Category: Uncategorized

Fatherhood, Uncategorized 0 comments on Happy birthday Amelia!

Happy birthday Amelia!

Darling Amelia.

You turned three years old today.

What a year we shared together. You started school last August, and you’re getting ready to “graduate”. We’ve moved house, travelled across the US, met elephant seals, learned to communicate, did potty training, and so much more.

You hate to sleep. Especially alone. In fact, you weren’t sleeping through the night until just recently. And breaking that pattern was so incredibly difficult.

Your favorite songs were:

  • Anything by Miley Cyrus but especially “Wrecking Ball”
  • Anything from Frozen but especially “Let it Go”
  • ABCD
  • Old McDonald had a farm

Your best friend could be any of:

  • Lilah (from school and soccer)
  • Lucy Green
  • Luka (you guys can’t stand to be apart… or together)

Your favorite activities were:

  • Gym class every Saturday morning
  • Swimming
  • Going to the zoo
  • The Pet Store on 31st and Judah
  • Scooting in the park
  • Hanging out with Doruk

We travelled to

  • North Carolina (twice)
  • Myrtle Beach (and we’ll never do that again)
  • Pescadero over Christmas

Your major life events were

  • Starting school in August 2013
  • Moving to a new house in February 2014
  • Learning to scooter around the neighborhood
  • Surgery in May to close up another hernia

Developmentally you continue to amaze us. Your speech is fantastic (even though you can’t hit a pronoun to save your life). You’re athletically so talented. Fast. Coordinated. But you’re still a bit shy around other kids. You’re much better with adults.

You love Luka so much.

And you give the best kisses that any dad could ask for.

Happy birthday darling Amelia. When you’re finally old enough to read this, I just hope you’ll still curl up in my arms, and fall asleep on my shoulder, and not be too big to be my baby girl.

I love you.

Home ownership, Uncategorized 0 comments on Micky sees the dream :-)

Micky sees the dream :-)

Today we lived out the best of being homeowners in the Sunset.

We woke up, and the kids sat in our bed, and watched cartoons. When we finally woke ourselves up, we got dressed, and headed to breakfast. But not in any old way. We hopped on our bikes, threw the kids in their seats, and headed into the park. Breakfast was great, and then…

We headed to the Zoo.

The bike ride to the zoo is fantastic. It’s along the ocean. It’s free of car traffic. And you’re there before you know it. It was so, so windy, but that’s not too big of a deal.

The morning was seeing the red panda (new to the zoo), the new insects, the goats, the big cats, and then playing with model boats on a simulated river that they setup by the penguins. It was fantastic!

We headed to lunch back on Judah, I had a killer cheeseburger, and then we came home.

I don’t think either of us could imagine a better day… and we know how lucky we are to have it.

Life Updates, Uncategorized 0 comments on Dilek’s in town

Dilek’s in town

Dilek visited us today.

Dilek is Aydin’s wife, and now the 6th member of the family to visit San Francisco.

I picked her up from her friend’s gorgeous house in Belvedere. From there we went to the mall and shopped for the babies (both here and back in Turkey). We talked about life, family, business, and kids. It was a really nice day.

We got the babies from school and met Micky for dinner. Amelia and Dilek became friends right away

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Then we all bonded after the babies went to bed.

It’s really nice to have people visit, and to have the space to host them.

Fatherhood, Uncategorized 0 comments on He’s too big!!

He’s too big!!

Luka is now bigger than Amelia in weight (34 vs 32 lbs.), but she’s holding on to those 1.5 inches with all her effort.

I genuinely wonder what happens when he passed her, and how their power relationship tilts.

Right now, more than weight, it’s really about motor skills. But man he’s catching up fast, and then she’s going to have to be smarter.

They grow up so fast.

Fatherhood, Uncategorized 0 comments on Luka climbs out of his crib

Luka climbs out of his crib

Today is my half birthday. The last one of my third decade of life. That’s right… I’ll be 30 in November.

And so it was quite fitting that so many fun things happened today.

First… Micky got me a subscription to National Geographic magazine! When we went up the North Coast for Easter, the house we rented had a million issues of NatGeo around. We said, “Wouldn’t it be a cool subscription?”, and it looks like Micky pulled it off.

Yes – I do celebrate my half birthday. Get over it 🙂

Then… the kids start chattering away at their bedtime. This is really a Luka driven thing. So there’s squeaking, and some chatting. Then some yelling. Then a voice from the hallway. But it’s not Amelia’s voice. And Luka is in his crib.

Well, Mr. Luka James had pulled his baggy off, crawled out of his crib, opened the door (big no no for Amelia who was trying to stop him), and walked into the hallway – quite proud of himself.

Oh man, oh man. These kids are going to get me.

Anyway, today was a good day.

Life Updates, Uncategorized 0 comments on My mom’s dance showcase!

My mom’s dance showcase!

I red-eyed to Raleigh last night to get here in time for my mom’s dance showcase!

I landed, and we headed straight for Bojangles. That was good.

We spent the day watching soccer, and just being around each other. Semra showed up at 1pm, and she and I mom worked on her hair and make up. My mom was super excited.

We had our Turkish food lunch, wasted more time, showered, shaved, and headed to NC State. The event was at Tally Student Center. Holy smokes has it changed! It’s amazing. Just so pretty. So modern. Clean. Lots of rooms. A completely different place for what’s clearly about to become a completely different school. Who the chancellor is finally matters to NC state in profound ways. It’s amazing.

And then the event!

It was a ton of fun. Lots of great folks out there putting themselves on the line. My first dentist (who is now 75 years old) did a crazy polka dance. She was my favorite (my favorite who wasn’t my mom of course).

Check it all out… photos below

just thinking out loud, The Muni Series, Uncategorized 0 comments on A disturbing Muni scene

A disturbing Muni scene

I took the N-Judah into the office today. I really like taking the train. There’s a peacefulness to it that isn’t physical (way to many people), but instead mental (not driving == not thinking).

Today however that blew up.

I got on the train, and noticed that a woman and man were talking to each other. Well… He was trying to talk to her, and she kept answering in short, curt answers.

She was getting ready to hop off at 19th, and as the doors opened he jumped up, hugged her, kissed her, and off she went.

I wasn’t actually sure if that was a scene out of a horror movie, or if he was the star of some teenage fantasy where the shy looking guy jumps up and kisses a girl.

And I actually don’t know if this part matters or not, but she had large breasts, and she wasn’t hiding them.

Full disclosure: I definitely noticed her for her physical assets. I am not claiming to be holier than the male character I am describing. I did not take any physical action toward either character.

So I’ve shared this story with my dad and brother, Micky, Genevieve, and Ashley as well.

Everyone agrees that the guy crossed over the line.

However no one agrees with the true border of where the line is nor do they agree on the severity of offense.

Sparing you a long replay of the day’s conversations I’ll leave the conclusion that I came to at – Humans are not as removed from our animal ancestry as we think, and the societal structures that we have to prevent these actions aren’t as strong as we’d like them to be.

More to come in the next few days I’m sure.

Fatherhood, Life Updates, Uncategorized 0 comments on Amelia’s surgery

Amelia’s surgery

Amelia has just gotten out of surgery for a new hernia she developed a few months ago.

All is well.

Hopefully this is the end of the road with her oemophalocele related stuff. You can never say never, but it would be really nice.

Thank God we live in San Francisco where the best of the best in pediatric and neo-natal surgeons can be found. Sometimes these things happen for a reason.