Sima was pregnant with Alexander during our trip through pirate alley, and he was born in November, 2010, after Leander came up the Red Sea, crossed the Med, and arrived in Turkey.  We spent the winter of 2010-11 in Istanbul, with Sima’s parents. 

Alexander and his bright blond hair were a hit in Turkey.  He was constantly pinched and poked and prodded by the older women out and about on the streets, no matter how tightly we wrapped him up.  And they all said the same thing — “Yerim seni!”  (“I could eat you up!”)

We went back to the boat as a family of three when Alexander was at five months.  He adjusted quickly and well to life aboard.  He had some sea sickness problems early on, but tended to be able to move through them as the boat moved on.  With our encouragement, he learned that keeping himself low to the ground dampened the movement of the boat, and many a day at sea was spent with Alexander’s cheek pressed to the cabin sole as he inched a toy car to-and-fro in front of this face.

He is insatiably curious.

From the start, Alexander has been non-stop motion.  He is seldom still or quiet.  When he is not singing a song to himself or making “vroom-vroom!” noises with his cars, then he can be found tapping this stick or that tool onto to closest hard surface to create a percussive rattle.

Taking after his paternal grandfather, John Kelley Robertson, he is gregarious, and from a young age he has been at ease reaching out and interacting with others. 

He loves the water, and learned to swim early.  His favorite food is pasta with pesto sauce and shrimp.  There is no way that he’d rather end the day than being read a book by in the arms of his mom or dad.