Yashar update...it aint Rocket Surgery

Did I mention that my Mum and her partner had been visiting? I was so sad to see them go back to Australia and I know Yashar will miss all of his 'Ni-ne's' fun games. Yashar and I both learnt so much from her while she was here. Mum just has the knack for teaching and having lots of fun with Yashar.

The books I have talk a lot about care, sleeping, feeding, illnesses and development (which is all great!) but not much about how to have fun with and teach your baby. It makes me laugh now to think that before Senol and I mainly just shook a toy at Yashar and then expected him to take it from there.

So now, thanks to Mum, I:
1. Get Yashar way more involved in the actual doing of things - like I press the button to make the music play on the toy (the music that will slowly drive me insane by the way) and then I physically put his finger on the button and say 'now you press the button, go on, you can do it - yay!'

2. Have learnt to not have such low expectations. I no longer think that he couldn't possibly learn it because he's 'just a baby'. It is amazing how much he learnt in the short time Mum was here and it has to be one of the most rewarding aspects of being a parent so far.

3. Do silly stuff! I now know that Yashar thinks it is soooo funny when I stick his bathers on my head...or anything on my head actually!

OK, I know, it's not rocket surgery, or brain science for that matter, but I guess we had never really thought about it...at all. Before this we were students, spending our time listening to lectures, drinking coffee, working in crappy jobs where a name tag was required but no brain necessary, eating kebabs from Charlie's in the Agora, going out. Then we were both living in the inner city, working, going to movies, having after work drinks, drinking coffee... We really didn't have that much contact with babies. So, now we know.