The chronicles of Elvin continue

For newcomers, or those who have forgotten: Elvin isn't some Tolkien reference, she's the daughter of Meltem's friends Durul and Şehnaz (who also happen to be our dentists!). We went to see them a couple of days ago and had a very nice time playing with Elvin, who will be 2 in October. Here's a recent snap.



I had been getting worried about Elvin for a while there. She has vast reserves of energy and a mighty pair of lungs, and when you combine that with an incentive structure like this:

Elvin: Aaaa!
Şehnaz: No.
Elvin: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
Şehnaz: OK, OK, fine!

... you get a recipe for trouble. Which is exactly what was brewing, as Elvin got more and more spoiled and demanding and her poor mother gradually got ground into powder. But things have turned around, and now Elvin is once again well-nigh 100% cuteness. I was playing with her on the couch at one point when she climbed down on the floor, patted the carpet with one hand and said "Otu!" (otur = sit!). So I sat on the floor – and she climbed up on me, wrapped her arms around my neck and just hugged me silently for like a minute and a half. I just about melted.