Iki Tane Ekmek

As part of our living in an apartment here, we pay a monthly upkeep fee. The fee goes to keeping the hallways and elevators clean and running, as well as the security guards at the gates and removal of garbage twice a day. (This is nice considering we are on the 9th floor, all I have to do is put it outside of my door and it disappears.) Well, one thing extra that we have access to is a doorman. He rings the doorbell twice a day and checks to see if we need something. Now, you can't give him a whole shopping list but you can ask him to get several items that you are missing to make dinner or whatever. When we first moved here, he pretty much avoided us. But one day, when I desperately needed some milk, I opened the door and asked him to get it for me. Since then, he has come everyday except Friday - which is his day off.

It was a windy, slightly chilly day today and I thought soup would be a nice change for dinner. I was preparing a dinner for eight people and, not only would it be easy but it would also be filling. So I was planning on ordering bread for our door guy. J surprised me by asking if she could order the bread and give him the money. I was doubtful she would follow through on this but I said she could and promptly taught her what to say. Iki tane ekmek. (iki-2; tane - pieces or item; ekmek - bread) So we practiced and practiced and the time came when he rang the doorbell. We opened the door and, it wasn't our regular door man, it was someone new. I thought for sure that J would back out because she didn't know him but she didn't. "Iki....tane....ekmek" she said and handed him the 1 TL. He smiled and understood what she said. About 15 minutes later, the doorbell rang again, she opened the door and received the 2 loaves of fresh, warm, just out of the oven, bread. She said thank you and that was that. We had fresh bread delivered to our door thanks to J and the door man.

This may have not been the most exciting thing that happened today but I believe it was significant. She took the time to learn a new phrase and put it to practice. She overcame her shyness, which is usually evident around T people and she spoke up. I could have done it myself because it would have been easier but I didn't. I took the time to teach the phrase she needed and allowed her the chance to do it. I
 was very proud of her.

One side note, J loves bread, especially this bread. She probably ate about 6 pieces of it with her soup and, the funny thing is, she only eats the inside. She leaves the outside crust in a big long strip and hands it to her dad to eat. If I would let her, she would probably eat the inside of a whole loaf. I don't have to worry about the bread going to waste around here, which is a good thing since it is made without preservatives and doesn't last long anyway.

Baby Update: As of Friday, I have two more weeks to go. I am now visiting the doctor each week. I went this week on the 21st. Everything is going well. I am not sleeping well, though that is to be expected. The doctor did a stress test on Kaleb and he is doing fine. He is all most 7 pounds, if the ultrasound is correct and we got to see a 4-D picture of him sucking his thumb. Keke is calling me cankles because of my swollen ankles and J is still excited. She has been a big help around the house. She is helping mommy fold clothes and wash all of the baby stuff. I hope she still is excited when we bring him home! I think I finally have most of my hospital bag packed and I believe we are ready...but is anyone truly ready? It will definitely be a big change around here but we are looking forward to it.