First Days

We've had a good first couple of days getting settled into our new home. The apartment is beautiful and we are so thankful for how convenient it was to have a furnished place to come home to! It is on the 4th floor (which is the top floor) of our apartment building, so we have quite a few steps to get here, but it's good exercise, and the view is amazing! Here's the view from one of our rooms:Although completely furnished, the apartment was still lacking quite a bit in just simple household items like extra linens, many cooking and baking items, etc. However, we've been able to find almost everything we wanted just in the couple blocks around our house! That's so great! We have several great grocery and general stores just around the corner, so that's incredibly convenient.

On Sunday morning, Elias woke up sick and was yucky all day. He was slightly better on Monday, much better on Tuesday, and completely well today. That made for a bummer couple of days, though, because we couldn't get out with him, not to mention how completely not fun it is to be sick or clean up after someone who is! He's a trooper, though, and bounces back quickly, so we're back in stride now. Here he is playing with his Thomas puzzle on Monday morning:
So right now our focus is language! Although Justin is functional, he still has a lot he wants to learn to improve. And I'm starting from scratch but already making some great headway with concentrated study. It's so much easier when it's all around you! Elias is even getting a start with words Justin is teaching him, and Justin has been showing him some Turkish children's television on a station called TRT Çocuk (pronounced cho-juke). He has found some of Elias' favorite shows dubbed over in Turkish, such as Dinosaur Train and Chuggington. However, Elias even loves the Turkish shows he's never seen before. Look at him laughing at one of them!