at home with the kids

It's Saturday and I tried to get the kids out of the house.  I wanted to take them to the pool where we have a new membership, but Teoman wanted to go to Mina's house. Mina was not home, so I gave him the choice of gym or home, and he was quite happy to stay home and play with his Babanne.  For me, this has been a relief.  His Babanne is sitting and playing cars, doing puzzles, playing "Batman" - he has been quite happy.  It's very sweet and I wish I could do the same, but nowadays, even when I offer, he says: no, I'm gonna play with Babanne.

Well, okay then.  

Tomris goes between being my sidekick - climbing on me, sliding down my legs, bringing me a book, wanting me to hold her - to playing on her own.  She will cry easily about wanting a second treat, or wanting to play the iPad, or her abi not giving her a toy.  She still is giving us a fight at night - I'm scared, I'm hot, I want Babanne, and so on - but she loves to joke too.  We play the "pinch" game, where I chase her with my "pinchers".  We play "pit bugs", something from my family where my parents would tickle our armpits saying there were bugs in them.  I will say,

"Tomris!  Do you have pit bugs?"  And she will start giggling and voluntarily raise her arms for me to tickle, and then laugh and laugh when I do.  There's nothing better than hearing her laugh.  And she will always spend time snuggling with me, nestling into me like a baby once again.

Tolga came home from the field today just as I was putting them down for a nap.  We were in my bed watching something and Tolga came in the room.  Teoman shouted,

"Baba!"  And he stood up on the bed and leaped into Tolga's arms.  Tolga had brought home some lokum, two balls, and some chestnut honey.  Honey in Turkish is bal, so when Tolga told Teoman he would bring some bal, Teoman misunderstood him - thinking he was bringing a ball.  Tolga couldn't resist brining both, but when he pulled out the balls he said,

"This one is for Mama, and this one is for me."  Tolga was laughing and his eyes were as bright as Teoman.  Teoman was sitting on the bed, but once again leaped up and wrestled his Baba for the ball.

They loved their surprises.

I have brought some new story books home from school, and they are loving the new books.  I've been moving them from board books to books with pages.  I've held off pages because Tomris is kind of a destroyer, and English books I value quite a bit - I wish so much I could take them to a proper library.  But until then, we will make do.

reading before bed