Wow! It's been a week and a half since I have written so I have so much to write about. I can't actually break it down day by day as it has been too long for me to remember what we have done every day so I will just write an overview.
Firstly, I apologise for not writing for so long, but after Abigail recovering from her fever, Penri got ill with a stomach bug, then Mel was ill, then I caught this nasty flu/cough/fever thing which I am just recovering from now, but I have given it to Pen, Mel and Abi. It's horrible and has left me feeling completely drained. Monday was the worst day; I barely had the energy to lift my head off the pillow let alone run around after two babies! I am happy to say that although I am still feeling rough, I am definitely on the mend. Abigail is still coughing but thank goodness she hasn't got a fever. I've been giving her calpol which seems to settle her.
On Saturday (not last Saturday, the one before), we went to Ambience Mall. We being all of us – Penri, me, the children and Mel. We spent a whole day there letting Dylan play in the play area, doing a bit of shopping and we had some lunch there. As we were leaving the mall and walking through the basement car park to get to our car, we were stopped by the security guards. We noticed that they had stopped everyone walking through a certain passage then we realised why. There were two white cars parked and loads of bodyguards surrounding this man, who we could only assume to be famous. The guy in the middle of the mass of bodyguards told the security to let us through. I said to Mel and Penri – I think we just walked right next to the Indian equivalent of Richard Gere! He is obviously very big in India to have that many security and bodyguards with him just to go shopping. I wish I'd known who he was – I could've asked for his autograph!
Our internet has been cut off twice in the last 10 days. They cut us off initially because we were late paying the bill. They also cut the phone off. Pen paid the bill and we were reconnected the next day but then two days later they cut us off again. When Penri checked, they had credited our bank account with the amount we paid for the bill and then cut us off. Bizarre! So, Pen phoned them again and paid the bill again and again we were reconnected. It's so awful being without telephone and internet. It's bad when in the UK, but here it is my lifeline to the outside world. It was not too bad while Mel was here because at least I had company but when it's just me and the children and I don't have any contact with anyone else, it's really difficult.
I also haven't been going to any of the baby groups or play groups since my sister has been here which has meant I haven't seen or spent time with anyone or met anyone new. I'm going to have to make a real effort when Mel leaves to try and get into the groups again. I never really got started the first time round. I only went to one play group and didn't make any of the baby groups yet. It's going to be really important both for me and the children to have that social aspect in our lives if we are going to be happy here. The expat lifestyle can be amazing but it can also be very lonely, being so far away from friends and family. I'm sure once we get into the different groups, it will be fine!
On Monday (1st August) at just after 5 o'clock I decided to take the children swimming. It felt like ages since I'd taken them, so I was looking forward to it and I know DJ was really excited about it. It was only when we got there that I remembered that it was Monday and the pool is closed all day on Mondays. Poor DJ. He was so disappointed!! The only way I could get him to understand that we couldn't go in was to tell him the pool was broken. Bless him, the whole way home he was saying 'Pool broken. DJ no swimming. Abi no swimming. Mummy no swimming'. I felt so bad for him – silly me for forgetting that! To encourage DJ to go back to the apartment I asked him if he wanted me to ring Issac's mummy to see if Issac could come and play. DJ was really happy about that and when we got home, that's what I did. Issac came over to play for an hour in the evening and then I made them both some dinner.
We have spent quite a few days going shopping and on Wednesday we went to some of the other shopping malls. We got Tyagi to take us and I took Mel to a few of the different shops like Landmark, Westside and Spencers. It was actually nice to have a change from Ambience although I much prefer Ambience Mall because of the convenience of having all the shops under one roof. The other malls are good but much smaller and you have to travel between malls to get to the different shops. Anyway, we had a really nice day and I think Mel also enjoyed visiting a different place. Mel also has spent a couple of days out shopping by herself, which I think she enjoyed a lot. Anyone who has children (especially young babies/toddlers) will know that trying to shop for any length of time is next to impossible! If one is not crying for food or needing a nappy change or tired, then the other one is and it's very hard to just chill and take your time shopping. So, for that reason, I encouraged Mel to go for a day shopping by herself, which she did and she seemed to have a nice day.
Mel has also been to Delhi to a place called Palika Bazaar which is a really large underground basement shopping place. There are lots of little shops with bargain items but none have fixed prices so everything needs to have the prices negotiated on. It's supposed to be fully air conditioned, but the day Mel went the a/c wasn't working and she said it was stinking hot down there. She also got harassed by quite a lot of salespeople and ended up buying a handbag that she didn't even want just to get a guy to leave her alone. Mel said it was an interesting experience and she's glad she went, but never again! She said there were great big holes in the floor which just had a piece of metal covering them so you could walk over them and the ceiling was all collapsing and it was basically falling apart. It's so funny because she really wanted me to come with her but as it turned out, I was too ill to go. She said afterwards, it's such a good job I didn't go as I wouldn't have been able to push the pushchair anywhere! Nightmare!
Today is Wednesday 11th and it's Mel's last day in India. She leaves really early tomorrow morning and I am going to miss her so much. It's been really lovely having her here and the children have really enjoyed it too. I know DJ especially is going to notice a big change when she leaves and he will miss her lots. Today, Mel left the house at 2 a.m and has gone in a taxi to Agra to the Taj Mahal. It's about a 4-5 hour drive from here, which is why she left so early. She plans on seeing the Taj and then heading home to be back here for just after lunch. I think it's so great that she decided to go as I think she would regret it if she hadn't, however, I hope she is doing ok as she is suffering from the same cold/fever/flu thing that I have so I hope she doesn't overdo it. I'm really looking forward to seeing her pictures as I've never been to the Taj Mahal. We will definitely do it this time we're in India. Last time we were in South India so it was quite far to travel to see it, but this time we really don't have an excuse … we must do it!
On Friday (6th August), Mel and I took DJ to try out one of the play schools here for DJ. I was hoping to get him into some sort of morning programme even just a couple of days a week. However, as it turned out, I was totally unimpressed with the school and I definitely won't be sending him there. The programme they gave us a free trial for was a mother and toddler group, which means I would take him three mornings a week and stay with him for the two hour session. I don't mind that at all except for the fact that after being there for 10 minutes I had a stinking headache because the whole session was just manic! DJ normally is great when there are other children around as long as I am there. If he can see me, he is happy to go off playing and doesn't even need me to be next to him as long as he knows I am around. Mel was there too but that didn't make any difference. Dylan was unhappy and was crying every 5-10 minutes for pretty much the whole time we were there. He didn't want to engage or play with any of the other children, he wasn't interested in doing the artwork and all he wanted to do was sit at the table and eat his snack. It's so unlike him. Even when I took him to the play group for the first time (and only time), I didn't see him for the whole two hours; he was off happily playing. So, my point about the whole play school being DJ definitely didn't enjoy it, I didn't enjoy it and I found the whole experience to be totally stressful and not what a mother and toddler group should be. I am going to try out another school that has been recommended to me and we'll see how it goes. Will keep you posted!
Our weekend was spent in the usual way. A bit of shopping; DJ in the play area; took the kids swimming which was really cold now that the weather is starting to cool down. Ok, it wasn't really cold, but I didn't like it as the water was definitely 'cool' as opposed to warm like it has been. It's supposed to be monsoon season here but I'm happy to say we've hardly had any rain as yet. We've had a couple of blustery days but mainly it's just been warm.
Both the children are reaching different milestones and it's amazing to watch them grow and develop and see the new things they can do. Dylan is coming on in leaps and bounds. His speech is really developing and his level of understanding just amazes me! He comes out with words that I didn't even know that he knew! It's amazing how much they absorb and learn at this age! We have a very relaxed structure at home; I give DJ breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time each day (regardless of where we are) and he generally goes to bed at the same time, but in between those times, what we do varies. Most days I try to do some artwork with him whether it's painting or colouring or even just using stickers which he loves to do (thanks Nan for the stickers you sent for him!) Dylan knows all his colours and he now counts up to fourteen. He's also started associating colours and sizes with objects so whereas before he would point and say 'bus', he now points and says 'big blue bus', which is so cool.
Abigail has started crawling and she can get all the way across the play room floor very easily. Although what she does is her own type of crawling. She lifts herself up on her arms and lunges herself forwards rolling on her stomach. It is not your typical crawling, but it works and she goes far quite quickly. She is also sitting up really well now although I still put up cushions or support behind her as she still does topple when she forgets to hold herself up. She loves being in her baby walker and has now started moving in that too, which is great as she can walk around trying to catch DJ (who doesn't stand still for a second!) The only problem with the walker is that Dylan can move Abigail wherever he wants, so I can go into the kitchen to get Dylan juice leaving Abi in the dining room and when I come back, she is gone! DJ has wheeled her all the way down the corridor and off into one of the bedrooms. She doesn't seem to mind except when he takes her somewhere and leaves her there and comes back to me.
She is still a very happy bouncy baby and now has three teeth. She babbles away a lot and absolutely loves any attention from her brother, dad, Aunty Mel or me. She has definitely started to become more wary of strangers though. The last couple of times we have been out at the mall and people have come up asking to take pictures of her or even just to talk to her, she has gone all shy and hidden away in my shoulder. Before she used to revel in having all the attention but now she just isn't sure!
Mel bought DJ a portable DVD player which he absolutely loves! The funny thing is, it looks like my computer (just smaller) so Dylan calls it his computer. He points at my laptop and says 'Mummy puter' and then points at his DVD player and says 'DJ puter'. It's so cute! The DVD player is ideal when I just need a distraction for 10 minutes. I can just pop him on the sofa or at the dining table and put on a DVD and do what I need to do. It's great!
I am going to have to close for now even though I haven't actually written all I wanted to write but Abigail is due to wake up from her nap and it's time to do a bit of artwork with DJ. I will write more often and definitely not leave it so long next time. I apologise again for being so bad at not posting anything. Write soon :)
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