Friday 9th July

It was a very busy day for us today (again!) I knew that I had to go out first thing in the morning because Pen needed the car from midday and we had run out of some cruicial things – nappies, washing powder, cheese etc. We woke up late this morning (at about 8.30) and I didn't actually get out of bed until 9 because Abigail was happy playing in her cot with her new caterpillar toy and DJ still hadn't come through to our room.

We got ready to go out and Tyagi picked us up at 10 a.m. The traffic was absolutely horrendous and it took us nearly an hour to get to the supermarket! When we got there I knew I didn't have long to do the shopping as Penri needed the car for a meeting at 12 so I literally had to whizz around and get everything off my list as quickly as possible. Luckily, the shop was pretty much completely empty so there were no people holding me up. The great thing about there not being anyone else in the shop was I was able to push the shopping trolley and pushchair alongside each other. I actually got pretty good at steering them both together!

I grabbed everything off my list and managed to make it to the tills within 10 minutes of being in the shop. I even picked up one or two extra items that weren't on my list. I found a really cool t-shirt for DJ (the sleeveless kind that he wears every day here) and it was really reasonably priced! When I got to the tills, there were two open and both had a customer being served and one person waiting. I got in the queue and because of rushing around like crazy, I was gasping for a drink. I opened one of my drinks from the trolley and gave DJ one too. We got some very odd looks from the people who worked there, but because I was as thirsty as I was, I just didn't care! The man behind the till was taking ages! In my mind, I was willing him to move faster. When he did finally finish adding everything up, just as he got to the last couple of items, the lady's (customer) phone rang. She answered it and then turned away from the till to talk to whoever was on the end of the phone. I was getting a bit frustrated by this point and I really had to bite my tongue to stop myself from saying anything. She eventually paid and then there was another customer before it was our turn.

As soon as we were done, I tried to put my pushchair and trolley alongside each other again so I could walk back to the car, but the security wouldn't let me leave the supermarket with the trolley. I had to have a supermarket guy push my trolley, I guess to make sure I didn't steal it. We got back to the car and Tyagi was waiting for us. It was 11.20 and off we went to go home. I forgot to mention before – when we arrived in the car park, there was a man whose job it was, was to stand at the ticket machine in the entrance to the car park and push the button, take the ticket out and give it to the driver. It made me laugh! I wonder what he would do if someone lent out and pushed the button themselves? The lift guys (who I mentioned in a previous post whose job it is, is to press the buttons in the lift) get very upset if you touch the buttons. Anyway, got slightly carried away there. As we were leaving the car park, Tyagi paid and went to drive up the ramp out of the car park and he couldn't make it. He had to reverse the car back down the ramp and the car behind us who was paying to leave the car park had to reverse back and we literally had to have a run up to the ramp in order to get up it.

Leaving the mall, there was hardly any traffic on the roads and we made it home in about 10 minutes! Penri was getting ready to go as we got in. I unpacked all the shopping which turned out to be quite a bit. It's amazing how much stuff you can buy in a short space of time … I'd be brilliant on that TV show, Supermarket Sweep …













Anyway, I unpacked all the shopping, washed and changed the kids and then made DJ some lunch. He had pasta with vegetables and then a yoghurt. After which, I tidied up a bit, did some washing and pottered around. Raj Kumar turned up at 3 to clean and then half an hour later a plumber turned up to fix the water in our bathroom. It was really funny because about 5 minutes before the plumber arrived I had a phone call from Penri's office to tell me that there was someone on his way to build the shelves in the kitchen. So, when the plumber arrived both Raj Kumar and I assumed he was the carpenter and took him in the kitchen. It was only when he turned on the taps and said 'working madam' that I realised who he was. Oops. He was so confused with why we'd taken him in the kitchen in the first place lol.

I spoke to Debs on Skype and then to Sam but during my call with Sam, it was all go at this end and I didn't get to sit down for two minutes at a time to talk to her. With the cleaner arriving, the plumber, the carpenter, the kids interrupting me, it was madness! In the middle of it all, Laura phoned too and I promised I would ring her back.

The carpenters did arrive and set to work on building our kitchen shelves. When they were half way through, I realised they were only putting one shelf in each space when I had asked for three! I phoned the contact at Penri's office to ask him whether they had more shelves to put (as the carpenter didn't speak a word of English). He told me to put the carpenter on the phone, which I did and then I spoke to him afterwards. He said that was it. We were just having three shelves total – one in each space. He asked me if that was enough, to which I replied 'no, we agreed three in each space'. I was getting really irate now, more so because the carpenters had taken three hours to build one and a half shelves! The guy from Pen's office said he would come on Monday to have a look.

While all this was going on, Penri asked me to chase up our cargo and find out what is happening with it. I did so and after calling the woman three times, I finally got through. She told me that it has been through customs and we just need to make the payment for the customs clearance tomorrow morning and then it should be dispatched on Monday, which means we will probably get it on Friday or the following Monday. 4-5 days to get from Mumbai to Delhi. Madness!

At this point, I was beyond help. I was having a really bad 'I hate India day' although it's my first since we got here (which is nearly a month ago now) so I'm doing pretty well. Anyone who had been to India will understand why and how easy it is to have an 'I hate India' day because things here don't happen quickly. And nothing you do will make things happen quicker because it's always out of your control. Anyway, I did call Penri's mum back but unfortunately, I was in no mood to talk because I was just ready to melt down!

The carpenters left at 7.30 and by then I had to get the kids ready for bed so we didn't even make it to the swimming pool. I was disappointed about not going swimming as we haven't been for a couple of days now and I know both kids really enjoy it. I will definitely have to take them tomorrow.

On a positive note, it looks like Penri may have been successful in finding a car for us to buy (fingers crossed). He went this afternoon and seems to have found something. Just need to sort out finance now :) Please pray that we get it sorted soon. It'll be lovely to have our own freedom and independence. As nice as it is having a driver and not having to think about driving, I think we'll both feel happier when we can get in the car and go!

So, that's about it from us here. I do have a few photos to post but will do that in a separate blog post because it's easier than trying to add them in here. Yey, it's the weekend, Pen's at home so we'll hopefully go out somewhere fun tomorrow! Night night from me x

Thursday 8th July

What a busy, busy day! Abigail has cut her first tooth!!! I was so excited when I saw it and then it all made sense. Yesterday, I thought I felt something but couldn't see anything but today I actually saw a little top of a tooth in the bottom of her mouth! It's so cute!

Dylan was behaving really boisterously in the morning – so much so that I was tempted not to go out. However, I thought that maybe once we got out he would calm down a bit. We left home at 12 o'clock and dropped Penri at work. We then went to a cash machine as I needed to get some money out (obviously). Tyagi took us to an office building and told me there was a Citi Bank inside. So, I took Abi and DJ (without the pushchair) as I didn't anticipate being very long and off we went. Dylan was wearing his new flip-flops as his trainers will still soaked through from last night. He kept taking his shoes off which was slowing us down a lot and I couldn't help him get them back on because I was carrying Abigail. So, the whole process of walking the few minutes to the ATM was a nightmare! When we eventually got there, there was a service guy filling up the machine. He told us it would be 5 minutes so we stood and waited. We waited and waited … and waited! After 20 minutes (and now running late to be at Melinda's house), I gave up waiting. We went back to the car and I asked Tyagi to drive us to Melinda's house.

We arrived at 12.45 and I told the driver we'd be finished between 3 and 4 but that I would call him when I was done. Melinda's apartment is lovely!! It's so spacious – I think she said it is 5,000 sq. feet! The other lady that I met at the coffee morning was there – Iben, who is from Denmark, with her little girl Karen. So, I took Dylan into Charlotte's playroom and left the three of them playing so I could sit in the living room with Melinda and Iben (and all the babies). Melinda has a four month old baby, Isobel and Iben has a six week old baby boy, Jacob. There were a couple of Ayas (I think that's the right word for nanny), in the room with the children so I wasn't too worried.

We sat and had tea and cake and chatted and it was really nice just to have some adult company. There were a few 'incidents' of the children not wanting to share toys etc etc. The normal thing that happens when young children are playing together. A while after we had been there, I heard Dylan screaming! I went in the playroom and the nanny told me that they were all playing in the wendy house and Dylan was blocking the door; Charlotte and Karen wanted to come out but couldn't get past him so Karen bit him on his arm. Quite hard too! A few minutes later after we had calmed everyone down and Karen had said sorry, I laid Abigail down for a nap and just as I was doing so, DJ pulled a full length mirror on top of himself! Luckily he wasn't too hurt and even luckier, it didn't break! At that point, I was thinking maybe we should go home. A few minutes later, he sat on the back of a pink dolls pram and fell backwards! It was then I thought, right I'd better go before he does any real damage!!

Melinda called Tyagi for me (as I still don't have a mobile phone) but there was no response and his mobile was unobtainable. She offered to lend me her driver to take me home. The funny thing is, that morning Melinda had gone to our apartment complex to have a look at some items that someone who is leaving Gurgaon, was selling. She had bought a few things and her driver was supposed to be picking them up tomorrow, but she phoned the lady and arranged to pick them up that afternoon instead. So, Raj, her driver took us home.

At 5 o'clock I had an appointment to meet the lady (the same one Melinda had been to see) to see the things she was selling. I bought some toys for the children, a ride on car (which is pink) for Abigail when she gets a bit bigger but mainly for Dylan for now until our cargo comes. I also bought two chests of drawers from her which I am going to pick up next week.

Dylan loves the ride on car and couldn't wait to ride on it when we got home. It was so cute, as soon as we got home he got out the pushchair and lifted the car off from behind his back (which was the only place I could put it so I could get the two children and the car home) and he said 'I got the car' and started grinning at me as he lifted it off the pushchair. He then got on the car and whizzed off down the corridor. I bought Abigail a couple of toys too, and a few puzzles for Dylan.

After playing with their new toys, I got the children ready for bed and then we vegged out in front of the television (well, tv programmes on the laptop!) I made Dylan a pasta with cheese, broccoli and cauliflower for dinner and then I put the children to bed at about 9.45. I then watched some tv and waited for Pen to come home so we could eat a late dinner.

Thursday 1st, Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd July

I've got so much to write about as it has been 3 days since I posted. I apologise for this but I have been poorly and unable to get to the computer. On Thursday, we had a very chilled out day at home. I did some tidying up and sorting and the children and I played, very much our typical day at home.

During late morning, I was in the bedroom on Skype and the main house phone rang. Before I could even stand up, Dylan went running down the corridor and I heard him saying 'I get it!' and because I thought he wouldn't even reach the phone before it stopped ringing, I never moved. It was only after a few minutes when he hadn't come back that I realised he must be talking to someone. I went and checked and there he was having a conversation with his Nan. I told her we'd call her back because I was on Skype and hung up the phone. Dylan was most upset because he loves being on the phone, even though most of the time he doesn't actually say anything, he just sits there with it pressed to his ear. He gets very upset when I take it off him though. Anyway, we called Nan back on Skype and he was able to talk to her a bit more.

By this point, Abi had woken up from her nap and so we started preparing lunch. DJ is now at the stage where he wants to do everything himself. So, when it comes to things like making lunch – he likes to choose what he wants (which is great) but he then wants to help cook it all as well. This would be fine, except when Abigail is awake too because then I am holding her, keeping DJ away from the stove and trying to cook lunch/dinner all at the same time. It certainly keeps me on my toes! Can't wait for the cargo to arrive because at least I will have somewhere safe to put her – in her baby walker, baby bouncer or in her activity gym. At the moment, I only have the pushchair and she doesn't like being sat in it unless she is moving and there is interesting things for her to see (which I can understand).

We had a very quiet afternoon on Thursday, went swimming about 7 and then we all had an early night. I had a bit of a tummy ache and wasn't feeling great and I hoped the sleep would make me better quicker. How wrong I was! I was up and down all night going to the bathroom and feeling really, really dodgy! Then first thing in the morning, it must've been about 6 a.m I started vomiting too. By mid-morning I was so bad, feeling incredibly weak and exhausted, and still being ill and close to fainting a couple of times; I asked Penri if he could possibly work at home because I didn't want to be by myself with the children. Luckily, he was able to stay at home just in case I needed him (which I'm happy to say, I didn't). I do feel bad for being so crap for the children that day – I literally sat up in bed to feed Abi when she needed feeding and gave her a few toys to play with when she was awake; DJ watched cartoons most of the day (in my bedroom on the laptop) and I just laid on the bed feeling horrendous! I asked the driver to pick up McDonalds for Dylan because I could not face the sight or smell of food and then for dinner I gave DJ a very quick and easy meal of potato and vegetable nuggets with some cheese. Only because I couldn't bear to be in the kitchen for more than a few minutes!

By 4.30, both the children and I all went to sleep and slept for two hours! I woke up feeling a lot better; still not fully recovered but at least feeling slightly less nauseous. Pen took DJ swimming at 7 and Abi and I went out for a walk to the shop. I went to get some saltine crackers as I hadn't eaten anything all day. We then went home via the pool to pick up DJ and came home, got changed and went to bed. Dylan didn't actually sleep until about midnight because he had only just woken up from a nap but Pen was awake with him.

This morning (Saturday) I woke up at 6 with Abi and she didn't want to go back to sleep so we got up and got on Skype with Mel. By 9 a.m she was tired again so she went for a quick half hour nap and I tried to sleep too. Unfortunately during that time, the doorbell rang twice so I didn't get to sleep at all. I did rest for a bit though. By 11 a.m Dylan still hadn't woken up so I went in to wake him. As soon as he heard me and Abi, he pretty much jumped out of bed and was full of beans!

We had some breakfast and then played and watched some tv for a couple of hours. Abigail went for a nap at midday so I got to spend some time with DJ. We (me with the help of DJ) ended up cooking a nice lunch of rice, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower which he ate with cheese and olives. We had lunch at the dining table as I didn't want to disturb Abi and we spoke to my mum on Skype whilst eating. I just had plain rice which was really bland and gross, but I didn't think my stomach was up to much else. After dinner we went back into the bedroom and Dylan played with his cars until Abi woke up.

At 4 o'clock, we all went out to the large shopping mall. We took DJ in the play area and then for a late lunch/early dinner and then went to Big Bazaar (which has to be one of my favourite shops in India). It was so busy though, that you could barely move and because Pen had the trolley and I had the pushchair it was really hard to stay together. The most annoying thing about the supermarket or any shops here, is people just stop to chat and gather in the middle of aisles and the aisles aren't that wide. It drives me crazy! When you say 'Excuse me' or 'Please can I get past?' they just ignore you like you never even spoke. In the end, you just have to do what everyone else does and push through them, which I hate doing!

In Big Bazaar, I was looking to buy a tape measure as I want to measure up Abigail's bedroom for some new curtains. I have looked in quite a few shops now and haven't managed to find a tape measure anywhere. I don't know where else to look! I asked my driver and he said I need to go to a specialist shop but that means going into little shops outside the mall and I don't feel safe doing that with two little ones. The smaller shops outside by the roads aren't suitable for pushchairs because of the sandy/rocky ground and also there are just loads of people and we would stand out too much. I don't like the idea of taking the children there. Maybe I'll just have to ask Tyagi to go and buy me one without me.

Penri and I were talking about standing out when we were in the mall because everywhere we walk, we get stared at. It does get annoying because although I don't think the people here realise how rude it is, they literally just stare at you, mouths gaping and follow your every move. When we were talking, I said to Pen that I'm sure it is more the children they are looking at and Penri reminded me that when we lived in Chennai, I used to get stared at all the time because of my blonde hair. He reminded me how few blonde people there are in India so I do kind of attract looks when we're out and now that we've got the two babies with us, we get even more stares. It's just one of the things about living here and I have to remember how to let it not bother me.

While we were in the mall, whilst DJ was in the play area, I had to find a seat to sit and feed Abi. Throughout the whole mall there are sofas (like proper leather sofas) and armchairs randomly placed. So, I found a small chair and got my feeding cover out and started to feed her. While I was sat there, I did a bit of people watching (not staring, I might add, just glancing) and it's the strangest thing. I started looking at peoples feet. Now I actually hate feet, but I love shoes. So, there I was watching people walking by and I was looking at their feet/shoes. It absolutely amazed me how many people wear shoes that don't actually fit them. There was a woman whose heels were hanging off the back of her flip-flops and I couldn't help but think how uncomfortable that must be. Then there was a young boy whose toes were hanging over the front of his sandals and it's not because his feet had slid forwards – they were all the way at the back of the sandals but he had just completely outgrown them and again, I thought, uncomfortable! Finally, and this is the one that really gets me … can anybody tell me … why do women wear shoes that they cannot walk in?! They look uncomfortable, they walk like they've messed themselves and in the process, they must be damaging their feet and their posture dramatically!!! I saw so many ladies who literally could not walk in the shoes they were wearing and I asked myself 'why?' It's one of those great unanswered questions and one that I will always wonder because I know that I personally, couldn't wear shoes that I was uncomfortable in.

Anyway, moving on. Our cargo still has no sign of turning up and Penri reckons it's going to be another 10 days before we even stand a chance of seeing it. I'm so upset about this and more annoyed than you can imagine! There's been a mix up with the paperwork from UK and it's made everything hold up. Penri sent his passport and Indian registration documents in the post to Mumbai because they need the original documents and because they didn't have the correct paperwork, they put his passport and things back in the post to us here in Delhi. So now we have to wait to get it back and then send it back again. How ridiculous!! We have been without our things and living out of suitcases for nearly six weeks now! I cannot wait for it to get to us!!!

Going back to my diary of events on Saturday. We got back from the mall and as we were getting out the car and getting all the shopping out of the boot, Dylan made a run for it. He ran towards the park and no amount of shouting from Pen or me was going to get him to stop. I started to go after him with Abi in my arms, but then Tyagi (our driver) went after him and carried him back. Dylan was so upset that he had been caught and he hid around the corner from Tyagi and refused to say goodbye to him. It was only when Tyagi started to drive away that Dylan actually realised he was leaving that he came out and said 'Bye Tyagi' and blew him a kiss. DJ can be such a monkey! Lol. We all came upstairs, changed and went straight to the pool.

Dylan is changing so much and he is a typical two year old … always trying to see how far he can push, always checking the boundaries, ever so cheeky but also absolutely full of love and joy! He absolutely dotes on his baby sister – sometimes a bit too much! Yesterday Dylan was eating saltine crackers (which he has decided he really likes because he knows they are 'mummy's biscuits' which I had for when I was poorly), and he decided that he should share his with Abi. Before I could reach over to him after I heard him say 'Abi biscuit', he had shoved one in her mouth. She wasn't really sure of what to make of it but I don't suppose it helped that she pretty much had an entire cracker in her mouth! She actually cried when I took it away.

Moving onto Abigail. She has started to have her own little tantrums. She knows when she has something she's not supposed to – like one of Dylan's cars or his books or if she grabs something like my camera or wallet off the bed. As soon as you take it off her, she screams! And I mean screams! Nothing will console her apart from giving her back the thing that she originally had. She's a little madam but so cute with it! She is growing up so quickly! As I think I've said before – I'm running out of places I can put her down where she is safe because she is becoming more and more mobile. If I lay her in the middle of the bed, she rolls and rolls and rolls! She can also sit up unaided for a few seconds now so I am trying to let her sit up for a few minutes at a time a few times each day. She is just desperate to walk and be running around after Dylan. She absolutely adores him and whenever she watches him, she laughs at everything he does, which he thinks is brilliant! It's so lovely to watch them playing together and making each other laugh! It just melts my heart! :)

So onto me. I was useless with the whole giving up coca-cola and gave into temptation a few times, so I am back to square one! Since being as ill as I was on Friday I made a promise to myself that I would give up coke and I mean it this time, and I'm going to try and eat healthier too. I think that's part of the reason I was so ill. I haven't really been looking after myself properly. I always make sure that I cook for Dylan, but I just tend to pick at food and that's not good! So, turning a new leaf – I haven't had any coke since Thursday! OK, so that's only a couple of days but that's pretty good for me.

On Thursday I spent some time looking on the internet for children's furniture (mainly wardrobes) as I know I need to buy some when our cargo arrives. Whilst looking I came across an Indian online advertising site which has shops as well as private sales. There was an advert for an air purifier and this was the advert. I thought it was so funny that I wanted to share it on here. I just cut and paste it from the advert so it's exactly as it was printed on the website ...

Sweet little babies, every body loves them
Are babies born with that baby smell or is it something else?
Everything has a scent. May be terrible urinal smell, may be disposable baby wipes, may be the shampoo/soap, may be baby power, may be mothballs, the food & fruits they eat, mold, plants etc..
Baby's bad unpleasant urine smells worse & stinks every indoor all the time.
Getting so frustrated!
It is logical to take preventative measures which are safe for both mum and baby, and very hygienic. Buy BIONIX Air Purifier NOW and have good clean indoor air

Hope it made you smile! On that note, I am going to close for today and will post more soon. I apologise again for my delay in writing and I appreciate everyone who takes time out of their day to read my blog. Till tomorrow :)

Monday 28th June

It's the start of our third week and still we're waiting for things to get sorted … kitchen cupboards (or at least shelves) which will hopefully be done soon, a new car which Penri is working on (we're planning on buying a car as the one we have at the moment is only temporary); and more importantly, our cargo! I said to Penri that I'm (probably) naively thinking that it'll be here in the next couple of days. I am really looking forward to it arriving now even though I know it's going to mean a lot of hard working unpacking things and sorting it all out, but I think it's probably harder trying to manage without things. There are a few things in our cargo that will make life so much easier. Dylan's toys, the children's clothes and my clothes (I'm fed up of the very few things that I brought in my suitcase), the baby bath, our plates and glasses, the toaster (as DJ won't eat the bread here), our TV, the clothes airer, stuff for Abigail such as her baby gym, baby walker, high chair … OK, actually, thinking about it – there are a lot of things that will make life so much easier! Also, at the moment, we are pretty much living in one room as there's nothing to do in the living rooms – it's very bare and obviously we don't even have a TV in there so we never even sit in there. Anyway, I'm keeping everything crossed that it all gets sorted out and that our things will be here soon.

The other reason that I can't wait for our stuff to arrive is that my sister will be coming to visit. At the moment she can't come as there is nowhere for her to sleep! I'm so excited about seeing Mel again – it's been six months! We were just saying this morning that we can't believe Abigail is six months old already! Mel, book your ticket to come to India!!!

I don't know why we have a cleaner … Dylan absolutely loves sweeping the floors. If he could just learn to mop as well, we'd be sorted lol. The cleaner is a nice enough guy; he comes over does his work quickly most of the time and then leaves. He was trying to mop all the floors yesterday but Dylan decided he wanted to play. So, he got a coin and threw it to Raj Kumar (that's the cleaner's name). Raj picked it up and threw it back … big mistake because that was it then … Dylan knew he had a playmate! While Raj Kumar was mopping the floor he was stopping every few minutes to throw the coin back to DJ. Dylan thought it was brilliant and was laughing and laughing! He's such a cheeky monkey!

We had a very quiet day at home today. I did think about going out, but in the end decided we would just stay in. We did the usual thing – playing, went out for a very quick walk to the supermarket, I tidied up and did a bit of washing; that's it really. Not much else to report. I plan on taking some more photos over the next few days and hope to get some posted on here soon.

Till tomorrow …

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! :)