Besniku ne Tirane.

We are all getting adjusted to life in Tirana! I'm sure no one faults us for the lack of blog posts -- well, almost sure, at least :) Here is a quick update for you all...

Besnik has turned out to be quite a city boy. He has adjusted his sleeping hours so as to be awake for prime baby parading time (7-9pm.) It seems like everyone is out with their babies at this time which means that Besnik needs to be out! He has mastered the waving -- so when he sees other babies or children, he points them out and then waves like a madman. He gets a pretty good response rate which makes him very happy. He has also been working on his dancing more; he now dances not only when he hears music, but also when he hears sirens, car honking, the call to prayer, and whenever he sees people talking animatedly. This means that he spends a good deal of each day dancing. He is especially interested in a group of boys who play drums and walk from cafe to cafe playing for money -- I think it's just a matter of months before they enlist him as some sort of dancer/beat-keeper.

He is officially able to stand up from sitting without help -- and without furniture to pull up on. This means that we have had to block off a "baby play area" for him so that he can't get up and run into trouble (aka -- the stove/oven knobs that are at eye level.) He got a new baby mattress and high-chair in the last week, both of which have been a hit. He spends just about the whole night on the little mattress (pictures to come!) and joins us in the morning. The high-chair turns into a little table and chair as well -- very novel for baby!

Alas, I think this is all I have time for now. He is doing very well! I will publish a second post with lots of pictures of the apartment and the boy. It's still super hot during the days so we have been going out just in the early morning and after 4pm -- and keeping busy in the apartment during those middle hot hours.