Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th June

We had a very chilled day at home today. I was really happy to get on Skype to Indeg and Manon, to Debs and also to Mel. What a cool programme Skype is. It was so lovely to talk to you all. Thank you for brightening our day and making us smile!

Dylan had a fun day today – just playing with all his toys and running around causing havoc! LOL. He can be such a good boy when he wants to be but then this naughty streak comes out in him and he knows he is being naughty but it's like he can't help himself. I saw a really cool t-shirt when shopping the other day – it said something like 'Chaos, Havoc, Disaster – my work here is done!' … I was so tempted to buy it for him but I resisted :)

We went swimming early today (at about 5.30 instead of 7). It completely threw our day out of sync and by 7 p.m both kids were in bed and asleep! Tomorrow I am going to make sure that we go later on so that we can stick to our normal routine.

Because today has been so quiet and uneventful, I am going to combine the blog post with tomorrow's news (that way it's a little bit more interesting to read!)

We all woke up late this morning (Wednesday) at 9 a.m because I had a really bad night with Abi, who was waking up every hour to every hour and a half so she was exhausted hence sleeping in. I decided I was going to go out today as spending a third day in a row stuck in the house really didn't appeal to me and I know it would've driven DJ crazy too! So, we all got dressed and when Pens went to work, we all went in the car too.

After dropping Penri off I went to Spencer's Food shop which is the best supermarket I've seen in India so far. I did quite a bit of shopping but even though the aisles were wide and there weren't that many people, it wasn't easy! I had the double buggy and I had planned on pulling the trolley behind whilst pushing the pushchair in front of me. Dylan, however, had other ideas. He wanted to push the trolley and insisted on walking around the shop. In the end we came to a compromise - I let him walk around with me but we left the trolley at the end of each aisle and Dylan went running backwards and forwards putting the shopping in the trolley. It was so cute! Luckily, Abi had fallen asleep just as we got inside the shop and she slept through the whole food shop which meant I didn't have to worry about her and I could focus on DJ. We got everything on our list and then went and paid and went to find the driver.

The hardest part about shopping here is I still don't have a mobile phone so I can't call Tyagi to come and pick us up when I've finished in a certain shop. You would think it would be fine and he could sit and wait for me outside the shop, but India is not like that. They don't allow cars to park outside the shops/malls. There is normally underground parking or the drivers have to go find somewhere else to wait. They always have a drop off point because nearly everyone here has drivers. Anyway, whenever Tyagi drops me off we always have to agree a time for him to pick me up and I have to make sure I am there at that time because he can't stop in the car outside the shops. Crazy! So, today we had agreed that he would pick me up at 1.30 p.m at the drop off/pick up point but because of the queues in the supermarket, I was a few minutes late. It was mayhem when I got outside as the security guard was going mad shouting at Tyagi to move and then there were cars held up in all directions. It didn't help that he stopped in the middle of a crossroad so no cars could get past from any direction! Oops! We quickly got all the shopping into the car, collapsed the pushchair and all got back in the car and drove off. Straight across to the next shopping mall where I was taking DJ for lunch and to the play area.

I didn't actually need to buy anything in the mall, I just thought it would be nice for Dylan to get to play a bit. I dropped him off and walked around the play area and then Abi and I sat and watched him play. I did go into a couple of the shops that are right next to the play area but didn't buy anything; just had a quick look around. Dylan loved his time in the play area but I was really worried at one point, that he'd hurt himself. He was at the top of the slide and he literally jumped off the top and nose dived forward. He hit his head half way down the slide, I inhaled a deep breath but he stood up, laughed and then jumped in the ball pool at the bottom of the slide. My goodness, he scares me sometimes!

After 45 minutes in the play area we went to McDonalds for lunch. It was packed and there were no real queues, just crowds of people at the tills. I joined the back of what looked similar to a queue and waited. As I reached the till this woman stepped in front of me and placed her order. I was so tempted to say something, but at this point, I just thought 'I cannot be bothered to argue with her' *sigh*

We finished our food 15 minutes before the time I had agreed to meet Tyagi so I walked to the middle of the mall, where there was a book sale. I bought a couple of books for DJ and a little present for one of DJ's friends. We then went to find Tyagi at the agreed meeting point. We found him having an argument with another security guard, who was telling him off for where he had stopped the car. We repeated the whole packing up and loading the car quickly (whilst being shouted at) and off we went and home we came.

We got back just after 3 and I showered and changed both children then Abi went for a nap and DJ and I cleared out the servants quarters. There was a lot of rubbish and empty boxes in there that needed sorting out so with the help of my little man, we got it all sorted. Afterwards I started to read DJ one of the new books I had bought him. It's a nursery rhyme book and there are all the usual 'Twinkle Twinkle', 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' etc etc but there were also a few extra that I have never heard of before. A couple of them made me laugh so I want to share them with you … hope they make you smile ...

















At 6.30 I got the children ready to go swimming and we all walked down to the pool. We swam for quite a long time tonight – about 40 minutes! Both of them love the water so much but normally between 15 and 20 minutes is enough for them. I cannot believe how confident Dylan is getting in the water. It's brilliant! He has his arm bands on and he stands on the side of the pool and says 'Ready, Steady, Go!' and then he jumps in! It makes my heart miss a beat every time, but he always pops up out of the water laughing. He loves it!! After swimming I showered the children in the changing room and came home. I have started a new routine now of telling DJ a story (we don't have many books with us as they are in cargo). I make up a story which Dylan loves and whenever I finish and say 'The End', he always says 'more story'. It's so cute! Tonight, I took Abi into DJ's room and told them both a story and then said 'night night' to Dylan and brought Abigail back in my room to feed her and get her to sleep.

Dylan is so cheeky. He kept getting out of bed and coming to my bedroom door. Every time I said to him 'Dylan bed', he walked away and came back two minutes later. The problem was, every time I spoke, I disrupted Abi's feed and she tried to sit up! In the end, after about 5 attempts at getting DJ to go back to his room, I didn't say anything to him when he came back. It was just so, so cute. He had his pillow in one hand and a little toy in the other. He came into my room really quietly, put his pillow on the bed, climbed up and got under my cover. He didn't make a sound! I stroked his hair and he turned over and closed his eyes. Within 3 or 4 minutes he was asleep! Abigail fell asleep about 10 minutes after and I put her in her bed. I then carried Dylan back into his room and went to make my dinner.

Twice now I have bought these frozen cheese samosas which I love. But twice I have cooked them and it has gone horribly wrong! You are supposed to shallow fry them on a low flame for 4 – 6 minutes. When they're made properly, they're delicious! The first time I made them I didn't have any oil, so I used mustard oil. It was gross and they had a slightly spicy taste. Tonight when I made them, I got the oil too hot so when I put them in the pan they cooked far too quickly and too much. Disappointed or what?! I was really looking forward to them. Never mind, third times the charm!

So, it's now just gone 9 p.m and both children are in bed and asleep and I'm going to follow suit. Penri is still at work and has told me he's going to be late tonight, so I'm not going to wait up. Before I go, I've got a few cute pictures of the kids to include in my post:

















Goodnight x

Monday 28th June

It's the start of our third week and still we're waiting for things to get sorted … kitchen cupboards (or at least shelves) which will hopefully be done soon, a new car which Penri is working on (we're planning on buying a car as the one we have at the moment is only temporary); and more importantly, our cargo! I said to Penri that I'm (probably) naively thinking that it'll be here in the next couple of days. I am really looking forward to it arriving now even though I know it's going to mean a lot of hard working unpacking things and sorting it all out, but I think it's probably harder trying to manage without things. There are a few things in our cargo that will make life so much easier. Dylan's toys, the children's clothes and my clothes (I'm fed up of the very few things that I brought in my suitcase), the baby bath, our plates and glasses, the toaster (as DJ won't eat the bread here), our TV, the clothes airer, stuff for Abigail such as her baby gym, baby walker, high chair … OK, actually, thinking about it – there are a lot of things that will make life so much easier! Also, at the moment, we are pretty much living in one room as there's nothing to do in the living rooms – it's very bare and obviously we don't even have a TV in there so we never even sit in there. Anyway, I'm keeping everything crossed that it all gets sorted out and that our things will be here soon.

The other reason that I can't wait for our stuff to arrive is that my sister will be coming to visit. At the moment she can't come as there is nowhere for her to sleep! I'm so excited about seeing Mel again – it's been six months! We were just saying this morning that we can't believe Abigail is six months old already! Mel, book your ticket to come to India!!!

I don't know why we have a cleaner … Dylan absolutely loves sweeping the floors. If he could just learn to mop as well, we'd be sorted lol. The cleaner is a nice enough guy; he comes over does his work quickly most of the time and then leaves. He was trying to mop all the floors yesterday but Dylan decided he wanted to play. So, he got a coin and threw it to Raj Kumar (that's the cleaner's name). Raj picked it up and threw it back … big mistake because that was it then … Dylan knew he had a playmate! While Raj Kumar was mopping the floor he was stopping every few minutes to throw the coin back to DJ. Dylan thought it was brilliant and was laughing and laughing! He's such a cheeky monkey!

We had a very quiet day at home today. I did think about going out, but in the end decided we would just stay in. We did the usual thing – playing, went out for a very quick walk to the supermarket, I tidied up and did a bit of washing; that's it really. Not much else to report. I plan on taking some more photos over the next few days and hope to get some posted on here soon.

Till tomorrow …

Sunday 27th June

Today has been another good day. I still can't believe it's two weeks since we arrived in India. Anyone who has been following my blog can probably guess what we did today … we went shopping and swimming!

We had a quiet ish morning, just chilling around the house. We had quite a few potty training incidents today though. Now that Dylan has learnt to take his nappy off himself, even when he has a nappy on we still have 'accidents'. I was changing Abigail's nappy when Dylan came in, having taken his nappy off, and said 'Mummy poo poo'. I thought great he needs to go, so I jumped up and said 'Come on then DJ, on the toilet'. As we started to walk through to the bathroom, he said 'no Mummy, poo poo' and took my hand. He took me to the kitchen where there on the floor … you guessed it … he had already been! I cleaned up the mess and went to get the mop to disinfect the floor. Just as I finished cleaning, I heard DJ say 'oh no'. I went through to the bathroom to find that he had done a wee wee all over the floor! It's my own fault because I hadn't put a new nappy on him straight away. So, I washed him and put a nappy and clothes on him and then cleaned and disinfected the bathroom floor. As I already had the mop out, I thought I may as well mop all the floors in the apartment, especially as the cleaner only comes on weekdays so they hadn't been done since Friday! That ended up taking me ages although it's kind of good that we have floors everywhere and no carpets because it does make it easier to clean up little accidents!

At 1 o'clock we all got in the car and headed to a shop called Spencers. It's a supermarket (probably the best and biggest chain you get in India). We did some food shopping; not a huge shop – just a few bits for the fridge. They have a luxury section which is all just imported items and at imported prices too!! So, it's things like … Robinsons squash, Tabasco sauce, imported meats and cheeses, peanut butter, jams etc. We bought only a couple of things in the luxury section because they were really expensive.

From Spencers we went onto a different mall where there was a TGI Fridays. Before we went in there, DJ went in the big play area that was there … it is much bigger than the other one he always goes to and they had different things so he spent nearly an hour in there. I had a wander around the shops and then we all went to TGIs for dinner (well, a late lunch really). It was about 3.30 p.m by this point and both children were really tired so Dylan started being really naughty and then Abi started screaming! It was completely manic! The food was OK. I was a bit disappointed because I thought I'd ordered a beef burger, but I hadn't – it was a lamb burger.

When we went to leave the restaurant, Penri realised his mobile battery was completely flat! It didn't even have enough charge to turn the phone on to get our driver's phone number. So, there we were standing in the heat on the side of the road outside the mall trying to decide what to do. We ended up going back into TGIs where I asked one of the waiters to put Penri's sim card into his phone so we could get Tyagi's number. It turns out that his number was saved on the phone, not the sim so we couldn't get it. We went back into the mall and looked for a phone shop where we could charge the phone a bit (just enough to turn it on to get the number)!

I was about to give up hope and kept saying to Penri, let's just get an auto rick home and then we can call Tyagi from there and tell him we don't need him any more. Pen said we wouldn't all fit in an auto. So, we kept looking for a phone shop. Eventually Penri found somewhere where they let us charge the phone for a few minutes and we called the driver and came home. We went straight down to the pool and swam for a bit and then by the time we got home, gave the babies showers and got their pyjamas on, it was bed time.

I got Abigail to sleep while Pen put DJ to bed. Just as she went off to sleep and I was laying her down, I saw something scuttle across the floor! OH NO! Another cockroach! This time though, it was dark in the room and he went under the bedside table. When I moved it, he was gone. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! They really creep me out. I'm going to have to ask our cleaner to move all the furniture in my bedroom to try and find him. Just the thought of it somewhere in my room … *shivers down my back*!

Abigail woke up at 1 a.m and I couldn't get her back to sleep. She was happily chatting away and wanting to wake up. At this point, I still hadn't been to bed so I was really ready to go to sleep, but she wasn't having any of it. So, we came on the computer and spoke to Sam on Skype, which was cool. It's weird that it was the early hours of the morning here, but it was only 8.30 in the evening in UK! Anyway, it was really lovely to catch up – thanks Sam!

At about 1.45 I tried again to get Abi to sleep but she was not wanting any sleep at all. She screamed every time I put her down. I tried feeding her, holding her, swaying her, dancing slowly – everything and anything to get her to sleep! Nothing worked! Eventually at 5 a.m after 3 hours of trying, both of us crying, her screaming … she finally went to sleep … for two and a half hours!!! She woke up at 7.30 and woke me up too. Then DJ came in at 8 to join the party! I am SO tired!!!! That'll teach me – in future – go to bed as soon as the kids are in bed!

Saturday 26th June

I cannot believe it's nearly the end of the month and we've been in India for two weeks! Where does the time go?!

Abigail woke up at the later time of 7 a.m today, which is great! The curtains worked!! We got up and washed and dressed and then kept each other company until Dylan came through at 8.30. I gave him breakfast and then he watched a bit of television before we all went down to the swimming pool. Alex was at the pool with Issac, which was great but it was really hot so we only stayed about half an hour before coming home again.

Dylan was exhausted (probably from the heat) and at 11 a.m he started asking me for lunch so I went and cooked him some potatoes and vegetables which he ate with cheese and olives … an interesting combination! I actually found the olives that we used to buy in UK in our compound supermarket. In UK they cost 80 pence, here they cost £2.50 so I try to only give him a few at a time!

At midday both babies went for a lie down. Dylan didn't actually sleep; he just laid in bed very quietly for a while. At 2 p.m the driver picked us up and we all went to Ambience Mall. First we went for lunch and then we took DJ to 'Fun City' where all the arcades and rides are. I took Dylan on a ride where you sit in a basket for what looks like a hot air balloon and they spin round and round and you go up and down. He LOVED it and his face was a picture! When it finished, he was saying 'again, again!' but we decided to take him to the indoor play area instead. He really enjoys himself there and the women who work there recognise us now as we've been quite a few times within the space of two weeks.

While DJ played in the play area, Pen watched him and I had a wonder around all the baby shops. It's very cleverly laid out actually … the play area is in the middle of the second floor and is surrounded by Mothercare, Obaibei, Pumpkin Patch and a whole selection of other baby shops/toy shops. It's ideal because it's so hard to go into toy shops with little ones (as anyone with children knows). Abigail had fallen asleep in her pushchair straight after lunch and slept for about 2 hours so I had the opportunity to have a really good look around. I found some Milton sterilising tablets which I was very happy about (as I use them to sterilise all the fruit and vegetables that I buy before we eat them). I also bought DJ a new swim nappy in Mothercare. That was it really. I had a look at lots of really nice stuff … children's bedroom furniture and toys, but as Pen said, there's no point in buying anything until our cargo arrives and we see exactly what we need. One thing I know that we will need is wardrobes for the children's clothes. There are no wardrobes in either of DJ or Abi's bedrooms and there's only a small one each for Pen and I but although I have been looking at different shops and pricing things up, I haven't found any that I really like yet (and that are reasonably priced).

Anyway, after the mall we came straight home and we all went down to the swimming pool. Issac was there with a little friend so it was nice for Dylan to have other children to play with although DJ was in a very strange mood and kept running out of the pool and into the changing rooms. In the end, we decided it would be better to come home.

Both children were so tired that we actually managed to get them both to bed by 8 p.m! And then I have to confess, I lost all willpower and went down to the compound shop and bought Pepsi and crisps and I sat watching English TV and eating junk food. Once in a while, you just need to veg out and I don't feel guilty about it at all!!! :)

Overall it was a really lovely day!

Friday 25th June

I had a lovely chat this morning with my friend Karyn and her little boy Benjamin. It was so lovely to catch up with them. I LOVE skype! We were able to see each other and the children could see each other and we had a really nice talk. Thanks Karyn – you made my day!

After getting off Skype, Abi went to sleep for her morning nap and I took Dylan to the supermarket. From there we came home, dropped the stuff, checked on Abi and Penri (who were both asleep) and then we went to the park. On our way to the supermarket I was thinking how pleasant the weather was (I guess it must have been about 9.30 a.m) so I thought it would be cool enough to go to the park. However, when we got there we only ended up staying for 10 minutes as it turned out to be quite warm. I managed to get a couple of photos of DJ. After being there for only 2 minutes, he decided he was going to take his shoes off – that's what the photo is of him sitting on the grass with his back to me. I also got a picture of this (rather huge looking) squirrel? Weasel? I don't know what he is. Any suggestions?



















On the way back from the playground, I saw these lights and I remembered what Pen had said the other day: 'Only in India!' So, all around our apartment block there are bushes and inside the bushes there are standing lights, however the bush literally covers the lights all the way to the top!! You can just see the black bit sticking out of the top of it.














So, Dylan loves his new remote control car … just one problem … he can't quite suss out that it is him who is controlling it. He pushes the button on the remote and the car zooms forward but then he goes running after it saying 'my car, my car' and picks it up. We keep trying to explain to him that it's him controlling it, but he just wants to hold it and push it along lol. Glad I didn't spend loads on it!

We had a very relaxed day yesterday just chilling around the house. I managed to get on Skype to my mum and to Debbie in the afternoon which was really nice. Dylan and I also made a money box out of some old magazines and a Pringles tube – I think we made more mess than anything but it was fun! Finally, I did a bit of handiwork … I moved the curtains out of the dining room and Abigail's bedroom and put them in my bedroom.

Let me explain – all the curtains in those three rooms are the same design – brown with silver circles on them, but none of the curtains quite fit the windows so every morning at 4 or 5 o'clock Abi would wake up because it is so bright in my bedroom (where she is currently sleeping next to me in her travel cot). When I moved the other curtains in next to the ones I already have, it made a huge difference! It looks much nicer and I bet the room stays cooler too. It was so funny because I don't have a step ladder and the curtain rails are really high up (they're above French window style doors), so after struggling standing on a dining chair and not quite being able to reach, I remembered there were four plastic chairs stacked up in the servant's quarters so I used them. Our new cleaner had just started and I think he thought I was mad … both my children were sleeping and there I was with a screwdriver, standing on plastic chairs taking curtain rails apart! It was worth it though and I can't believe I hadn't thought of doing it before!

Dylan has started waving goodbye and blowing kisses to EVERYONE we pass, see or talk to. It's so funny and far too cute! If he doesn't do it automatically, I say to him Dylan say goodbye to ____ (person's name). A few times now when I haven't known someone's name I have said to him 'Dylan say goodbye to the man' and he turns round and says 'Bye man' and waves and blows a kiss. Then another time I said 'Dylan say goodbye to the ladies' and he said 'Bye ladies'. It's really funny! When we went to the hospital that day, Dylan amazed me. At the beginning when we were in the waiting room, I said to Dylan 'we're going to go and see the doctor because Abigail has to have her injections'. That's all I said and then we were called in. Dylan sat in the pushchair and watched while Abi had her jabs and he didn't say a word. When Abi got upset, Dylan started to cry a bit and that made her worried and more upset. I told him she was fine and then she looked at him and started laughing, then he started laughing. Anyway, I've gone off on a tangent. When it was time to leave the doctor's room, DJ turned around and waved and said 'Bye doctor'. I couldn't believe he had remembered what I told him in the waiting room 20 minutes before! So clever!

Back to today … when the children woke up, Dylan had a snack and I tried Abigail with the baby cereal again (added a few photos). Dylan was 'helping' me feed her and there's a photo here of him wiping her mouth with the muslin and then another photo when she cried of him tapping her chest lightly and saying 'OK baby' … where's he heard that? I must say it more than I think lol.



















Later in the evening we went swimming. Pens came home about 9.30 and they were both still awake. We had pizza (which DJ ended up sharing as he was still awake) and all went to bed about 10.30 p.m.

Thursday 24th June

Abi and I woke up at 6 this morning and then DJ got up a bit later (at around 8.30). When I got out of bed, I made a decision 'today I'm going to get my hair cut'. Since getting to India, my hair has got out of control; the water is not good for it and I've been getting bad headaches from having it tied back all the time so that was it, I made the decision.

Pen said he was going into work for 11 so I got the children washed, dressed and fed and got them ready to leave at the same time. We dropped Pen at work and went straight to the mall. We went to my favourite shop first – Big Bazaar (the shop that has everything!) I cannot believe the size of the shop. You can buy clothes, toys, food, electrical items, jewellery, stationery … pretty much anything! And they have a hair dressing salon in there as well. It seemed like perfect timing as just as we walked into Big Bazaar Abigail fell asleep in the pushchair so we went straight to the salon. On the way past the toys I picked up a remote control car for Dylan which I gave to him in the box and told him that once he'd had his hair cut, he could have it. It worked and he was really good having his hair all cut off. He did cry a bit but he sat very still and I just kept talking to him about what a good boy he is and look at the new car he was going to have. I also told him that I was going to get my hair cut and he kept saying 'DJ hair cut, Mama hair cut'. Bless him. This is him at home with his prize toy – his new car – and looking really cute with his new haircut! I've also put a picture of me with my new hair cut (although I don't like the picture). I look as tired as I feel, but hey, at least my hair looks nice lol

















The best part about it is … DJ's haircut cost £1, mine cost £2; with the remote control car priced at £3 – it all cost us £6! Bargain!!!

After Big Bazaar we went to McDonalds for lunch. Abi had woken up and needed feeding anyway and it was lunch time so it just made sense. Dylan has taken a real liking to McDs chicken nuggets, which is great. Up until very recently he wouldn't eat chicken and seen as they don't have fish fingers at McDs here, it's good that we've found something else he will eat. So, McDonalds in India has a different menu to UK. You can get the veggie burger, McChicken burger and fillet of fish (same as UK) but then the rest are different … no Big Macs or cheese burgers! Your other options are … Wrap Paneer Salsa (paneer is a bit like cottage cheese, used a lot in Asian food); then there is the chicken Maharaja mac and a Wrap chicken Mexican. I must admit, I'm not too adventurous when it comes to the other burgers, I just always have McChicken sandwich meal. Anyway, back to what I was saying … we had McDonalds and then I took Dylan to the big play area on the 2nd floor.

Because it was a Thursday morning, the mall was very quiet so there were only 3 or 4 other children in the play area so it was pretty much one adult to one child. Normally, you can drop your children and give your mobile number and then leave them there. I'm not entirely happy about leaving Dylan in there without me being around and secondly, I don't have a mobile phone yet so I couldn't leave him there as they wouldn't be able to contact me in an emergency. So, I just hung around watching him play. The ladies who worked there asked if they could take Abigail into the play area. I handed her over and she quite happily went to see what her big brother was up to. I will just explain here that the play area is only a small area and I could see both children at all times. I wouldn't have let them take the baby in otherwise. Anyway, as always, Abi caused a stir and people were coming up to the edge of the play area asking the woman to bring her over so they could see her and take pictures of her. She's like a little celebrity and she loves it! She's such a happy baby and will smile for anyone. With having both children in the play area, I had my hands free so I was able to take some photos …


























On the way home, I tried to take a few pictures of what the roads, buildings, people, traffic etc is like. As I said before though, because of the time of day, it was fairly quiet. I did get a few pictures though – just to give you an idea. I was trying to explain to Debbie the other day just how different India is. I think unless you've been here, you can't imagine it – the sights, the smells, the sheer volume of people …

How many people on a bike?:














Don't know if you can read these signs (they're a bit blurry). One says 'England Wine and Beer' and the other says 'Erotic Hotel and Beer Bar':














Mechanics:
















Building Site:














Shanty huts by the side of the road:














Motor bike riding - first one has no helmet and second one is on his phone!:















One of the hardest things about living in India is the street beggars that knock on your car window when you're stopped at traffic lights:














Laundry drying at the side of the road:















Rubbish by the side of the road:

















After that we left the mall and came home. Both children went for naps between 4 and 5 and then we had a quick chat with my mum on skype. It's so lovely to be able to see and talk to family and friends when we're so far away from everyone! :)

In the evening, I took DJ and Abi swimming and Dylan was thrilled to see Issac by the pool. They had fun playing in the baby pool and splashing around causing havoc lol. We ended up having a late night with neither of them going to sleep before 9.30. Pen and I had ordered Chinese food but he was working till 10.30 and I ended up not being able to eat it because it was SO SO SO spicy!

A few things ...

Just a few things I forgot to write about …

I was chatting with Debs yesterday on Skype and I remembered a situation that I was going to write on my blog but had forgotten about. When we went to the FRRO in Gurgaon (on Monday) if you remember it was extremely hot and there were a couple of power cuts and it was not a pleasant day. When we had finished and were told we could go, we were all relieved. We left the office and headed towards the lifts.

We pressed the button for the lift and waited and waited. There was only one lift as guess what … the second lift didn't go to the 3rd floor!!! Anyway, the lift arrived but it was SO packed with people that there was no way we could get in ourselves let alone with the double buggy. So, we pushed the button and waited again. It went up and came back down again, again it was full to the brim so we waited again. The third time it came and the doors opened it was full again. I said to Penri that we were going to be there all day. Both children were getting really upset because of the heat and Dylan started crying asking to go in the lift. So, the next time it stopped and the doors opened, I said to the people inside 'please can some of you use the stairs so we can get the pushchair in the lift?' They all looked at me like I was stupid. I started to lose my patience and both myself and Pen were pointing out that they all had legs and could use the stairs – we didn't have that option because of the pushchair. I wasn't giving up with this because otherwise we never would have got in the lift, so in the end when no-one moved and no-one showed any sign of moving I walked into the lift (I was carrying Abi) and got hold of the front of the pushchair and started dragging it into the lift even though there was actually nowhere for it to go. I said to Pen 'I don't care! I am getting in this lift! All these people could easily walk down the stairs'. One man walked out the lift and I said 'Thank you! At least someone has some common sense and decency!' No-one else was going to budge so Penri said he would walk down the stairs. The trouble was we still hadn't managed to get the pushchair in the lift. I wasn't budging and no-one else was but I stood my ground and eventually a couple of other people got out. They were all speaking to each other in Hindi and laughing (probably saying 'look at this crazy English woman!' but I didn't care!) I will point out here that all the people in the lift were men and there was no reason why any one of them couldn't have taken the stairs. Anyway, I won the lift battle and was just relieved to get out of there!

On a completely different subject … I tried Abi with the baby cereal for the second time yesterday. She still wasn't keen and I only actually managed to get her to eat about 7 or 8 mouthfuls. Will keep persevering with it – it's still all new to her. As we still don't have our belongings from UK, the only place I can put her to feed her is in the front of the pushchair (which is Dylan's seat). He was most upset that she was sitting in his seat! I tried to explain to him why she was there and tried to get him involved in feeding her but he was having none of it. His response to the situation was to go in the bedroom and get Abi's panda bear (which is one of her favourite toys) and he said 'DJ share'. Bless him!

Dylan is doing really well. I am trying with the potty training but not actively trying. I'm just letting him wear pants instead of nappies whenever we're at home. I keep encouraging him to tell me when he needs the toilet and he does this, unfortunately it's normally once he's already done it! We'll get there, I'm not forcing the issue, he's still very young. The main reason for doing it now is the nappies in India don't seem to agree with Dylan and even though I've tried a few different brands, he still keeps getting sore. Anyway, he's happy enough running around in pants and a t-shirt :)

I've had to implement the naughty mat, which is working really well. It's was very difficult initially but now he understands its purpose, 9 times out of 10 he stays on it when he's placed there. I'm happy to say he hasn't been on the naughty mat for two days now which is real progress!! Thank you Supernanny!

Since writing yesterday, my friend Alex has sorted me out a cleaner! I'm so happy! He starts tomorrow and I'm thrilled! He is only going to come for a couple of hours each day (Monday to Friday) but it will help loads to have some help with all the floors and dusting. That's the only problem with living in India, there just seems to be constant dust. I don't suppose it helps that we have four balconies (the dust seems to come in more through the sliding doors even though they're never open).

Anyway, time to go, Dylan has just woken up and he has woken Abigail up too so time to do breakfast, showers, get the kids dressed … morning routine!

Wednesday 23rd June

Woke up this morning late – at about 8.30 with DJ coming into my room. I put on Peppa Pig for him on the laptop and laid back down for a few minutes. Sometimes it takes 10 minutes to get into gear. Also, I have given up Coca-Cola (cold turkey). I had my last glass yesterday. I have been drinking SO much Coke over the last couple of months that I have really noticed that I am putting on weight. I'm sure it's other things too – such as chocolate and biscuits but mostly I am sure it's the coke. So, I have made a decision to give it up and I have already noticed a difference in how tired I am and also had a headache this morning (lack of caffeine!) It'll be worth it though because I need to lose a bit of weight.

I still haven't any idea how I'm going to find a cleaner who speaks a bit of English. There is a lady upstairs who has knocked on the door a few times now to ask if I want a cleaner but she doesn't speak a word of English and I just couldn't manage with that. I need to be able to tell her things and for her to understand me. Until I find someone, I will keep doing it myself. It does help that we have a guy who comes every day at 10 a.m and collects our rubbish. I just give him all the bags and he takes it all away. I do sort it out into general waste and recycling because I think he gets (or someone gets) money for plastic and paper (and probably cans too).

Great news! We've had a drinking water dispenser delivered today. It holds 20 litres of water and will be so much cheaper than buying small bottles which we have been going through loads of because I use them for cooking and cleaning our teeth. It also means I have boiling water straight out of the machine, which is great for making tea – much easier than boiling water in a saucepan and then trying to pour it into a cup (which I have been doing for the past week and half). Really happy that it's here.

When it arrived I had the television (computer) on and the a/c on in the bedroom where we were sitting and I didn't even hear the phone. DJ got up and went running to the lounge saying 'hone, 'hone and I ran after him. It was only when I came out of the bedroom that I heard it ringing! It was security telling me we had a delivery. I couldn't believe Dylan heard the phone – amazing!

Both kids had a short nap at lunchtime and then in the afternoon we played and coloured and watched a bit of TV. At 6.30, my friend Alex came over to give me some information about play schools for DJ, doctors and general contact numbers. What a big help!!

We all went down to the pool where her son was already swimming. I took the kids swimming just for 20 minutes and then we came home and showered and changed. In the evening, me, DJ and Abi went over to Alex's house so her son and Dylan could play together and we sat and had a chat. Dylan had loads of fun and really enjoyed having someone his age to play with. It was also really nice for me to have someone to hang out with and I had a lovely evening. When we got home, both kids went straight to bed and so did I. What a nice relaxing day!

A few photos

The other day when we went out shopping Penri bought this dolphin for Dylan. He LOVES it but can't say dolphin, he says dollo. So Dylan is always saying 'Where's the dollo?' It cracks me up - will have to try and get it on video. As you can see, Abi likes the dollo too ...


















After swimming:














Little monkey making a mess everywhere - his face says it all in this picture 'Oh no!':













This morning Dylan was playing in his bedroom and all went quiet. I went to investigate and found him ... he'd used the toilet seat to stand on so he could get up onto (and into) the sink. At least he took all his clothes and nappy off before going for his quick bath :)

















Abigail in a pretty dress: