As soon as I pulled away from Christine’s house, Abi started crying for feeding (even though I had fed her just before we left my parents house!). I kept driving and gave her a few minutes to see if she would calm down but she just got louder and more upset. So, I pulled off the road and onto a quiet side road and fed her in the car. One big advantage of breast-feeding – it’s always right there ready!! I got back home at 7.15 and spent a bit of time with my mum before she left for work.
The children were both asleep by 11 a.m so I had a nice shower and got changed into my tracksuit bottoms. I chilled out while they slept and then at lunch time I had some toast with Mel before getting ready to head out at about 2 p.m. We went to Aramex first to pick up the post that had arrived from UK. I had ordered some items from Amazon and couldn’t believe they arrived here within 8 days! Amazing! Aramex was really busy so it took longer than planned so by the time we had finished there, we had to head off towards Landmark mall where we were meeting my friend Eman and her baby boy Ali (who is two weeks younger than Abigail).
We arrived at Landmark early so went into Mothercare. They still had a sale on so I ended up buying a couple of little items for the kids and some more bags for the travel potty. They’re quite expensive but so worth it! After that we went into Carrefour which is a huge supermarket which also sells electronics, clothes, toys etc. We picked up a couple of items in there and then I had a phone call from my friend to say she had arrived.
I took the children and walked down to the food court where we were meeting her. We had some lunch and caught up but then after being there about 45 minutes, Dylan started to get restless and was running around the place so we decided to go for a walk around the shops. We got a frozen yoghurt each and then said our goodbyes. I will be seeing her again before I leave though, as I cannot believe it, but I forgot to take Ali’s present with me. Anyway, it was a really lovely afternoon and by the time we got home both kids were exhausted and so was I. Here are some photos of Eman and the little ones. As you can see from one of the photos – Abi was fascinated with Ali’s hair lol:
The children were actually a bit late for bed but still ended up waking up really early on Monday morning. We had arranged for another one of our friends, Shireen, to come over with her two children who are the same ages as Dylan and Abigail. They arrived just after 9 just as I was putting Abigail down for her nap (as she had been awake since 5)! Dylan and Carla (Shireen’s little girl) played so amazingly well together I couldn’t believe it. DJ was sharing his toys and Carla was so sweet to him; it was really lovely. Shireen and I were talking about it as you never know with play dates how they are going to go. So many factors can influence the way children play together and ultimately how well a play date goes. It makes no difference how well the mum’s get on, it’s all down to the children! Anyway, as I mentioned – they played beautifully together. Abigail and Riley had fun too! A really nice morning. Here are a few pictures:
After Shireen left, Abigail went for a nap and although DJ was tired, he didn’t sleep – he just played cars and watched a bit of Dora the Explorer. At 4 o’clock we went in my dad’s car to the beach. It’s only 15 minutes away and we didn’t plan on going for long – just for DJ to have a bit of a paddle and for both kids to get some fresh air. On the way we stopped at a little shop to buy some drinks and crisps. My dad ran in and I stayed in the car with both children. When he came out, he gave Dylan a present. It was a little laser gun which shoots out bubbles. It’s so cool and Dylan really enjoys playing with it. It also makes a sound as the bubbles come out. I’m just happy we didn’t actually open it till we got home! The beach was so amazingly peaceful and we spent a really nice hour with my dad. It’s so funny, the first part of the beach we parked at, you could see the tide was out and so when my dad and DJ started walking to the water, the sand was like sinking sand! My dad was struggling to walk in it, let alone manage with Dylan as well. We got back in the car and moved 5 minutes down the beach and actually found a really lovely spot. After walking all the way out to a small island – the water was really shallow for miles; Dylan stripped off his swimsuit and played in the sand. He was laying in it and rolling in it and having a smashing time. He was absolutely covered in sand so when it was time to go, I had to take him back in the sea to try and wash most of it away. He didn’t care; he loved it! I took some photos of our afternoon at the beach. There’s some funny ones of Abigail with her tongue out – she somehow discovered that when she stuck her tongue out, the wind blew on it and it felt funny. She kept doing it and clapping her hands; it was too cute!! :
When we got home, I bathed both children and my mum had made DJ some nice dinner – pasta with broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. He ate and then I put took him to bed. While I was reading him a story and getting him settled, my mum looked after Abigail in the lounge. When I came back in to get Abigail to take her to bed, she was standing up holding on the sofa. My mum told me she had pulled herself up to a standing position without any help!! It was the first time she’s ever done it. When I told Penri later on Skype, he said he couldn’t believe he missed it; I replied saying can you believe I missed it?! I was in the next room and I still missed it! Anyway, she is working really hard on mastering the skill of standing and then sitting back down again.
Once both children were asleep Mel and I nipped out to Al Mirqab Street which is only a few minutes from my parents house. We got falafel sandwiches and I got a sharwarma (a bit like a chicken kebab, but better because it has a tahini sauce with it). We came home, had dinner and watched some television. A really nice evening after a really lovely day!
Yesterday (Tuesday) we went out with Mel late morning. First we went to City Centre Mall, which I actually don’t like going to because it is SO SO big! But, I wanted to look in a shop there called Sana and they also have a play area which I thought would be nice for DJ. We got some lunch and went to Sana. I bought a few items and then we took Dylan to the play area. It was really lovely and so nicely laid out. It’s a large room divided up into smaller sections so there was a place where the children can ride cars, then there’s a puzzle/reading room, a kitchen, a ball pool and then a couple of other little rooms. It was so cute and Abigail loved it too. She actually needed feeding but she was so in awe of her surroundings that for the first half hour I couldn’t get her to feed, she just wanted to play! Dylan had a great time and when it was time to leave he asked me if ‘when the sun comes up’ (his favourite expression at the moment), he could come back to the play area. I told him we could and I would bring him back tomorrow.
We left City Centre and dropped Mel at home as she had plans to go out with Kat. I then took the children up to a small mall called ‘The Mall’ funnily enough. Abigail had fallen asleep in her car seat just as we had reached my parents’ house so deciding not to interrupt her, I thought I would go and pick up some dinner from The Mall. It’s about a 15-20 minute drive and it meant Abi could have a quick sleep. Also, DJ was asking to go to the toy shop! I took the kids into Mothercare first where Dylan looked at the toys and then I chose them each an item of clothing. The sales on in Mothercare here at the moment are amazing! They’re like 50% off! So, I bought Dylan a really nice collared t-shirt and Abigail a little set with two all in one outfits. My mum had left work half an hour early as she needed to go back to work at 7 p.m for a few hours so she met us in Mothercare.
We went to Spinneys supermarket and picked up some sambousak for dinner. They’re little pastries with meat inside or you can also get cheese or spinach. I love them! I ended up just having sambousak for dinner without anything else. We headed home – DJ went in Nanna’s car and Abi and I went in Mel’s car. When I got home, my mum and DJ were already there and Dylan was outside riding on his motorized car. My mum was right behind him all the way making sure he didn’t crash into any walls as Dylan gets distracted when he’s on the car and forgets to steer sometimes!
We came inside and I bathed both children and then my mum made Dylan some dinner. By 10 to 7, Dylan was so tired and absolutely ready for bed. My mum and Mel looked after Abigail while I took Dylan for story time. I have started reading these books to him that are all about Mojo Swoptops (a car called Mojo who can change the top to become anything – a dustbin truck, a cement mixer, an ice cream van etc). They were mine and Mel’s when we were little and Dylan absolutely LOVES them! He asks for Mojo every night!! Shame there are only 5 stories as I’m starting to know them inside out, as is DJ! Abi went to sleep at 7.45 but woke up again at 9 and then again at 10 and then again at 11.30. I think her teeth are causing her a bit of discomfort. Once she went to sleep at 11.30, I watched a bit of tv with Mel and then went to bed too. I was feeling so tired! Well, that’s about it for now. I’m all caught up with our news for another few days. I’m so sorry I don’t get on here every day but I just don’t get the chance! The children, although overall they are sleeping much better here at night, they are both waking up between 5.30 and 7 unlike in India. So, my usual computer time at 6 in the morning is not possible any more which is why I haven’t been able to write my blog on a daily basis. Anyway, I will do my best (as I’m sure I’ve said before) to get on here every few days to write a bit more.
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