Abigail woke me up at 7 this morning and DJ came through at 8.30! He had slept from 9.30 till 8.30, only waking up once to have a drink! I was so pleased he had a really good nights rest. I used my baby monitor last night (in DJ's room) as I was worried how he would sleep without having Penri in the room with him, but he slept better than I could've imagined! It's nice for him to have his own room back and nice for Pen and I to have our own room, well, with Abi asleep next to our bed :)
We had a very relaxing day because after being so busy yesterday I didn't feel like going out today. We did go for a swim at 5 o'clock and met Alex and Issac there but we didn't end up staying long because Abigail was really tired and was very fractious. Poor DJ didn't want to leave the pool and when I kept saying to him it was time to go home, he kept replying 'No! Swimming!' In the end I had to take him by the hand and lead him out of the water and into the changing rooms.
We got home and I made some dinner for Dylan and then tried my hardest to get both of them to sleep, but neither was giving in and they were both still awake when Penri came home at 9.30!
I ordered some food for us from a sushi restaurant at 8.30 hoping that it would be here by the time Pen got home. As it turned out – it didn't get here until 10.40! DJ was asleep by that point and I had literally just got Abigail to sleep too. The guy who brought our food didn't bring ANY change at all so even though our food was something like 700, he came with no money and we only had a 1000 rupee note. After much discussion with Penri to the point where Pen said 'Look, take the food back, we have no change', the delivery guy disappeared and miraculously came back with some change!
While we were waiting for him to return, we could hear a really loud miaowing from the stairwell. I went to investigate and it was the tiniest little kitten that I have ever seen. He could only have been a few days old (if that)! We're not sure why he (or she) was crying but Pen seemed to think there was another cat crying on a different level. I was worried about getting too close to it because you have no idea whether the cats are carrying any diseases especially if it's been born on the streets. Pen was so worried about it that he took a tray of chicken out and put it down for the cats. We've no idea where they went to though but we could still hear crying a while later. I can only imagine that they have been born in the apartment complex and someone has thrown them out because how else would they have got in and up all the flights of stairs! And why would they have come in?! Anyway, will keep a lookout for them but no sign of them since.
We had our (very late) dinner and went to sleep. I had wanted to get an early night as I had an early start on Wednesday, but it always seems to be the way that when you want to get to bed early, something comes up so it doesn't happen.
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Showing posts with label alex. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alex. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Monday 5th July
I had a horrible experience this morning. The janitor/cleaner/rubbish man (whatever you want to call him) turned up at 9.30 to take our rubbish away. Normally DJ is awake and goes running down the corridor shouting 'I get the rubbish!' It's amazing how he knows it's the rubbish guy. I mean he comes at the same time every day but Dylan always remembers it's him and I think that's amazing! Anyway, Dylan slept in late this morning so I went to answer the door and explained to the guy using sign language (because he doesn't speak any English) that I had two large boxes that needed throwing away. He said OK even though I'm not exactly sure he understood what I said. So, I went to the servants quarters to get them. When I opened the door and started to walk in, the pigeon flew at me! I screamed and ducked and he flew over my head, but it gave me an awful fright! Not nice!
There are a lot of pigeons around our apartment block. So many, in fact, that there is a guy who sits at the swimming pool and it is his job to scare the pigeons away that land near the pool by clapping as soon as they land. I said to Penri – what a job! Sitting by a swimming pool all day clapping! The pigeons aren't necessarily a problem, they don't bother me (except when they fly directly at me) but the problem is they poo everywhere! All the balconies and walls of the apartment block get covered. I've asked Raj Kumar (our cleaner) to also clean the balconies as even though we don't go out there, I don't like the poo everywhere.
As I mentioned above, DJ slept in late this morning. We are so out of a routine, it's not even funny! Some days Dylan wakes up really early and others he can sleep until 11 a.m! I am not too worried about it although I will have to deal with it more when he starts nursery because he will need to be there in the mornings. As I said though, there is no point in trying to sort it out now until we receive our cargo and he is on his own in his room and we can actually get into a proper routine. Even Abi has a very mixed up routine although she always wakes up between 6 and 7 and normally stays awake for a couple of hours. If DJ is not awake by 9 – 9.30, she will usually go back to sleep (which is where she is now). I usually use the very early morning time before Dylan is awake to write my blog or depending on how tired I am, I go back for a quick sleep too. The amazing thing is Abigail seems to have this ability to know as soon as my head hits the pillow and she wakes up! It can be 5 minutes after I have laid her down or 20 minutes or even an hour; she always seems to know!
At 11.30 this morning, I phoned the driver and asked him to come and pick us up. Pen was still sleeping so I decided to head out and get some things done. I knew I had to be back before 3 p.m because the cleaner was coming but I thought I could get quite a bit done in a couple of hours.
We left the apartment at 12 and first went to the Home Centre, which is like a furniture and furnishing shop. I was really disappointed with it as they had nothing that I was looking for. I wanted to buy a curtain rail for the lounge, a shower curtain, a plate drainer for the sink and little bits and pieces. They had nothing that I wanted and as I said – after struggling up about 10 steps with the pushchair to get into the shopping centre, I was disappointed. I think there is another, probably bigger, Home Centre in one of the other malls so I may have to try that another day. I should probably explain here that I didn't take the pushchair up the steps myself. DJ got out and walked and I carried Abi on one arm, while carrying one end of the pushchair in my other hand. One of the security guards carried the other end of the pushchair. It was still a struggle though!
We left that mall and went to another one where there was a shop called Landmark. I needed a few stationery things like envelopes and notebooks and I actually remember Landmark in Chennai and it was quite a good shop. I managed to get all the bits I need but not very easily. All the aisles were really small and there were boxes, chairs or stools in every aisle so it was really difficult to manoeuvre the pushchair around. In the end, I placed the pushchair at the end of each aisle, left Abi in it while I grabbed what I needed. DJ was running behind me all the way. It was a really small shop and the aisles weren't big (otherwise I never would've left Abi alone)! She could see us the whole time and more importantly I could see her.
After Landmark, I walked to a third mall where Spencers shop is and I grabbed a drink for myself and DJ as it was getting really hot and I was getting really bothered! We were in and out of there in a matter of minutes and then got back in the car. So far, we had been 2 hours and I hadn't achieved even half of what was on my list. My next stop was going to be the Post Office, but then Abigail started going crazy and crying in the car and getting herself really worked up, so I asked Tyagi to take us home. We got home and Penri left to go to work.
I took some more pictures while we were out and about today:
Oh I nearly forgot, we have been having quite a bit of rain here over the last few days. I think it may be the start of the monsoon. The temperature has definitely cooled down dramatically. Considering we went out at midday today and it was quite pleasant, that just shows the difference.
I fed Abi as soon as we got in and then I made DJ a late lunch/early dinner. At 3 p.m Raj Kumar was here cleaning and I tidied up and rearranged some of the furniture. Not loads … I just brought the coffee table into our bedroom and put some towels on it and then Abi's travel cot on the top. I jammed it in against the wall with our bed. I then moved all the toys out of our bedroom and into DJ's. It doesn't matter how many or how few toys you have, they just seem to explode all over the house! We're going to try letting Dylan sleep in his own room tonight (without Penri) for two reasons. We're hoping our cargo will arrive soon therefore Abigail will be going into her own room so Dylan needs to get used to being in his own room again, and also, both Pens and DJ have been sleeping really badly and I think it's because they keep waking each other up. When DJ wakes up in the night for whatever reason, because Pen is in the room with him, he properly wakes up and is then awake for 3 or 4 hours (meaning he's keeping Penri awake). So, we agreed we would test it out and see how it goes with DJ sleeping by himself and Pens in with me and Abi. Will let you know how it went tomorrow.
I've just re-read that paragraph above and it seems very wordy and very confusing but I know what I meant.
Penri had said he was going to be working late tonight, so when I was on Skype to Alex and she invited us over so the boys could play, I thought that would be great! We got ourselves ready to go and off we went. I hadn't realised it was raining and although it was lovely walking in the rain, I covered both the children with the pushchair rain cover. I wasn't really wearing suitable clothes to be walking in the rain – I had on three quarter length leggings with flip-flops so my feet got really wet. The cool thing about when it rains here is the temperature is just lovely!
We had a really nice evening with Alex and Issac and the boys had loads of fun playing. DJ is getting much better at sharing and I actually made a point of taking one of his favourite cars with us so that he could share it with Issac. I was amazed that he shared really well. I suppose it helped that he was playing with all Issac's toys and they were sharing popcorn! Popcorn is a complete novelty to us at the moment because we don't have a microwave so I can't make it for him. I actually had forgotten how much DJ loves popcorn! Anyway, we all had a really lovely time and it was really nice to chill out and chat with someone other than my babies (as much as I love doing that)!
When it was time to come home (it was about 9.15 p.m and both boys were tired)! Alex took Issac to read a book and DJ instead of wanting to leave and come home with me, went into Issac's bedroom, got one of Issac's dummies and laid down on the bed aswell. Even when I kept saying 'bye bye DJ', he didn't care. I think he would have quite happily laid there to go to sleep!!
We left Alex's about 9.30, came home and I changed both of them into their pyjamas. I then told DJ I was going to feed Abi and I would be back to see him in about 10 minutes. He was quite happily playing with his toys on his bed so I took Abi into my room and fed her. I need to explain something here before I tell you the next part of my story. Whenever we have a power cut (which is quite often but for very short periods of time – normally less than 30 seconds), Penri has taught Dylan to count until the power comes back on. DJ can count up to 10 and then he repeats it over until the power comes on. So, about 5 minutes after I started feeding Abi we had a power cut (and it obviously because it was night time, it was pitch black); I heard DJ make a little whimpering sound and then I could hear him in his bedroom saying 1 … *little sob* … 2 … *little sob* … 3 … *little intake of breath* … 4 … … (you get the idea). My heart just melted and I started saying 'please come back on, please come back on' because I could hear the fear in DJ's voice and it broke my heart. Luckily and happily, Dylan didn't even get to 8 before it came back on and within seconds I could hear him pushing his big bus around his bed again. Abigail only fed for about 5 minutes after that before falling asleep. I laid her down and went into DJ's room. I was sad and disappointed that he was in bed and was fast asleep! I really wanted to spend some time with him and read him a story before bed, but he was so tired and obviously, quite happy to go to sleep. When I say he was quite happy – I know that because Dylan can open all the doors in our apartment and if he wants something, he just comes across the hallway into my room but he didn't come in for anything, he just put himself to bed! Bless him!!
I have a few photos to add here of Abigail playing with Dylan's Thomas the Tank toy and of Dylan lining up all the saltine crackers on my bed and eating them. He thought it was brilliant doing different layouts of biscuits and spent ages laying them out in different orders! Also just a couple of the kids playing ...
Anyway, that's about it from me today; will write tomorrow!
There are a lot of pigeons around our apartment block. So many, in fact, that there is a guy who sits at the swimming pool and it is his job to scare the pigeons away that land near the pool by clapping as soon as they land. I said to Penri – what a job! Sitting by a swimming pool all day clapping! The pigeons aren't necessarily a problem, they don't bother me (except when they fly directly at me) but the problem is they poo everywhere! All the balconies and walls of the apartment block get covered. I've asked Raj Kumar (our cleaner) to also clean the balconies as even though we don't go out there, I don't like the poo everywhere.
As I mentioned above, DJ slept in late this morning. We are so out of a routine, it's not even funny! Some days Dylan wakes up really early and others he can sleep until 11 a.m! I am not too worried about it although I will have to deal with it more when he starts nursery because he will need to be there in the mornings. As I said though, there is no point in trying to sort it out now until we receive our cargo and he is on his own in his room and we can actually get into a proper routine. Even Abi has a very mixed up routine although she always wakes up between 6 and 7 and normally stays awake for a couple of hours. If DJ is not awake by 9 – 9.30, she will usually go back to sleep (which is where she is now). I usually use the very early morning time before Dylan is awake to write my blog or depending on how tired I am, I go back for a quick sleep too. The amazing thing is Abigail seems to have this ability to know as soon as my head hits the pillow and she wakes up! It can be 5 minutes after I have laid her down or 20 minutes or even an hour; she always seems to know!
At 11.30 this morning, I phoned the driver and asked him to come and pick us up. Pen was still sleeping so I decided to head out and get some things done. I knew I had to be back before 3 p.m because the cleaner was coming but I thought I could get quite a bit done in a couple of hours.
We left the apartment at 12 and first went to the Home Centre, which is like a furniture and furnishing shop. I was really disappointed with it as they had nothing that I was looking for. I wanted to buy a curtain rail for the lounge, a shower curtain, a plate drainer for the sink and little bits and pieces. They had nothing that I wanted and as I said – after struggling up about 10 steps with the pushchair to get into the shopping centre, I was disappointed. I think there is another, probably bigger, Home Centre in one of the other malls so I may have to try that another day. I should probably explain here that I didn't take the pushchair up the steps myself. DJ got out and walked and I carried Abi on one arm, while carrying one end of the pushchair in my other hand. One of the security guards carried the other end of the pushchair. It was still a struggle though!
We left that mall and went to another one where there was a shop called Landmark. I needed a few stationery things like envelopes and notebooks and I actually remember Landmark in Chennai and it was quite a good shop. I managed to get all the bits I need but not very easily. All the aisles were really small and there were boxes, chairs or stools in every aisle so it was really difficult to manoeuvre the pushchair around. In the end, I placed the pushchair at the end of each aisle, left Abi in it while I grabbed what I needed. DJ was running behind me all the way. It was a really small shop and the aisles weren't big (otherwise I never would've left Abi alone)! She could see us the whole time and more importantly I could see her.
After Landmark, I walked to a third mall where Spencers shop is and I grabbed a drink for myself and DJ as it was getting really hot and I was getting really bothered! We were in and out of there in a matter of minutes and then got back in the car. So far, we had been 2 hours and I hadn't achieved even half of what was on my list. My next stop was going to be the Post Office, but then Abigail started going crazy and crying in the car and getting herself really worked up, so I asked Tyagi to take us home. We got home and Penri left to go to work.
I took some more pictures while we were out and about today:
Oh I nearly forgot, we have been having quite a bit of rain here over the last few days. I think it may be the start of the monsoon. The temperature has definitely cooled down dramatically. Considering we went out at midday today and it was quite pleasant, that just shows the difference.
I fed Abi as soon as we got in and then I made DJ a late lunch/early dinner. At 3 p.m Raj Kumar was here cleaning and I tidied up and rearranged some of the furniture. Not loads … I just brought the coffee table into our bedroom and put some towels on it and then Abi's travel cot on the top. I jammed it in against the wall with our bed. I then moved all the toys out of our bedroom and into DJ's. It doesn't matter how many or how few toys you have, they just seem to explode all over the house! We're going to try letting Dylan sleep in his own room tonight (without Penri) for two reasons. We're hoping our cargo will arrive soon therefore Abigail will be going into her own room so Dylan needs to get used to being in his own room again, and also, both Pens and DJ have been sleeping really badly and I think it's because they keep waking each other up. When DJ wakes up in the night for whatever reason, because Pen is in the room with him, he properly wakes up and is then awake for 3 or 4 hours (meaning he's keeping Penri awake). So, we agreed we would test it out and see how it goes with DJ sleeping by himself and Pens in with me and Abi. Will let you know how it went tomorrow.
I've just re-read that paragraph above and it seems very wordy and very confusing but I know what I meant.
Penri had said he was going to be working late tonight, so when I was on Skype to Alex and she invited us over so the boys could play, I thought that would be great! We got ourselves ready to go and off we went. I hadn't realised it was raining and although it was lovely walking in the rain, I covered both the children with the pushchair rain cover. I wasn't really wearing suitable clothes to be walking in the rain – I had on three quarter length leggings with flip-flops so my feet got really wet. The cool thing about when it rains here is the temperature is just lovely!
We had a really nice evening with Alex and Issac and the boys had loads of fun playing. DJ is getting much better at sharing and I actually made a point of taking one of his favourite cars with us so that he could share it with Issac. I was amazed that he shared really well. I suppose it helped that he was playing with all Issac's toys and they were sharing popcorn! Popcorn is a complete novelty to us at the moment because we don't have a microwave so I can't make it for him. I actually had forgotten how much DJ loves popcorn! Anyway, we all had a really lovely time and it was really nice to chill out and chat with someone other than my babies (as much as I love doing that)!
When it was time to come home (it was about 9.15 p.m and both boys were tired)! Alex took Issac to read a book and DJ instead of wanting to leave and come home with me, went into Issac's bedroom, got one of Issac's dummies and laid down on the bed aswell. Even when I kept saying 'bye bye DJ', he didn't care. I think he would have quite happily laid there to go to sleep!!
We left Alex's about 9.30, came home and I changed both of them into their pyjamas. I then told DJ I was going to feed Abi and I would be back to see him in about 10 minutes. He was quite happily playing with his toys on his bed so I took Abi into my room and fed her. I need to explain something here before I tell you the next part of my story. Whenever we have a power cut (which is quite often but for very short periods of time – normally less than 30 seconds), Penri has taught Dylan to count until the power comes back on. DJ can count up to 10 and then he repeats it over until the power comes on. So, about 5 minutes after I started feeding Abi we had a power cut (and it obviously because it was night time, it was pitch black); I heard DJ make a little whimpering sound and then I could hear him in his bedroom saying 1 … *little sob* … 2 … *little sob* … 3 … *little intake of breath* … 4 … … (you get the idea). My heart just melted and I started saying 'please come back on, please come back on' because I could hear the fear in DJ's voice and it broke my heart. Luckily and happily, Dylan didn't even get to 8 before it came back on and within seconds I could hear him pushing his big bus around his bed again. Abigail only fed for about 5 minutes after that before falling asleep. I laid her down and went into DJ's room. I was sad and disappointed that he was in bed and was fast asleep! I really wanted to spend some time with him and read him a story before bed, but he was so tired and obviously, quite happy to go to sleep. When I say he was quite happy – I know that because Dylan can open all the doors in our apartment and if he wants something, he just comes across the hallway into my room but he didn't come in for anything, he just put himself to bed! Bless him!!
I have a few photos to add here of Abigail playing with Dylan's Thomas the Tank toy and of Dylan lining up all the saltine crackers on my bed and eating them. He thought it was brilliant doing different layouts of biscuits and spent ages laying them out in different orders! Also just a couple of the kids playing ...
Anyway, that's about it from me today; will write tomorrow!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
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!
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!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
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!
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!
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!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
First weekend in India
We woke up at 8 today and all went swimming at 9. We met a really nice lady by the pool with a little boy a little bit older than DJ. She is from Australia but has been in Gurgaon for five months now so was able to answer a lot of my questions and give me advice about a few things for which I was really grateful.
We had arranged to have lunch with Penri's boss and his family and left home to meet them for 1 p.m. We had a really lovely lunch and Dylan was mostly well behaved. Penri's boss has a little girl who is a couple of months older than DJ so they had lots of fun running around chasing each other.
After lunch we did some shopping and took DJ to the kids play area in the mall. He LOVED it! After being without his ride on cars for a few weeks now, he loved being able to ride around in the Little Tikes red and yellow car (like he used to have in our garden in Luton). It's so funny because in the play area there are two red/yellow cars and two pink ones. When Dylan got in to the play area, there was a pink one empty, which he happily got into … until he saw the red one! Then he started crying because he wanted the red one. The ladies who work in the play area moved one of the children out of the red one so DJ could have it. He was completely spoilt as they spent the next 20 minutes pushing him around in the car!!! He had an absolute blast and was so tired by the time we got in the car and started to come home.
When we got back we went straight to the pool for a quick swim, then home for showers and changed for bed.
On Sunday I was woken up by Abi at 5 a.m and she didn't want to go back to sleep. Dylan and daddy slept till 9.30 which makes a change. Normally it's Dylan who wakes the entire household up! We went out to the mall at 3 and shopped till 6.30. This time it wasn't my decision to go shopping; it was Penri's. There were a few bits and pieces that he wanted to pick up. The mall was absolutely manic – there were SO many people and all the shops and lifts were cramped. I've never seen it like that before and it wasn't a great experience … I prefer it when there are less people and it's easier to manoeuvre our double buggy. Everywhere we go, Abi causes a stir and people are always asking if they can take her photo. The funny thing is that in India, the men are just as excited about babies as the women are, which is really strange. You don't get men in England cooing over babies like they do here; I mean, some men do but here it's pretty much every man and woman who we talk to!
Anyway, after the shops we came home and you can probably guess where we went … swimming! The pool on our compound is really nice although it's not deep at all. I can stand and walk all around the pool carrying Abi without my head going under the water which is good because it means I can take both children swimming by myself as I can follow DJ all around the pool without having to swim after him. After swimming, we had dinner and went to bed.
So, we have been in India for one week today and it has overall been a really positive experience. I think once all our stuff arrives from UK, it will be better as it will feel more like home and it will be better for Dylan to have all his toys and other things to occupy him.
Also, once we have a cleaner that will help a lot! At the moment, it takes me so long to sweep and mop all the floors in the apartment – they need doing at least once every day and it is very time consuming. That, in addition to keeping the house tidy and doing all the additional chores washing clothes, dishes etc takes up a lot of my time and I feel bad for neglecting time with the children to do it all. It's so much harder with Penri's new working hours because he needs to sleep in the morning to leave home late morning and doesn't return until late in the evening (normally between 9.30 and 10) which means I am looking after the children 24/7. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it and feel so happy to have the opportunity to be at home with them (as some people don't get the chance to), but anyone who has kids will know that by the time it gets to evening, you are just so exhausted! And then if you don't get a good night's sleep, the next day is very difficult. Dylan has stopped napping in the day time now so by 5/6 p.m he is really tired and I just have to keep him occupied and happy until about 7 (otherwise he'd be waking up before 5 a.m). Overall though, we are getting settled and getting into a routine. If anything, it's Abigail who is waking me up through the night.
Anyway, it's all fine and the children seem very happy and are enjoying being in our new home and they both absolutely LOVE the swimming pool. Can you imagine going swimming outdoors at 7 p.m in UK? Or 7 a.m for that matter? I love the hot weather! :)
We had arranged to have lunch with Penri's boss and his family and left home to meet them for 1 p.m. We had a really lovely lunch and Dylan was mostly well behaved. Penri's boss has a little girl who is a couple of months older than DJ so they had lots of fun running around chasing each other.
After lunch we did some shopping and took DJ to the kids play area in the mall. He LOVED it! After being without his ride on cars for a few weeks now, he loved being able to ride around in the Little Tikes red and yellow car (like he used to have in our garden in Luton). It's so funny because in the play area there are two red/yellow cars and two pink ones. When Dylan got in to the play area, there was a pink one empty, which he happily got into … until he saw the red one! Then he started crying because he wanted the red one. The ladies who work in the play area moved one of the children out of the red one so DJ could have it. He was completely spoilt as they spent the next 20 minutes pushing him around in the car!!! He had an absolute blast and was so tired by the time we got in the car and started to come home.
When we got back we went straight to the pool for a quick swim, then home for showers and changed for bed.
On Sunday I was woken up by Abi at 5 a.m and she didn't want to go back to sleep. Dylan and daddy slept till 9.30 which makes a change. Normally it's Dylan who wakes the entire household up! We went out to the mall at 3 and shopped till 6.30. This time it wasn't my decision to go shopping; it was Penri's. There were a few bits and pieces that he wanted to pick up. The mall was absolutely manic – there were SO many people and all the shops and lifts were cramped. I've never seen it like that before and it wasn't a great experience … I prefer it when there are less people and it's easier to manoeuvre our double buggy. Everywhere we go, Abi causes a stir and people are always asking if they can take her photo. The funny thing is that in India, the men are just as excited about babies as the women are, which is really strange. You don't get men in England cooing over babies like they do here; I mean, some men do but here it's pretty much every man and woman who we talk to!
Anyway, after the shops we came home and you can probably guess where we went … swimming! The pool on our compound is really nice although it's not deep at all. I can stand and walk all around the pool carrying Abi without my head going under the water which is good because it means I can take both children swimming by myself as I can follow DJ all around the pool without having to swim after him. After swimming, we had dinner and went to bed.
So, we have been in India for one week today and it has overall been a really positive experience. I think once all our stuff arrives from UK, it will be better as it will feel more like home and it will be better for Dylan to have all his toys and other things to occupy him.
Also, once we have a cleaner that will help a lot! At the moment, it takes me so long to sweep and mop all the floors in the apartment – they need doing at least once every day and it is very time consuming. That, in addition to keeping the house tidy and doing all the additional chores washing clothes, dishes etc takes up a lot of my time and I feel bad for neglecting time with the children to do it all. It's so much harder with Penri's new working hours because he needs to sleep in the morning to leave home late morning and doesn't return until late in the evening (normally between 9.30 and 10) which means I am looking after the children 24/7. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it and feel so happy to have the opportunity to be at home with them (as some people don't get the chance to), but anyone who has kids will know that by the time it gets to evening, you are just so exhausted! And then if you don't get a good night's sleep, the next day is very difficult. Dylan has stopped napping in the day time now so by 5/6 p.m he is really tired and I just have to keep him occupied and happy until about 7 (otherwise he'd be waking up before 5 a.m). Overall though, we are getting settled and getting into a routine. If anything, it's Abigail who is waking me up through the night.
Anyway, it's all fine and the children seem very happy and are enjoying being in our new home and they both absolutely LOVE the swimming pool. Can you imagine going swimming outdoors at 7 p.m in UK? Or 7 a.m for that matter? I love the hot weather! :)
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