Cherry trees

Today Meltem and her mom took Ozan on a country jaunt to the "village" of Polonezköy, a cute little place on the Asian side where there are a bunch of B&B-type places with open meadows and such. (We took Mom there last year for Mother's Day.) Here's a typical scene; note the tables at left. If you look closely there's also a dog; Meltem says he followed her and her mother around, although in this picture he seems to be snubbing them.



Apparently 'tis the season for cherries, which was the main reason for the trip. Meltem took a couple of nice photos of the trees laden down with cherry goodness.

History lesson

Today I was playing with Ozan on our bed when from outside I heard the distinctive strains of the mehter march, which the Janissaries used to play when they were invading Europe 'n' stuff. But of course, I realized, today's May 29. On this day, exactly 555 years ago, the Ottomans breached the walls of Constantinople, founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine as "New Rome" in 330 AD, and brought to an end the Byzantine Empire. The Greeks, who used to run the place, are still mad about it. Heh, I'm reminded of the time we were watching some soccer game or other which must have been Greece vs. Turkey; a bunch of Turks in the stands unfurled a big banner which said "Istanbul – Since 1453" and had a picture of a turbaned Sultan on horseback leaping over the city walls, sword held aloft. Boy, were the Greeks in the stadium ticked off to see THAT. In case you're interested (or even if you're not – you're my captive audience, moo hoo ha ha!), the Ottomans continued to refer to the city as "Qustantiniyyeh" right up until the bitter end; the name "Istanbul" comes from the Greek for "into the City," eis ten Polin, which is what people said if you asked them where they were going and which became the popular name for the city long ago. In fact, some years ago an American acquaintance of mine who had traveled a lot in Greece told me that if you walk into any travel agent in Athens and ask for a ticket to "the City," they know you mean Istanbul. Sheesh, guys, give it up. It's like the English holding a grudge about the end of the Hundred Years' War.

Bonding, or at least projection

The vaunted three-month mark seems indeed to be a real turning point in baby development. Ozan has been maturing, relatively speaking, rapidly over the past week or two. An indescribably wonderful aspect of this is the fact that I can feel like we are getting some initial father-son bonding. Like when I come in to his room in the morning and Meltem is changing him and he turns to see me and breaks into an ear-to-ear grin. (In fact yesterday he was all smiles for most of the day; wonder what they're putting in that milk of his?) He also has a cute thing where he grins and then turns away and curls up, still grinning, as if you've embarrassed him. Also, in the last couple of days I have tried putting him on his tummy on our bed and letting him try to figure out how to push himself up, if not crawl. I love it when he lifts his head, looks around, sees me and smiles. He may not exactly be thinking "Wow, I've got to impress Dad," but it's immensely gratifying for me to think he is.

Next step: Reading Goodnight Moon together (made possible by the generosity of Mom and the cooperation of the Turkish mail system).

Budding linguist?

As we round the magic three-month corner, Ozan's peccadilloes like fussing fade away and his personality begins to shine through. In the past day or two we've noticed that he's got quite a thing for words, both ours and his own. He makes a lot of (good) noise now when he sits in his play chair, frowning and saying "goo" like he's trying to get a word out. He has also developed an interesting habit: When he's at Meltem's breast and she starts to talk on the phone, he lets go, turns to look at her and watches her talk with this priceless "What's Mommy doing?" expression on his face. Too early to say he's gonna be a renowned linguist?

By the way, this is MelbaBlog's 200th post!

Ozan at play

Here, for your enjoyment, is some footage of Ozan doing his thing with his hanging toys. I have to say that the little guy is clearly growing up these days. The extended bouts of fussing are down noticeably, and he spends a lot more time either fixing his intense basilisk gaze on objects hither and yon or making cooing-type noises. (We are both looking forward to the time when he can talk, in order to hear what he has to say!) Here, he engages with his toys, especially his favorite, the blue elephant. Note that he actually likes having stuff smushed up against his face, and has just begun to guide things to his mouth for tasting.

Bogaziçi Sportsfest

Every year Bogaziçi University has an international Sportsfest in the stadium across the street from our apartment. This year is no different, and the opening ceremonies were tonight. It was kind of cool to watch the teams of university athletes from several different countries – among others, I spotted the flags of Hungary, Macedonia, and the good old U.S. of A. – marching around the track to the thump of a marching band. Also, they had a cool show by a team of guys who play with fire. I caught some on video:



And when the whole thing was over, they released a bunch of balloons, which I caught going past the moon:



So as you see, there is stuff other than Ozan going on in our world. Lesser stuff, but still.

A good day

After all the bad press I've been giving Ozan (well, that picture of him hollering on Mother's Day does kind of capture his personality, but hey), I thought it would be nice to report that today went unusually well. Dare I tell myself we've turned a corner at the ripe old age of three months? Well, whether this represents a one-off or (hopefully) a permanent trend, Ozan was quite the chipper little guy today. He fell asleep with a minimum of struggle for his first two naps, and when he woke up after one of them, instead of instantly plunging into a crying fit he just lay in his crib contemplating the puppy decoration therein. He also proved a champion at self-entertainment when we put him in his little chair with the toys hanging from a bar. We even, mirabile dictu, had a 100% fuss-free bath tonight! So we are hopeful that he has finally grown enough that whatever made him so cranky – gas? sleep anxiety? – is passing... because lemme tell ya, when Ozan is happy he is CUTE.

A nice Mother's Day outing

Yesterday was Mother's Day, and we, with our newly (and exponentially) increased respect for the office of motherhood, decided to have a nice outing with the family. So when I came home from teaching, Meltem and I, her mom, and the clan of cousin Melek all went off to Meltem's university for a little together time. We were actually in approximately the same place Meltem and I got married, for those of you with long memories. Here are some pictures that Hasan took.

Ladies and gentlemen, behold the lovely mothers. The tower in the background is a fortress built by Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror when he was besieging Constantinople in 1453.



And here's more of the family. Ozan, as usual, is letting us know just what he thinks.



Here's Joe Cool in a slightly less truculent state of mind. (I mean Ozan, not me, although the potential confusion is understandable.)



Part of the fun of being a dad is introducing my boy to the Manly Arts.



(Disclaimer: Don't even think that we let a single bubble of this stuff pass Ozan's lips. It was all for ME, thank you very much.)

New pics available

Please note that I've placed a whole bundle of new photos on the Picasa site (in a new album for May), accessible with a mere click on the link to the right. How can you resist? Adorable babyness, with a guest appearance by cousin Melek! Witty captions! Ozan practically growing up before your eyes! Click now! You know you want to!

Laughing for Nana

We just concluded a nice visit from my mom, a.k.a. Nana. She got to bask in Ozan's cuteness and even evoke a big grin now and then, as here:



(Speaking of grins, Ozan is coming closer and closer to coordinating his "ha-goo" noises with his smiles; the confluence of these two should approximate a laugh, which I shall strive to capture on video and post here.)

The most momentous event of Nana's stay happened literally as she was getting ready to go out the door to leave for home: Ozan actually... fell asleep by himself! I can barely bring myself to type the words, but sure enough, it happened. Not without difficulty, of course, but this was the first time in living memory (i.e. about 12 weeks) that the little guy did NOT have to be in someone's arms to depart for the land of Nod. Meltem and I almost wept for happiness. He even proceeded to sleep for a good long time. Naturally he decided to make up for it later in the day by crying incessantly, but I look at it as two steps forward and one step back. He's done it once, he'll do it again!

Still here, and kicking

Ozan continues to travel the road of cuteness, as seen in this video of him getting to know his hanging toys by attempting to beat them up:



No hard feelings, of course. In fact the elephant is Ozan's favorite toy at the moment – as, it seems, it (or at least the same model) was once cousin Mitch's favorite.

Mmmm, palm

Ozan occasionally (very occasionally) figures out how to calm himself down by sucking on his own hand. Sometimes it's the knuckles, but other times it's the palm, as here. I'm amazed he doesn't poke his own eye out, but at least he's entertained for the nonce. Note the happy slurping sounds.

Thanks Bill

Courtesy Mom's fine friend Bill Wassell, Ozan is now the proud owner of a beautiful knit cap. Oddly enough, when we put it on him Ozan didn't cry at all (he usually hates hats). Plus, it looks like it'll be big enough to fit for a good long time. Thanks Bill!

Baby care tips

My friend Jon sent me this link to some helpful baby care tips. (Never mind that the page itself is in Swedish, the diagrams are labeled in English.) Boy, good thing I checked these out, or I would undoubtedly have committed some serious faux pas...

New feature

I've added a new feature to the right-hand side of the blog: A widget from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam which highlights a different work from their collection each day. I've had a widget from this museum on my computer for a while now, and it's a nice feature. The Rijksmuseum is world-class, and it's cool to get a glimpse of their stuff. So I'm sharing it with you all. (Note that if you click on the image, you get a bigger version, and if you click on the bottom right hand corner of either version, you get information about the object.) If I get loads of complaints I'll take it down.

Klaatu barada nikto

Ozan's latest thing is that he's become fascinated with the checkerboard pattern on a little box we keep on his changing table. He lies there and stares at it as we change his diaper.



And I mean he stares; you can't take his attention off the thing. What is it telling him? What secrets are hidden within the squares that mere mortals like us cannot decipher? "Agent Ozan, this is your mission: Cry all the time. Mars out."



Even a vigorous manhandling by a well-intentioned dad (me) does not deter Ozan from his contemplation – though it does seem to induce vomiting. Gotta be more careful about that.

Catching up

Well, since I find myself with a few minutes on my hands, I think it's time I let the frustrated legions of Ozan fans around the world know what he and his parents are up to these days.

Ozan continues to grow in stature, wisdom, and cuteness, as I hope is evident from the occasional pictures and movie clips I toss onto the web, either here or on Picasa. It's really true that babies develop practically before your eyes; it seems like every day Ozan is a little more alert, a little more responsive, a little more like a real person, albeit a diminutive one, and less like a bundle of reflexes attached to a diaper. Nowadays he acts like he knows we're there, and he even looks us in the eyes, which warms the cockles of my heart. We're even able to get him to smile sometimes. He still cries a lot, but he went to the pediatrician last Friday and got a clean bill of health, so it's normal baby woes which are making him fuss. To address them at least a little, we got him some infant Gaviscon (kinda like Pepto-Bismol), which, judging at least from the initial trial, seems to do the trick pretty well. The pediatrician gave him a vaccination which, as expected, triggered a light fever 48 hours later, i.e. today. So he fussed a lot, but also slept a lot, and now seems to be more his normal self again.

How's mommy handling this, you ask? Well, she's a trooper, that's for sure. I think she's getting a little stir crazy (basically because she told me she is), but she is as loving and patient a mother as anyone could hope for. Ozan is really one lucky kid. We are also eternally in debt to Meltem's mom, who is nowadays dividing her time between Ozan and Melek.

As for daddy, I am creaking under the load of two jobs, one at TIPPS and one at Bahçeşehir University. The former is good because I like everybody there, the students range from good to very very good, and the grand old principle of the private sector applies: the more work you do, the louder the "cha-ching" at the end of the week. My other job, though, is asymptotically approaching 100% unrewardingness. The students are horrible; it's a frightening window into the Turkish educational system to deal with them. The very concept of thought, as opposed to mere memorization and regurgitation, is utterly foreign to them, and in fact has probably been drilled out of their heads in the hopes of creating a citizenry that doesn't ask questions because they just don't know how. I have to give these kids quizzes and exams that would get me laughed out of an eighth-grade classroom back in the West Hartford I remember. Moreover, they're remarkably infantile for people in their late teens, and I have to set my teeth against their whining whenever I hand back said quizzes and exams. Oh well, I tell myself, it's pretty good money, and it's not like I have to stay after the semester comes to its merciful end in early June.

Meanwhile the weather is getting warmer, the leaves and flowers are bursting forth, and it's just good to be alive.

Revolution now!

Ozan awakes from his slumber long enough to make a political gesture, then drops back off.

Happy birthday Mitch

Cousin Mitch is one year old today! Ozan wanted to send along his best wishes and penned a little birthday missive thus:



Do forgive the cranky expression, Mitch. He's not sticking his tongue out at you, he's just preparing for another good wail-fest.

Double-barreled happiness

A few days ago Meltem, Ozan, and grandma all went over to visit cousin Melek on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. I myself, of course, was too busy working, which is getting old. Anyway, as you can see, grandma was one seriously happy lady to have the next generation in her arms. (And as you can also see, Ozan had adopted his usual countenance for the occasion.)

Welcome Cousin Melek (cont'd)

Again, let me ask you all to welcome lovely Melek Kelepir to our fair world. Here's a picture of her checking out the surroundings in her hospital room a scant few hours after birth:



And here's the proud father admiring his new daughter:



I hope you see what I mean about what a strikingly beautiful baby Melek is.



Reports from Hasan and Elif indicate that Melek ("angel") is angelic while asleep and not so much when awake. We hope to take Ozan over to the other side of the Bosphorus tomorrow to meet his new cousin, and will hopefully be able to post pictures of the momentous occasion.

Watchin' the world go by

... or at least that section thereof which is attached to green bendy things.

Welcome Cousin Melek

We are very happy to announce that Meltem's brother Hasan and his wife Elif are now the proud parents of beautiful little Melek Kelepir. Melek, whose name means "angel," was born yesterday, Sunday March 30, and went home today. We took some pictures which I will post as soon as I have explicit permission to do so. I've gotta say, Melek is really striking; she has a remarkable profile, something like an ancient Greek goddess. But you'll see when I post the piccies. For now, join us in congratulating Hasan and Elif!

Coming up for air, a little

Hi-de-ho, all, we're still here, alive and kicking! And crying. Oh, lots of crying. Professor Fussbudget, as I like to call him, is quite the vocal artist. When he's not eating or sleeping, he's telling us that he hasn't done enough of either. And don't get me started on how he behaved when we tried taking him outside for a stroll. But needless to say, that all vanishes from your mental screen when he does something cute – which is more and more often. We have at least three indisputable sightings of smiles, and although the smiles don't last long, they make up for hours 'n' hours of fussing. Can't wait until he laughs!

Heck, everything Ozan does is cute. Here, look at this picture of him wondering just what Uncle Hasan is doing with that camera. In fact, if you click on the image and get the large version, you can see Hasan in Ozan's right eye (i.e. the left one on the screen).



In other news, we just wrapped up a lovely visit from Dad and Susan. Numerous pictures were snapped, many of which are now available for your perusal on our Picasa site (click the link in the right column). Susan, I think it was, commented that every day Ozan is a little different, more interesting and involved with the world around him. And she's certainly right.

Milestone reached?

We've been going through the fabled Difficult Days of Infancy, wherein Ozan sleeps little and cries much. (There's an "eh-eh-eh" noise he makes, somewhat like coughing, which heralds a cry to come and is uniquely grating on the ears, especially in the middle of the night.) He was getting particularly fussy over the last couple of days, and I confess to griping about him in a conversation with Kim last night. Ah, but the nice bath we gave him just after that seems to have improved his mood, and this morning we are pretty sure we spotted: A SMILE! Tentative, but recognizable nonetheless. I leaped to grab the camera but he wouldn't do it for the "papa"-razzi. You'll have to take my word for it that it was unutterably cute. Naturally I'll post a picture when I am quicker on the draw.

More movie madness

To tide over Ozan's international brigade of fans while your faithful correspondent is being worked to the bone, MelbaBlog presents a cinematic excursion into Ozan's daily exercise.


(Note, too, that we have uploaded more pictures to the Picasa page, accessible via a link at the right.)

Get your O's on

I put a link to our Picasa gallery on the right under the picture of Ozan. This is where we put all the pictures we take of him. So now, if reading MelbaBlog gives you a jones for adorable babies named Ozan, you are but one click away.

Checkup time

Ozan is a month old, so today we bundled him into the car and drove back to the hospital where he was born for a checkup. Actually three checkups: the first was some ultrasound examination of his hip-bone, the next was a regular pediatric examination, and the last was an orthopedic exam. He passed all three with flying colors, I'm happy to report. He's fattened up to 8 lbs 10 oz (3920 grams), meaning he's got a ways to go before he even approaches my own personal record of 30 lbs at age 1 (who'd have thought I'd be competitive about that?). Also, the kiddie doc said there's a good chance his eyes, which have lightened to a nice blue, will stay that way, giving him peepers as lovely as my own. I gotta say he also discovered new potentialities of crying, vis-a-vis both pitch and volume, in the car on the way there. But here's something interesting: He was crying pretty vigorously as we toted him out the hospital door, but the sound of a jackhammer from the construction at the entrance soothed him right to sleep (or knocked him out, depending on how you look at it). And he slept soundly all the way home, as well as for another hour after that. Meltem thinks this affinity for construction noises means he'll be a heavy metal fan.

Greetings from the salt mine

We're still here, and Ozan is still cute (see our newly constituted Picasa gallery for confirmation). I, however, am utterly ploughed under with work. As I have mentioned but not explained in detail, I'm (co-) teaching a class at lovely Bahçeşehir University in addition to my work at TIPPS. This is great for our bank account, but it's doing a number on yours truly. Hell, I'm so stressed I may soon look 30 instead of 22! Anyway, that's why posting is light. More when I get a breather.

Ozan mugs for the camera

And barfs a little, egged on by his old man.

Vitamin time

We'll let you in on our secret of how we keep Ozan big and strong: vitamin syrup.

Sack of potatozan

In his post-diaper-changing state of Zen bliss, Ozan likes to be carried around the apartment facing frontwards, taking in the sights like a little tourist. Much to my chagrin, whenever we try to photograph this, it turns out looking like I am abusing him or something, because he's so relaxed he just sags in my arms like a little sack of potatoes, thus:



Here's another cute one in a similar position, only this time he's sucking my thumb (mine, not his own – as Meltem has pointed out to me, he seems to want to suck his thumb and/or fingers, but doesn't yet have the motor control required to get them into his mouth!).

Wee are not amused

Here's some footage of Ozan getting a bath. We had been told, somewhat implausibly, that babies dissolve with joy to be bathed, and we had feared a screaming fest, but we got something in the middle: a priceless look of "Just what the hell is going on?"



For those non-Turcophones among you, the conversation between Meltem and her saintly mother as the clip begins is about how Ozan has just taken a brief whizz, and how our baby coach told us this doesn't matter to the bath. This also let me use yet another tired pun in the post's title.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Ozan was born with a fair amount of hair, especially in the back. I kept remarking that he looked like one of those aging hippies who still think it's cool to grow shoulder-length hair even though the top is well-nigh gone. I am told, though, that Ozan will lose his baby hair, so here's a nice view to preserve it in all of our memories...

Waking up is hard to do

Last night we had some relatives over (Meltem's brother Hasan, his wife Elif, and Elif's mother, brother and sister-in-law). Ozan was, of course, a big hit, the life of the party. I got a little footage of His Sleepiness trying to wake up and entertain us:



Even when rousted out of his bed and held up for people to ogle, he found it tough to keep his peepers open (or his big ol' heavy head up!):



Finally he did wake up, and he actually seemed to be enjoying all the attention, at least to the extent that he could process it. He proceeded to give us a very cute little shadow-boxing demonstration. (The red things pinned to his PJ's are gold coins, a helpful little Turkish tradition.)

Laugh all you want...

... but I had to try this.

Of snow, spirals and snips

Sorry to be remiss in keeping Ozan's worldwide fan club waiting for information!

I have to say, Ozan is one lucky little camper. For one thing, he was born between snowstorms. Snow is a pain anywhere, but it really shuts down Istanbul, and we were sorely afraid that one would come when we had to travel between home and hospital (a 40-minute drive in zero traffic, lengthening exponentially when there is traffic – Meltem once got caught in Ramadan traffic and it took three hours – and don't even THINK about what it's like in bad weather). Happily, one snowfall came and went while we were in the hospital for his birth, melting in time for us to take him home, and another socked us this past weekend, when we were getting used to his needs and routine. I snapped a picture of a cool killer icicle hanging over our balcony:



So, while the snow made everyone else's life hell around here, we just hung around the apartment and got to know our new family member. Meltem's mom is staying with us for a while to help out, and let me just say GOD BLESS HER for it!! Here she is with our hero:



Since he is but a little critter, as yet undeveloped in too many ways to count, there is only so much we can do with Ozan besides feed him (seemingly endlessly!), watch him sleep, and clean his tuckus. Therein lies a tale (tail?). Having only recently exited his nine-month sojourn in Club Womb, Ozan, like all babies, really doesn't like being naked and exposed, making changing-time a bit of a noisy, struggle-filled ordeal. Enter a family friend, who heard somewhere about a trick you can do: While changing your baby, you aim a hairdryer at his exposed parts (on low power and from a safe distance, to be sure). Both the noise and the warmth have a soothing effect. It works like a charm on Ozan, to our surprise and delight.

Here's something else that's nifty. Meltem picked up a cool little "baby book" for Ozan. It has a dozen or so simple and bold patterns in black and white with some red highlights (spirals, checkerboards, etc.). Supposedly babies like to look at them because their eyes can focus on strongly contrasting simple elements like that. It certainly works for Ozan, because in the few minutes a day that he practices this new thing called Being Alert, he definitely likes to check out the book:



Last bit of news: Today we took Ozan back to the hospital to get circumcised. We were going to do it right after birth, but apparently his blood didn't clot well enough yet, so we put it off until today. All went well, and the nurse said he didn't cry at all. Now I wouldn't normally blog about such a thing (and you'll be happy to hear I have no pictures to post), but circumcision is a big deal here, a male rite of passage, and the whole family was very happy for our little patient. So I'm sharing.

Recall the dictionary

...because we need to insert this picture under "Happiness."

The many faces of Ozan

Like the proud father I am, I have been tailing Ozan with camera in hand, hoping to pounce photographically on his cuter moments (although let's face it: they're all cute). He's been providing a rich harvest, too. It's really true that babies do something new each day. This morning Ozan lay on the couch with his eyes open and looked around a lot, with more apparent realization that there were objects around him to try to focus on. Such as, for example, a nearby photographer wearing a dopey grin.



Here's the same from a slightly different angle:



I even caught him mid-yawn:



And, to my immense satisfaction, mid-sneeze:

The home front

Well, we came home from the hospital last night, and are pretty much settled in. Meltem's mom will be staying with us for the first few days to make our lives easier. It was a long first night; Ozan tends to take his sweet time nursing (usually he just gives a desultory suck and then falls asleep), which meant much patient prodding was necessary. But he's in good baby form, eating and sleeping and pooping away. And God, is he ever cute. I sometimes stand over him when he sleeps just to watch him twitch in his little infant dreams. Oh, and today after changing him I held him in front of me and talked to him, and he sort of looked at me with this "Who the hell are you?" look, complete with arched eyebrow. Takes after his old man already!

I have to give major props to Meltem, who has been simply amazing. The woman has had maybe 90 minutes of sleep since Tuesday, but she is proving incredibly patient and chipper throughout all of it. I hope I can be as good a dad as she is clearly going to be a mom.

Taking in the view

It's amazing how things change, even within 48 hours. The nurse brought Ozan back from a blood test and this time, instead of crying for us within a minute of arriving, he just lay in the cart, keeping his eyes open and looking around. (I realize he doesn't see anything yet, science types, it's just interesting to watch him figuring out how to use his perceptual apparatus.) Among other things, it means he's feeling more secure in the post-womb world. I couldn't resist capturing the moment:



And here's the view from our window, in which direction he was gazing. Note how the world's transport traffic pauses at the mouth of the Bosphorus to pay homage to our new family member!

Greetings from cousin Mitch

I was delighted to receive this picture from my sister Kim, whose indulgence I crave if I reproduce it here without asking first:

Because I can't resist

I took some more pictures that came out better since it was daytime. Here's our little man snoozing:



Here's some of the flowers people have sent us. The bouquet on the right is from my TIPPS "family," which means a lot to this SAT teacher.



Here's the happy mom and bologna loaf.



We've now passed the 24-hour mark. Congratulations, Ozan! More hours like this!

He's here!

Please welcome Ozan Wood to the world with us! He was born yesterday, February 12, at 5:55 pm, and weighed 3.065 kg (6 lbs. 12 oz.). I've replaced the "Ozan watch" counter to the right with an early photo of our little man. I'll also post some below.

Here's my side of the story: Yesterday morning I taught my first class at Bahcesehir University, where I was invited to teach a couple of sections of a world-history class by a friend of a friend. (I hoped to post on that in more detail, but that's it in a nutshell.) After a successful first class, I got on a bus to go back home. When we got as far as Akmerkez, our friendly neighborhood mall, I decided to get off and have some lunch inside. I hadn't gotten as far as the front door when my cell phone buzzed, and then came the words every expectant father simultaneously longs for and dreads: "My water broke!"

It was great timing: Meltem had just had an appointment with our ob-gyn for a late-term ultrasound, after which she went back to her temporary lodgings at a cousin's place about 5 minutes' walk away from the hospital. She got home, sat down, and blorp! So right back to the hospital, whence she called me. Now since she hadn't started contracting yet, the doctor told her she had a good 18 hours to go. Still, I wanted to be there with her for as much of it as possible, so I got in a cab and said what I've always wanted to say to a taxi driver: "My wife's having a baby!" Man, did that guy unleash his Formula 1 fantasies. Every habit for which I curse Turkish drivers now became a virtue, as we zipped in and out of traffic with paltry centimeters separating our fender from the next guy's.

Anyway, I arrived at the hospital a few minutes before I left (thanks, Einstein!) and found Meltem – whose contractions had started in earnest! Obviously Ozan was in a hurry to come meet us. Too much of a hurry, apparently, because his gyrations managed to wrap his umbilical cord around his neck, necessitating an urgent Caesarean. (We had wanted to try a normal birth, but of course we weren't going to take any risks.) It was quicker than natural birth would have been, but I did get to pace anxiously in a waiting room for a few minutes (another thing I'd always wanted to do). Happily, everything went swimmingly, and I got to meet my boy as they carted him out in the baby box to take him up for a bath and some tests. Soon, of course, family members were pouring in and out of our room, and the traffic has slowed but not abated.

Mom, Dad and Ozan are tired but happy. Here are some views:



Mommy and child.



Is there anything cuter than a newborn?



The Wood family welcomes its newest member!

He's doing standard day-old-infant things right now, mainly sleeping on Meltem's breast. I gotta say his lungs sure work – when the nurses took him in behind closed doors for a bath and tests he was really giving them hell! (I hear you saying "It's cute now, but wait until he does it to you at home!" and you're right. Still, I have remarked that my usual tolerance for a crying baby lasts less than two seconds, whereas Ozan can scream right in my face and I just go awwww.)

I'll leave you with a picture of your faithful correspondent with his new pride and joy:

Meltem's TV appearance

Today (Sunday) is the day, we theorize, that Meltem will appear on the TV show that interviewed her last week at baby class. So I'm gonna take my computer into the TV room and blog Meltem's budding stardom as it happens!

2:29. OK, I'm sitting through some dumb TV ads, including one for a "diet patch" that looks like a big square Band-Aid but supposedly suppresses your appetite much like a nicotine patch cures your jones for a coffin nail. Will people believe ANYTHING?? ... OK, now there's a cute ad for diapers with a roly-poly infant gamboling around a room. Yeah, well, I'll get the live version of this soon enough. ... Jeez, how many commercials are going to come between me and my honey's debut? That's the thing about Turkey (and Europe): They save their commercials for seemingly endless marathons all at once, rather than scattering them through your show here and there. That's fine if you need the time to make dinner (or read War and Peace), but it does make for lots of annoyance when you were just getting into the show, or when you're waiting for something to begin. ... OK, now we're into the "sponsor ad" (a blatantly CGI-enhanced "demonstration" of the cleaning power of some detergent – curse the gullible ruck!), so hopefully the show the sponsor sponsored will commence forthwith. C'mon, I've got an international audience hanging on here!

2:38. OK, the show is starting. It's called "Keyf-i Sibel," which is (Ottoman!?) Turkish for "Sibel's enjoyment." Sibel herself was obviously kind of cute once; apparently she's an ex-model. She's saying that while last week's topic was love, this week's is the "fruits of love," i.e. babies.

2:40. They're showing preview clips from the show, and I just saw Meltem! She was dutifully taking notes at baby class. He he, this will be fun!

2:42. Well, the show is starting with Sibel talking to some woman, Arzu Balkan, who is apparently "ünlü ve anne," i.e. famous and a mom. We're watching clips of Arzu walking around with other stars, moments from shows she's done, and her pudgy little infant. They're also showing other famous (Turkish) moms, one of whom said "Raising kids is hard." Naw!

2:45. Now the announcer is saying how if you think it's hard to be a working mom, just think how hard celebrity moms have it – the eyes of the nation (or at least the gutter press-reading demographic thereof) are on them, so they have to be on their best behavior! At least some of the celebs are giving props to their own mothers for being helpful.

2:47. Jeez, they just showed clips of someone I assume is one of the celebrity moms in question. A model, it seems, and a scrawny one at that; she was hoofing it up and down the runway in a bikini and her ribs were casting highly upsetting shadows on her flank. Yuck. I sure hope having a baby fattened her up somewhat.

2:48. OK, they're saying that Meltem's baby class is coming up. (Only they didn't mention Meltem by name. I may sue.) There was the same clip of Meltem watching as Ayse (the teacher) bathed a plastic baby.

2:49. Ewww, one of the upcoming clips seems to be a live birth, including a moment where they stick the camera right in the sweaty, exhausted face of the mother. Who says the media is intrusive?

2:54. Now Sibel and Arzu are chatting about their adventures giving birth... wait! We're moving to the "birth coach," Ayse Öner! And there's Meltem, looking very pregnant! Now she's talking into the interviewer's mic, explaining what she's learned. Wow, what a screen presence! She's explaining how the Internet is full of conflicting advice, and how learning from someone as experienced as Ayse was reassuring.

2:56. Now they're showing Ayse showing how to pick up the (plastic) baby. Meltem is watching attentively, but trying not to laugh, leading me to believe this was a staged moment. Or maybe she's laughing at the way Ayse coos and talks baby-talk at the plastic baby.

2:57. Now Ayse is giving advice to the fathers of the world, e.g. take the time to massage your kid in the evening. This is after you're done bringing home the bacon (er, lamb), I guess.

2:58. All right, we're back to the ads. I assume we've gotten all the Meltem we're gonna get, so I'll sign off.

Now we didn't find a way to record this, alas, but the network may put episodes of "Sibel's Enjoyment" online, and if they do I'll post the URL here. Thanks for reading!

The countdown gets serious

Well, the big day really approacheth! Last night we moved Meltem into her parents' apartment downtown, which is about twice as close to our hospital as our own apartment. I myself have to shuttle between home and their place, because I teach some mornings and it would be too far to try to commute from there. It feels weird leaving my pregnant wife elsewhere in the city! But it does indicate that we are nearing the finish line. In fact, Meltem and I were both thinking how cool it is that next time she ascends the five flights of stairs to our apartment, she'll have Ozan in tow! (On the outside!)

Kid tested

You'll all be happy to hear that Ozan's nursery has now received a valuable seal of approval. Last night two of our friends brought their eight-month old to visit, and when we brought him into the nursery he was ear-to-ear smiles. So the puppies were a good choice!

Send in the paparazzi

Today Meltem reports that when she went in to her baby class for a refresher on bathing our little tyke, there was a crew there from a Turkish TV network. They filmed her bathing a plastic baby and then interviewed her about how she had found the course (since she was the only one there who had completed it). Apparently the show will air on Sunday. Naturally, I will try to get my hands on it in YouTube format or whatever so we can share it with you all.

(I hope they pointed the camera at Meltem's tummy: Ozan is getting so big and powerful that his kicks and gyrations make it look like Meltem is belly-dancing!)

In which a realization dawns

Thanks to the kind generosity of Aunt Kim and Uncle Dave, we are now the proud possessors of a book called Baby 411, an incredibly useful compendium of baby-related knowledge ranging from types of formula to dealing with temper tantrums (let's not even GO there). As Meltem is out for a couple of hours, I thought I'd be helpful by typing up and printing out the chart on page 66, "Handy Feeding & Elimination Table: The First 7 Days." In this chart, you get a guide to how many times you should be feeding the little one, as well as how many wet and/or soiled diapers to expect; they give you a W and an S for each, respectively, and you're supposed to check them off as they happen. Here is an approximation of my inner dialogue (in italics) as I entered the data:

"Day 1. W S." OK, fine. [type, type]

"Day 2. W W S S." Well, that's twice as many of each, but sounds manageable to me. [type, type]

"Day 3. W W S S." No sweat, steady as she goes. [type, type]

"Day 4. W W W W S S S." Wait a minute here. [pause] [type, type]

"Day 5. W W W W W S S S." Hey! What's going on in there?! [type, wipe sweat off palms, type]

"Day 6. W W W W W W S S S S." What is he, a fire hose?! [type, ponder sinking feeling in stomach, type]

"Day 7. W W W W W W S S S S." It means he's healthy... it means he's healthy... [type, correct errors made by now-trembling fingers, type]

And so my pre-fatherhood innocence – beatific visions of a smiling, cooing, stink-free Ozan – begins to fade, as the reality of infant excretion begins to dawn on me. (Maybe W and S are meant to spell out "wuss.") Well, someday when he pesters me for the car keys I'm gonna wave this spreadsheet in front of him and go "Hope you're grateful!"

As if she weren't perfect enough

I recently took out a measuring tape and discovered that thanks to her little passenger, Meltem is now exactly as wide (hip-to-hip) as she is long (butt-to-belly-button). In other words, Ozan has made her a perfect square! Let's have a "round" of applause for her.

They've landed!

Run for it!



Just kidding. A couple of weeks ago the eye hospital they've been building for some time a couple of blocks away finally had its grand opening. Apparently it was a big deal, since the Prime Minister himself came to the ceremony. Security was tight; I was shooed away by the cops as I walked by on my way back from work and had to take a roundabout route home. Now for some reason it's really popular here to shine spotlights in the air and wave them around on important occasions such as this, so the view from our balcony was interesting that night. The building with all the windows is just an apartment block, but it looks cool here, as does the moon.

Ozan's nursery

At long last, I am back in the driver's seat of MelbaBlog, having finished SAT Hell Week. (In the week leading up to the January 26 SAT, my students were in a right tizzy, and I ended up teaching 35 hours just between Monday and Wednesday – which is more than I usually do even in a busy week!) Naturally, our faithful readers are interested more in the impending arrival of our little boy than in my own insignificant travails, so I pass on to: Ozan's nursery, which was completed recently!

Here I have to ask you all to stand and bow to the amazing powers of Meltem, who not only conceived the nursery in broad detail, but also designed the wardrobe herself. Here's a general view of the place:



That there on the right is the Wardrobe of Ultimate Coolness, designed by Meltem herself. It may not look so special from the outside, but the arrangement of shelves and racks inside is something to behold. The puny minds at the furniture place weren't quite up to the task of grasping Meltem's genius, however, so when they came and built the thing it turned out to have overly large shelves and a hanging rack so high Wilt Chamberlain would have had trouble accessing it. Accordingly, Meltem grabbed the phone and cracked a major can of whoop-ass (you may have felt the earth wobble on its access a little). Duly chastened, the guys at the furniture store redid some components and re-established cosmic harmony.

Anyway, the nursery is also stocked for the comfort of both Ozan and his parents. Here you see his crib and the world's most comfortable chair (an IKEA wonder called Poäng):



In case you can't see it too well in the pictures, we went with a puppy theme for the decoration of sheets, furniture, and walls. Therein lies a tale. We spent a long time at the furniture place poring over their sample books and finally discovered a theme we liked, one with happy little puppies smiling cutely at you as butterflies (smiling too, it's a happy world) wing about them. Part of the package was to be a strip of wallpaper we would run around the room to alleviate the boredom of cream-colored concrete walls. To our dismay, it turned out that the manufacturer had stopped producing the puppy design. We got around the problem by having the furniture place scan the sample wallpaper and print the puppies and butterflies on sticky paper. Then we just applied them to the walls ad libitum. We think it looks pretty good:



And doesn't Ozan's crib look like the most comfortable place to park his little baby butt?



The cushion can also be transferred to the table opposite, which will serve both as our work desk (note the bulletin board – flanked by puppies, of course) and as Ozan's changing station (note the diaper-supply basket on the left; we bought a super-package of 96 diapers, which I am told should last a week or so).



So there you have it, your first tour of Ozan's nursery. You're all invited to come see it in person, of course!

Don't give up on us

We're still here! Sorry to have disappeared for so long. We've both been increasingly busy as Ozan's debut approaches (and I've been increasingly busy as the SAT approaches!). Not only that, right when I decided it was time to blog again, our Internet connection went down for almost a week. Anyway, rest assured we're still here. Coming attractions on MelbaBlog include: Ozan's nursery! Barry's job situation! Freaky light show! So stay tuned.

Winter wonderland indeed

Greetings to all from the land where the holidays never end! No, I'm serious – Meltem and I sat in a Starbucks the other day and listened to Christmas carols over the PA system. Hey, when you don't understand the lyrics, the songs never get old. There are also twinkling lights still hanging all over town. And, to cap off our (post-) holiday cheer, we've had some real live white stuff. It started as a cute litte flurry:



... but soon got more serious, as our balcony flowers can attest:



And it just kept comin':



The next morning (yesterday) I was even awakened by howling winds as the deluge continued. The main storm dumped a couple of inches, which promptly turned to ice overnight, and it's been slowly accumulating via incessant flurries all day. It's all very pretty to look at from the safety of MelbaBlog Central Command HQ, and it gives me cause to exult once more in the full meaning and implications of the term "walking distance," as in how far it is for me to go to work.

Speaking of that, I actually sampled how the other half lives yesterday morning. I got a late start out the door, so I decided to take a taxi to work. This usually takes about 5 minutes and costs 5 YTL (new Turkish lira). We called a cab, and it showed up about 15 minutes later. Then, since the back streets were impassable, the driver was forced to get on the main road, which was a combination parking lot/skating rink. I bailed out when the meter had hit 5 YTL and we had traveled maybe a hundred yards from home. I got to work late and wet, but with a new anecdote for the blog under my belt.