Happy Mother Teresa Day!

Ok, we haven't updated the blog in too too long...but the Tirana Tochkas are now turning over a new leaf, making a mid-October resolution to be good about the baby blog...and to start taking more pictures, which we haven't been too good about here, either so far!

Here are a few recent events—the one with me and the B in a restaurant is from an excellent Turkish restaurant called Sofra, on Durres St., that we went to a few weeks ago. The owner is a nice Turkish Albanian guy, and Besnik hit if off with his six year old son. The little boy had two scooters that he was riding around the restaurant, and he let Besnik use one—pretty good service. You usually don't get to ride on scooters inside anywhere on Long Island, never mind in restaurants!

We have another couple of pics of Besnik around the house: lately he has been helping with mopping and sweeping, playing with his new blocks (we put them together, he takes them apart), playing with his balloon (a girl around the corner gave it to him), and playing hide-and-seek behind curtains (that is what the curtain picture is all about). His new hiding game is cute: he runs and gets behind the curtains in the bedroom, and you can hear him breathing heavy, trying hard not to laugh, before he runs out to 'surprise' a parent...very funny! The balloon isn't the only gift he's received—he has made friends with all the neighborhood shop owners. The girls at the supermarket give him kisses and take his picture with their cell-phones, the young waiter downstairs kisses B's hand when he sees him, a woman who runs a touristy gift shop gave B an “evil eye” bracelet (little bracelet with 'eye' beads, to keep away the evil eye), etc. His friend Hajrija at the shop downstairs lets him run around her small grocery to play hide and seek with her, and has him “tidy up” (which means he can move things around on shelves while she laughs).

All the outdoor pictures are from the Tirana Lake—it is a dammed lake created in the 1960s, and has a lot of paths to walk and little cafes. We bought potato chips and a little flute—the man who sold us the flute insisted that Besnik take the pink one instead of the blue one, and it wasn't until afterwards that we realized he must have thought that Mr. Long Eyelashes was a little girl. Very nice way to spend a few hours, regardless of the gender confusion.

Finally, there are two pics of Besnik wearing his new pajamas (the red ones, with trucks). He loves them! We have to hide them during the day, because we've had a few 'incidents.' (He'll refuse to go outside unless he is wearing the thin pajama pants, or he'll want to put them on over the regular clothes he is already wearing, and they won't fit, and so on.)We have about 10 pictures of him posing in the pajamas—he is very proud of them. It is very funny, he will even point to them, then look up at one of us and smile and start clapping for himself!

That is all for now! More coming soon (including pics from Mom's birthday, October 19—don't forget to send her birthday wishes!). [Not all of the picture loaded--internet connection is going too slow--more soon..]