Mamacookita’s Blog

Troy has always been an easy going child. When he was a baby we would say “Don’t touch” once and that was it, we never put locks on cabinets or the refrigerator, he never touched the stereo or computer. I can count the number of times he has been put on time out, on long flights he is a good boy.

A few months ago we noticed bad words in his vocabulary (granted they usually surfaced after a fishing trip with Daddy and his buddies, but I won’t get onto that). It was also the start of preschool where, as Troy told me, a few kids think saying “potty words” is funny.  We told him that he is going to hear all sorts of things, some are words kids use but shouldn’t, some are words adults use but shouldn’t. This talk seemed to help, until he started making up songs with the words in it, or finding rhyming patterns! Realizing the talk did not help, I decided to use the time proven method of “If I hear you say a bad word I am going to put hot sauce in your mouth!”  Before I could even go into the kitchen tears swelled up in his eyes and I felt I found the right consequence.  Just the idea of this consequence was enough that we never even had to use it. Not once did we put hot sauce in his mouth.  Two points for mommy!

Fast forward a few months. Over the past 5 days Troy has started to hit us.  Arms elongated, at the simplest request–wash your hands, wear your sandals, play with your toys and stop asking to go fishing–it is like helicopter propellers aiming for our legs, back, face, arms.

Tonight at the dinner table we told him “Hitting your parents is as disrespectful as using bad words, if not worse.”  His reaction was….to start hitting Daddy. So I pitched in “Well then your punishment will be the same” and reached for the hot sauce at the dinner table.

And guess what, our 4 year old son gives me a big smile and says “I love hot sauce.”  He proceeds to open the bottle himself and put a few drops on his finger and put it in his mouth!! Next thing I know he is rubbing his tummy and saying “Yummy hot sauce!”

What else can two parents who love their son do? We start to laugh and say “What are we going to do with you?”

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Besides celebrating his birthday in September, Troy had the excitement of Halloween in October. This is the first year I saw him enjoy it so much. “Let’s go shopping to buy Halloween decorations,” he said and we did, more then once! We hung ghosts which light up at night, strung long cobwebs on the bushes with giant spiders, carved pumpkins into jack-o-lanters.  I have a feeling each year from now on the decorations will get better and better at our house. Thanks to his preschool we went to a pumpkin patch to collect pumpkins and had a Halloween party.

On Halloween night Troy went trick-or-treating with two neighborhood kids. They really showed him how to do it–I don’t think he would have gone door to door with as much enthusiasm as they had. And this being the first Halloween we went trick-or-treating we discovered how far some of our neighbors went with decorating–see the pictures in flickr! So when I say this is the first year I saw Troy enjoy Halloween so much, I mean for me too!

So even though the Christmas decorations are starting to appear around town, we are enjoying Fall–and will be raking leaves this weekend!

Imagine for one minute what it must be like to be a toddler…everything is new. The excitement of being 4 is brand new for Troy too!

Troy made us laugh so much as we got ready to celebrate his birthday. At bedtime instead of reading a book he wanted to talk about the cake decorations–Spiderman. Shark. Pirate.Scooby doo.  Anneanne (grandmom) said she found a fantastic recipe for a chocolate hazelnut cake. Troy responded Sen onu kendine yap translation “you can make that one for yourself.” We laughed and laughed!

We celebrated over many days, candles were lit on half eaten cakes over and over again. He was invited to a birthday party at a bowling alley and he thought it was his birthday party too! What difference does it make for a 4 year old? None at all. Being with friends and feeling loved. It is what we strive to give him everyday these past 4 years. Celebrating him times 4!

Swimmers take their places!

3, 2, 1—Whistle!

Touch the Center Lines and Swim Back!

Run to the Flag!

Ataturkcu Yuzuculer Yuzme Yarismasi 1. Kategori 2004-2006 Dogumlular IKINCISI

Troy had his first sleepover party! His new friend Deniz came from Fort Lauderdale, she had spent almost 2 months on a yacht with her parents, and her arrival on July 6 (together with her mom) signaled the start of a great friendship for Troy.

When I told a friend about Deniz’s stay she exclaimed “Troy will have a twin for 2 weeks!” Indeed, his and her cups (Disney Princesses for her and Toy Story for him), his and her stuffed animals. We had to be sure everything was in twos. During their two week stay we squeezed in a visit to the aquarium, a trip to DC, summer camp at Cape Henry, a visit to Jamestown, playing with the sprinkler in the garden, painting, running after the cats, loving Penny. When they called each others name every morning we knew how much they enjoyed each others company.

Deniz’ visit also helped reinforce Troy’s Turkish. A visit to the doctor to check out Deniz’s inner ear tube began with Troy telling the receptionist “My sister’s ear hurts.”  His knowing Turkish also gave Deniz confidence in the all-American setting of summer camp.  Deniz’s English improved alot too–one day I asked Troy a question in English, and Deniz replied to me (before Troy) in Turkish!

Double the fun, indeed!

Troy went on his first snorkeling trip July 4 in Hatteras, NC, over the wreck Dixie Arrow. The first time I noticed he is able to hold his breath and look under water was in the Bahamas, in the shallow water he would look through his goggles at the tiny fish. He spent so much time in the water I hovered over him with an umbrella to provide some shade.

In April he started to swim with arm floats in a pool, and by June he was swimming underwater without arm floats, and picking up toys from 3 feet below. Fourth of July weekend Atil arranged for us to go by boat to the wreck Dixie Arrow. He told Troy we are going to swim over a sunken ship. When we arrived at the wreck and threw down the anchor Troy said:

“I am not going to swim. Pirates will grab me from below.”

So I told him a story of how the pirates abandoned ship as it was sinking and swam to shore.  Once they were on the island all the locals hid. The pirates slept on the beach and the next morning…..It was a long story and I told it to him over and over again! It calmed his fears and our boy Troy jumped in the water with his Daddy.  To his luck there were barracuda, a school of bait fish, jellyfish, the water was so alive and clear, we could see the top of the wreck which was 65 feet below. We also watched Atil dive down and then waved to him as he came back up.

Seeing Troy snorkel in the water was a moving experience for us, our hearts filled with pride. I am happy that Atil will have his best dive buddy with him in the water from now on.

When was the first time you heard or applied the KISS principle (“Keep It Simple Sophisticated” or more popularly “Keep It Simple, Stupid!”). When writing a letter, or furnishing a room?  Troy has found a basic way to apply it, or, he is telling me to apply the KISS principle when he ends his questions with “Yes or No?”

I noticed it about 2 weeks ago. He asked me if I wanted to go swimming with him. I told him I had done garden work, cut the grass, muddy and covered with pollen, I would need to take a shower first, then start dinner, that he should wait for his father to go to the pool.

The next morning as soon as he woke up his first question to me was, “Do you want to go to the pool? Yes or No?”

Another example, he asked if he could watch Scooby Doo on the computer (via youtube). I told him the youtube videos are so short, staring at the computer is bad for the eyes, and the ads that pop up are bad. So today he asked me, “Can I watch something on the computer? Yes or No?”

I get it, this kid likes to keep it simple!

It was a cold week in January when I told my husband Troy might benefit from a one week vacation in Florida. He had been suffering from sinus congestion since December 15. By January 10 it was a full blown infection. Antibiotics again.  After 4 hospitalizations in 2009 and many rounds of antibiotics, we were scared and tired at the prospect of infections in 2010. In an effort to find a new approach to getting over infections we decided to travel to a warmer climate.

How did we pull it off?

We decided around January 13th to go somewhere for two weeks. Two weeks turned into one month, and on January 26 Atil packed his car and drove to Miami. He found a 2 bedroom apartment in Miami Lakes, enrolled Troy in gymnastics and baseball. We joined him in February.

Residing in a major city, we took advantage of NBA games (Go Miami Heat!),

restaurants (Colley & Lincoln Avenue), exposure to the Spanish language (Mira, Troy!), and taking the subway and going for walks. It was Troy’s first exposure to homeless people sleeping on the streets, and us telling him not everyone has a kitchen and a bedroom. I realized how comfortable he is in Virginia Beach–so did he. A few times he asked for “sut and TV” on the couch in his playroom at home. Many times he asked me to call Henry’s mom and Emre’s mom so they could come over and play! My heart melted whenever he talked about his friends in Virginia Beach!

We saw friends from Datca and made new friends at gym class and baseball. We lived without a TV, and rented DVDs from the video store. Troy fell in love with Scooby doo DVD’s–no more Wonderpets or Diego! He saw teenagers skateboarding in the parking lot next to our apartment. For one week he said “I want a skateboard….” he never asked for a bike–just a skateboard! One night after dinner on Lincoln Ave in South Beach we were walking back to the car, we walked by a skate shop. He stopped, looked inside, and said “I think they have what I want here” and went in by himself! We had so much fun choosing a board for him and helmets and pads! He was so proud and the next day wanted to go to McDonald’s with his skateboard!

At the gym he was in a class with 5 year olds because he has good gymnastics skills, he had a lot of fun.

Baseball was a different story. The first time he came up to bat he hit the ball–then ran after the ball! The coaches were yelling “First base not after the ball!” A few times while he was playing midfield the baseball rolled right by him and he just looked at it.  He was good at  standing in midfield with his hands on his knees and asking for a popsicle at the 
end of each game!

Going to a preschool twice a week was another first for Troy. He was so happy to go, it was a small preschool which has helped us better understand what type of environment he is comfortable in (no frills classrooms, lots of outdoor time, and small class size).

The time spent in Miami was a learning experience for all three of us. Just today Atil asked me if  “..Next time we go to Miami would you like to live on a boat at the marina?”  So we are dreaming about the next time we will go…..

As the son of a fishing enthusiast Troy spends alot of time in retail stores that sell fishing gear. On our trip to one such store in the– not very retail orientated–island of Long Island Bahamas he asked for a fishing rod. But the only rod his size was a child size Barbie Doll themed rod. Pink and light blue with flowers on it. His father said no. I said there is nothing else to do on an empty beach all day. Troy said “I want it.” The cashier lady pointed out to us “This is for girls.” We said we know. People in the store told us “Have fun but don’t tell him it is Barbie!” We said he already knows.

What we didn’t realize is that Troy does not know what Barbie is. He has never seen a Barbie doll and since we limit his TV watching to stations without commercials he has not seen a Barbie commercial. When we got to the beach he jumped out of the car and asked “Where is my Bar-Be-Q fishing rod??” So when he hard people at the store saying Barbie he interpreted it as  Bar-Be-Q–as in grill out!

Troy spent everyday, hours per day, fishing. He showed patience while waiting for the big fish to bite. Had his cooler ready to throw the fish in. A few days into playing with it he was standing waiting and looked at it and asked me “Are there flowers on this?”

After the 5th day of him not putting the rod down, carrying it everywhere, his daddy said it was the best thing he ever bought at a fishing store.