lounge

slept through dinner at the lebanese restaurant

visited daddy at work - he was too busy to talk to us

not so sure about this bright sunshine - i think i'll go back to sleep

 napping...

...and more napping

one last bosphorus sunset (he missed them all)

awake but not happy about it - visiting grandma, hilal & ayfer before heading home

meeting kadriye teyze

on another note, emre turned two months today!  after thinking about it all day i still managed to never get a snapshot on his special day.  i promise to do it tomorrow, while it's still his birthday, in the states.

jeepers creepers

you may view the following pictures under two conditions:  one, prepare yourself for ultimate cuteness.  if you're taken by surprise by the extremely ridiculous cute-tasticness of this post and something unexpected should happen (spitting of coffee, drooling, uncontrollable urge to procreate, etc.) it is entirely your own fault, as you've been warned.  two, you must listen to this song while viewing.  click twice if it doesn't play the first time.  

happy friday from the cutest little cutie this side of the bosphorus!

emre meets the prices

we were so thrilled to have a long overdue visit with our good friends the prices.  this visit was particularly special because it was also their first time meeting our little emre!  

kathryn & emre meet

kathryn could not have been better with emre - she loved to play with him and help me take care of him.  she picked out his outfits each morning and helped us calm him when he cried.  this is good news because in september she is going to become a big sister!!  she's already told adam and julianne the baby's name will be monkey.  i think it's a good choice.

playing on emre's new baby einstein quilt from julianne's mom

meeting auntie julianne

meeting uncle adam

we had a relaxed visit that included visiting some of adam & julianne's favorite spots.  mostly we just enjoyed catching up as kathryn entertained us!

at adam & julianne's favorite simit spot for breakfast with agatha

kathryn helps emre take a bath - yes, i'd just woken up.  isn't my hair fabulous?

kathryn was excited to see snow in ankara since it was a mere 75 degrees when they left madrid (let's not talk about it).  she got busy making little snow men every chance she got.  here is her tiny snow family which, sadly, had mostly melted the following day.

proud kathryn with her snow kin

we even spent a fun evening out at adana sofrasi - a favorite restaurant here in ankara, due in part to the delicious food, but mainly because of the children's play area which allows the adults to have a nice dinner.

brothers from a different mother

agatha & eric, the handsome couple

shawn & baby brigid, emre's friend

not sure what to make of it all

of course we couldn't let adam & julianne go without brunch at cocinella!  we pretty much stuffed our faces the entire visit.

kathryn was in heaven will all of the pancakes, cakes, etc.  she then took a two hour nap.

and on their last night, agatha hosted everyone for an amazing dinner.  there was sooo much food, and the kids had a blast playing together.

kathryn and her 'cuz'

emre and daddy

so cool to have all of our kids together

love this girl

we were so sad to see them leave - and lose our little helper.  but we're so excited for our next visit, when we'll get to meet adam & julianne's little monkey!