I apologise for not having written for a few days. My sister arrived on Thursday morning and we have been so, so busy that I just haven't had two seconds to sit and write. I will make up for it now by filling you in on all the goings on in the Jones' household for the last few days.
So, Thursday night I went to bed at about 11 but couldn't sleep. I think both Pen and I were worried we would fall asleep and not wake up in time to pick up Mel. Penri left home at 3.30 to go and get Mel and as he left the house, DJ woke up. I couldn't get him settled and it took me nearly an hour to get him back to sleep. Just as he fell asleep, Mel and Penri arrived home. I had planned on getting a couple of hours sleep before Abigail woke up at 6 but as it turned out, Mel and I stayed up chatting, catching up and unpacking and going through her suitcase. She had brought so much stuff for us that she hardly had anything with her of her own. My mum sent us sheer curtains for the lounge, dining room, hallway and as a divider between the lounge and dining room, plus she sent curtains for Abigail's bedroom. I think the curtains and sheers took up most of the space in the suitcase. In addition to that Mel had bought lots of presents for the children and quite a few presents for me too. Thank you Mel!! :)
On Thursday we hung around the house for a while but at lunch time decided we were going to go out. Penri dropped us at Ambience Mall where we did some shopping and Dylan had a go on the yellow jeep car that he loves so much. Mel has never been to India before and I think she was amazed at the crazy traffic here. It really is absolutely nuts!!! Before we went out Mel was saying how bad the traffic/driving is in Qatar but it's nothing like India and in fact, it's dangerous in a very different way. In Qatar the worst part is they drive at such high speeds whereas here, you just drive with no respect or generosity for anyone else on the road!
In the mall we went to a few shops and then we went to World of Fun or Fun City or whatever it is called. Mel took DJ on the dodgems and the balloon ride and we played lots of other games too. We tried the basketball shooting one (that I hadn't had chance to have a go at last time I was there). It was really fun but very exhausting and you only won 5 tokens for it. Each machine gives you tokens and when you have collected enough you can claim different prizes. Most of the prizes are pretty rubbish really but if you collect enough tokens (like 5000+) you can get something that's fairly decent.
I bought curtain hooks for Abi's bedroom and I also bought a shower curtain. In Big Bazaar we stocked up on some groceries and when we left there the pushchair was full of shopping! It was so funny because Mel was calling to me across the shop 'how many bottles of diet coke should I buy?'; what I heard was her say 'how much are the diet cokes?' so I replied '25' (because they're 25 rupees – about 35 pence for a small bottle). So, when we got to the till the guy bought a big box with 25 bottles of coke. It was only afterwards in the car that I said to Mel she can get them delivered from our compound shop and she said 'you told me to buy 25' that we realised what had happened.
We had lots of fun shopping and then at 5 p.m Pen picked us up and dropped us back home before going back to the office. In the evening we relaxed and set up the television in the lounge and watched some tv. Mel cooked us a lovely dinner which was a real treat as because of the cooker situation (not having one) we have been living on take-away food. I always cook for DJ and have done since we got here but it is hard to cook without an oven or even a microwave. Anyway, our microwave is here now and I have bought a cooker which is going to be delivered on Tuesday.
We were all extremely tired after our shopping trip (on Thursday), but for some reason, Abi wouldn't sleep. I think she just got herself over tired and went past the stage of being able to fall asleep. It meant that by the evening when it was bedtime, I still couldn't get her to sleep. Not only was she overtired but she had only been in her room for the first time the night before and she was still not used to it (or to the cot). What I ended up doing, in an attempt to help her sleep better, was take the base from her travel cot and place it in the cot as she has been sleeping fine in the bubble travel cot for the last few months. It ended up that on Thursday night, I slept on the floor in the play room because Abi was awake every hour and I was exhausted! So was she!! She just couldn't get herself into a deep sleep. On Friday, Abi slept during the day. She had two very long naps which obviously did her the world of good and it helped her to sleep better on Friday night.
On Friday we stayed in and around the house just chilling out (and doing a bit of work too). I finally sorted out the kitchen shelves because I was getting really frustrated with everything being everywhere. Raj Kumar had put all the kitchen items away and whilst he had done a great job of getting everything out of the boxes and onto the shelves, it was all mixed up so there were plates and glasses with saucepans and then on another shelf, food items with plastic cups. You get the idea! So, I pulled everything off all the shelves and started again! Mel came into the kitchen and said 'Oh my word, what are you doing?!!' Pen said he couldn't believe I was making such a mess when it was fine as it was. To me it wasn't fine and it was really bugging me so as I said, I sorted it all out. It is so much better now and looks a lot tidier.
On Saturday we all went out to Ambience Mall. It's nicer shopping with Penri (even though I don't think he actually enjoys shopping). Mel bought a hard drive and then we went for lunch in an Italian restaurant. It was really nice and what made it even better was that DJ was so well behaved. Whenever we go out to eat, Dylan is like a ticking time bomb (like most toddlers I guess). He is fine as long as we are not there for a long period of time. Anyway, as I said, he was really well behaved and that helped loads as we were able to enjoy a nice meal.
We left Ambience and went on to Spencers shop. We picked up a few groceries and Penri had decided he was going to cook a curry for us that evening so he was getting ingredients for that. I showed Mel the International section of the shop and that's where she stayed. She bought lots of goodies – proper cheddar cheese, salami, ice cream, crisps, olives, some nice drinks etc. When we left Spencers we were all incredibly hot and tired and ready to go home. When we got back we decided we were going to go swimming.
The pool was very quiet and only Alex and Issac were there. It was really nice as I hadn't taken the children swimming for a whole week because of unpacking everything and being so exhausted that by evening I didn't have the energy to go to the pool. We had a nice swim and then came home, I showered and changed the children and put them to bed. For the first time since moving to her new room, Abi slept a lot better. She still woke up about four times through the night for feeding but at least she slept for periods of a few hours in between! I have actually stopped giving Abi the baby cereal as she really wasn't enjoying it and it was really hard work. I decided I was going to buy one of those hand whisk blender things (which I bought from Spencers today) and start her on potatoes, carrots etc.
We had our curry and Pen had an early night and Mel and I watched 'I'd Do Anything', which I've never seen before but loved. For anyone who doesn't know it's a reality talent show where they were looking for the next Oliver and Nancy for the West End production of Oliver. Anyway, it is really good television and I enjoyed watching it.
On Sunday, we ended up staying home. We hadn't actually made any plans to do anything but because we all had a lazy day and just stayed home, it was very quiet, calm and relaxing. DJ was getting a bit bored in the afternoon so I decided to put up the tent castle that I had bought in Germany. We put it up and then tried to move it into his bedroom but it wouldn't fit through the doorway. We took the sides down and moved it into his bedroom and then tried to fit it somewhere where it wasn't in the way. It was impossible. Everywhere we put it, it was obstructing something. I decided to try it in the playroom (which is also Abi's bedroom). I had the same problem with the doorways again, but managed to get it collapsed enough to move it from one room to the next. I then had to rebuild it and find somewhere for it to go. I finally got it sorted and it looks really good now. Because of rearranging the furniture in the playroom, I then had to rearrange the A-Z and number mats that were on the floor. It took ages because as soon as I picked them up to try and rearrange them, they all fell apart! Anyway, I finally got it sorted and the playroom now looks really nice.
In the morning, Mel and I went over to a lady's house on my compound. She was selling all her stuff because she is leaving India. It said on her advert that she was having a sale from 10-3 so we decided to head over there at 10. It's only a couple of minutes walk from my house and we ended up getting there just before 10. We were stood outside her door with Abi in the pushchair and DJ standing there and were trying to decide whether to ring the bell or wait a few minutes for it to be 10 o'clock. While Mel and I were debating what to do, DJ rang the doorbell anyway. We were the first ones there and had a good look around. There was nothing I needed so we decided to come home. As we were about to leave, the front door opened and there must have been about 10 men stood outside waiting to come in. When we called the lift and it arrived, there were another dozen men getting out to go to the lady's house. And, as the lift doors were closing, the opposite lift doors opened and that lift was also crammed with people too. Mel and I were just so glad we got there early and were leaving before that huge crowd of people went inside!!
Yesterday evening (Saturday) Abigail slept a lot better and so did DJ so I ended up getting a good night's sleep. Abi woke up early though at 6 so I tried to keep her quiet so she didn't wake up the rest of the house! DJ woke up at 8.30 and went and woke Mel.
Both kids are doing really well. I have some photos to add soon (I won't be doing it tonight as it's late and I want to get to sleep). Abigail has her third tooth coming through now and she is still such a happy, easy going baby. She is doing better now that she is getting used to being in her cot and in her new bedroom. I don't think I'm used to her being in her own bedroom though. I don't like not having her right next to me! It means when I wake up in the night I have to go and check on her in another room and then I look in on DJ. It's good though – it's better to get her settled in her own room, I know that, it's just that my baby is growing up too quickly!!
Dylan is doing fantastically well. He amazes me every day. He is so sweet and so gentle and kind to Abi, but then in the next second he can be tearing down the place! His communication skills are developing so quickly and he says things which just amaze me. I keep wondering where he has learnt certain words or expressions but he just comes out with these things and I'm speechless! He seems to be really settled in our new home and he is very happy. I think it's going to be time to start potty training soon. He is getting to the stage now where his level of understanding is really good for whatever I'm saying to him or asking him to do. Anyway, as I said, he's a beautiful, lovely little boy! I'm so proud of both my babies!!
One last thing before I finish writing. Every morning when DJ wakes up, he used to come straight into our bedroom. Now, he wakes up and goes straight into Abigail's bedroom. I have seen him do it a couple of times. Once when Abi was already awake and I followed him into Abi's room (whilst I was carrying her). He peered into the cot and then said 'Where's Abi?' (talking to himself), then he turned around and saw us both there. It was so cute!!
So, I'm going to close now and get to bed. It's so wonderful having Mel here to stay. I am so grateful to her for coming to see us and spending time with her makes me really happy. The children also love having her here. Thank you Mel! So glad you are here :)
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