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: