Abi had been up really early so by 9 a.m she was ready for a nap. DJ didn't wake up till 8.30 so as normally happens, one wakes up as the other one goes to sleep lol. My sister put a patch on my eye and then I went for a short nap while she looked after DJ. I ended up sleeping for an hour and a half and it was so amazing! I had forgotten how lovely it is to have a nap! :) Abi woke at 11.30 and we got ready and went out to Garveys. We decided not to go swimming but thought it would be nice to go for lunch. We got there just after 12 and spent a couple of hours there. We got home at 3 and Dylan played with his cars for a while and then at 5 we headed out with my dad and sister to go to a restaurant called Bennigans. They have a large indoor play area and thought it would be nice for DJ.
We had a lovely meal and Dylan had loads of fun playing in the play area. He made friends with this one little boy and it was so cute - they were running everywhere holding hands. The other little boy was a bit bigger than Dylan and when they were running DJ was struggling to keep up and ended up being pulled along by his hand! But he must have liked it because every time the little boy let go of Dylan's hand, he went forward and said to him 'hand, hand'. When it came to having dinner, DJ hardly ate anything. I couldn't decide if it was because he wasn't hungry or he just wanted to go back to the play area lol. Anyway, he had some mashed potatoes and broccoli and then my dad took him back in the play area while I finished my dinner. I took a few photos of them in the play area:
While I remember to write on here - Dylan is fully potty trained now. When we go out and through the night! I am so happy to say that he has become really good at telling me when he needs to go. It's amazing! I cannot believe how quickly he took to the potty/toilet. My biggest worry was through the night, but he gets up if he wants to go. I just can't believe what a clever boy he is. I'm even happier about it because he starts school when we get back to India and it will be so much better now he is not in nappies! Plus, when he needs to go he just takes himself to the toilet! What gave me the confidence to take the last steps in potty training was my friend Haley. She has three little boys - two who are potty trained (the other one is still a baby). I was asking her about potty training because I didn't know how to move onto the next step of actually taking Dylan out without nappies. I'm only talking about two weeks ago. Anyway, she told me that I needed to have confidence in Dylan because by me putting nappies on him every time we went out and when I put him to bed; it was putting doubt in his mind that he could control it. I took what she said on board and also her suggestion to buy a Mothercare travel potty (which by the way is one of the greatest inventions ever!) The first day I took him out in pants, there were no accidents and he used the potty with no problem at all. Since then (two weeks ago) he has had one accident in Marks and Spencer of all places and no accidents at night. That's it! I'm so amazed and so proud of my gorgeous little boy! I cannot believe how quickly he is growing up.
Anyway, I veered off our day on Thursday. We left Bennigans and got home at about 6.40. I put both kids in the bath, called Penri on Skype so he could see and talk to them and then I put them to bed. I'm happy to say that by the time I went to bed on Thursday night, my eye was so much better!
On Friday, I woke up to Dylan coughing. I also had a really sore throat! :( We had a chilled morning and then left home at 12.30 with my mum and sister to go to a Fete that had been advertised. We headed to the compound where it was being held and my mum parked right outside the clubhouse. We got the double pushchair out, put the children in and went inside. As soon as we walked in we knew we were in the wrong place. There was no-one around. We asked one of the guys who worked there but he didn't know what we were talking about so we just asked him where the other clubhouse was. He directed us and I said to my mum I might as well walk over with the pushchair as it would have taken longer to get the children out of the pushchair, back in their car seats, collapse the pushchair and get it back in the boot. When we reached the other clubhouse it wasn't there either. It was the most bizarre thing as I was sure the advert had said Al Jazzi 1, but sitting in the car after trying the second clubhouse, we decided to head over to Al Jazzi 2.
When we got there we found the fete! We had to pay 5 riyals each to get in and when we got into the room, there were only about 8 stalls. 3 selling food, 2 selling jewellery, 1 selling clothes and a couple of random things. It was really rubbish actually and the prices were ridiculously expensive! We were only there for about 5 minutes before deciding to leave. We got back in the car and DJ said 'No home, more shops!' LOL. He loves being out and about and seeing different places and shops! So, we headed over to City Centre to go to Carrefour as I had some trousers I needed to return. We got DJ a snack to eat and then did a bit of shopping.
Carrefour is a HUGE shop; easily the size of an Asda Walmart but amazingly, Dylan remembers exactly where to go for the toys! He heads straight to the toy section which is right at the back of the shop and when he gets there, he always manages to find a ride on toy to play with. We picked up a few bits and then headed across the way to the Baby Shop. They had a sale on so I wanted to have a quick look. I didn't find anything I wanted so we left the shop and went back down to the car. When I was emptying the trolley and we were putting the children in the car, we noticed that there was a car and an aeroplane in the trolley! None of us had put them there and we certainly hadn't paid for them. Dylan had been playing with them in the shop but I thought they had gone back on the shelf. My mum, sister and Dylan got in the car and Abi and I went back upstairs to return the unpaid for toys. I gave them to the security guard and apologised to him, explaining that Dylan had put them in the trolley. He just looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and took them off me. It really annoyed me - he didn't even thank me for being honest! A lot of people would have just taken them and not worried about it but I wouldn't do that!
We called at the supermarket on the way home to buy bread and milk. When we got home, DJ didn't want to get out of the car, asking to go to more shops! So, we emptied the shopping and then headed back out to a place called Hyatt Plaza. They have some cool shops but the best one being 'Daso' where everything is 7 riyals. My sister found some really nice flip-flops in there and not only did they look nice, but they were comfy too. We bought 3 different designs each as well as lots of other bits :)
In a shop called 'Mr Right' I managed to find myself some cargo pants and a really pretty top. Both my mum and sister said they were happy to see me finally buying something for myself lol. As with any parent, as soon as I go in a shop I am looking for stuff for the kids, not for me! Since we have been here I haven't really got myself anything but both DJ and Abi have had lots of treats from me, my mum and dad and my sister!
Leaving Hyatt Plaza, we picked up some 20L bottles of water and headed home. We had dinner and then I bathed both children and went on Skype to see Penri. Then both children went to sleep. They were exhausted after such a busy day!! My sister and I stayed up for a while chatting and laughing and watching some tv. Then Mel gave me a make-over lol. She did all my make-up just for fun. I went downstairs to see my mum and asked her which eye was better - the one Mel had made up with lots of make-up or my 'natural' just mascara and a bit of eye shadow. My mum said the one Mel did, definitely! I asked my dad and he said the natural one. It is funny how different people prefer different things. With all the effort Mel went to (thanks Mel), I think I still prefer the minimal amount of make-up. In my case less is more :)
On Saturday, Abi was awake at 5 after not a particularly good night. Abi has a bit of a cough and I think it kept her (and me) awake. At 9 o'clock Abi went back to sleep so I took DJ and popped to the pharmacy while Mel looked after Abi. I got the children some cough medicine - it's all herbal/natural and the pharmacist said it is the best thing. We had lunch at home and then headed over to one of my mum's friends' houses as she was having a table top sale because her family were moving house. Their house was MASSIVE. It was absolutely stunning and I said to my mum why would someone move from such a beautiful place; my mum replied that they were moving somewhere nicer. WOW! :)
When we walked inside the house it was like Dylan's heaven! There were two large rooms filled with toys, games and clothes! He ran straight over to where he could see cars (believe it or not!) He lined up the ones that were there and then he searched the room and picked up all other transport toys - planes, buses and trains and took them all back to his stash lol. We were the only ones there so it was easy to keep watch on him but he didn't go far. Once he had them all lined up, he laid down on the floor and was playing with the toys. Abigail was just as well behaved. There were a couple of baby mats on the floor so we sat her on one and gave her a few toys - a couple of dolls and rattles and she sat there happy as anything playing. It was brilliant because it meant that my sister and I could have a good look round (my mum was sat chatting to her friend and keeping watch on Abi and DJ). We found loads of bargains - I bought Dylan some books and toys; Abi some dolls and little girly things like hair bands/clips and a wand and I got myself a few bits as well. It was so cute because the lady who was having the sale has two children - twins actually - a boy and a girl, who are 9. The little boy was so good with Dylan and the little girl was playing with Abi. They were really lovely children. When it came to pay for everything - it was them who set the prices and collected the money. So sweet!
We left their house and told Dylan we were going home. He replied 'No home, more shops!' We all laughed and said 'Are you sure?' He replied 'YES!' (nodding his head) and added 'And I have dinner' lol. We decided to go to one of my mum's favourite Italian restaurants 'La Dolce Vita' which is in a place called Souq Waqif. We got there and I couldn't believe my eyes. It has all changed so much and looks amazing! It's a real tourist spot and we saw loads of visitors there taking photos. We had our dinner and both children were really well behaved even though it was getting close to bed time. After eating, we put them in the double push chair and had a walk around the souq. We took them to see the donkey that walks around (children can ride on him but DJ is a bit young) and Dylan kept saying 'he haw he haw' until we actually reached the donkey, then he turned his head and hid in the push chair. There is also a place in the same souq where they sell animals - birds, rabbits, cats and fish. We walked through there to show the children and then headed back to the car. It was amazing though - all the animals were out in the open - the birds were sat on open perches and on one stall there were birds with rabbits just underneath them and a little kitten right next to them. All out in the open! Both children were mesmerized by the animals and even after we walked past the animals and started heading back to the car, they were both so well behaved. Here are some photos from Souq Waqif:
We got in the car and started to head home. It was about 7.30 p.m so normally they would both have already been in bed. They were both tired but as we were driving home DJ said 'No home! More shops!' we told him that no, the shops were closed and we were going home. He then spent the rest of the journey talking constantly!! He was pointing to the traffic lights and saying 'red light stop, green light go' and pointing to cars and buildings and everything he could see. He was so excitable and happy :) When we got in, I bathed both children and put DJ in to his bed then tried to get Abi to sleep. I couldn't get her to go to sleep but DJ was asleep within minutes of his head hitting the pillow.
I took Abi out of the bedroom and sat with my mum and sister sorting out all the shopping bags. Abi was happy playing with her toys and on the indoor swing I bought them. At 9 o'clock I took Abi and put her to bed. This time she did go to sleep :)
On Sunday (yesterday), we had a chilled morning. I tidied up the bedroom and put some things away into our suitcase ready for India. Late morning, I decided to pop out to get some food for lunch. Dylan wanted za'atar (or minish as it's also called) which is arabic bread with a blend of herbs on top. It's a really strong taste, but really yummy. Dylan loves it! So, we headed out and called at the corner shop to pick up some drinks and then went to Al Sultan restaurant to get lunch. I managed to get the parking space right outside the front door. Most people here just beep their horns and sit in the car waiting for someone to come out and take their order, but I hate doing that so I ran inside placed my order and told the woman I was sitting in my car right outside the door. She said ok. I went back to the car and sat entertaining the children, singing and playing games while we were waiting. Dylan kept saying ''nish cooking, 'nish cooking' and I told him it was. After 5 minutes had passed I went inside to check the status of our order. She told me it was ready and sitting on the counter. I was so angry because even whilst sitting in the car I had seen them bringing food out and giving it to people! I won't be going there again!
We got home, had some food and then the children played for a little while. At 3 o'clock, I had a shower and Dylan decided he wanted a bath. Abi was having a nap so I put Dylan into the bath and then we got ready to go out. We left home at 4 and went to my friend's house. I have known Aisha since we were at school and she has a little boy the same age as Dylan. We got there and DJ and Aboudi (Aisha's little boy) had a great time running around and playing in the garden. At about 5.45, we went inside. The boys played cars and animals and Abigail had fun crawling around and exploring. We had dinner at Aisha's and then left there about 7.30 p.m. The drive home was hard work because I wanted to keep both of them awake until we got back home. So there I was singing songs and playing games and pointing out things we could see. They both loved me singing the wheels on the bus and DJ even joined in singing his own version of it! LOL. We got home and we were all exhausted. A quick bath and then I put them both to bed. I then had a snack and went to bed myself. I was hoping for a nice long sleep but as it turned out, it was the worst night since I've been here. Abi was up and down all night, pretty much every hour and a half! By 4 a.m I was SO tired and so was she; she finally went to sleep then and woke up at 6 a.m! It's going to be a LONG day today!!!
Last photo - just wanted to include this one of DJ playing at Aisha's house because I really like the photo:
No comments:
Post a Comment