Wednesday 14th July

Abigail woke up this morning at 7 and she wasn't about to go back to sleep, so I got up too. She's such a happy baby even when she's first woken up! She doesn't cry, she just wakes up smiling and then is so happy with every little bit of attention you give her. So, when she woke up this morning we laid on the bed and played with some toys (mostly hers but a few of Dylan's too). I got out of bed at 8 and started getting ready to go out. Not me myself getting ready but getting things ready – the pushchair, the nappy bag, DJ's snack bag etc. I also looked up the hotel we were going to on google so I could get an idea of where it is.

We left home at 9.15 and Penri dropped us at the hotel where the weekly women's coffee morning was being held. When we walked in there was only Melinda there with her children (even though we were 20 minutes late). There was a small play area set up for the children which literally consisted of a play mat on the floor, a see-saw and a small rocking horse. That was it and it wasn't enclosed so I had to stand next to it the whole time. Even standing right next to it watching Dylan playing, he still ran out of the restaurant door a few times and I had to go running after him. As more ladies started to arrive, they sat at a large table at the back of the restaurant where you could have tea and pastries, however as I mentioned above, there was no chance of me sitting down whatsoever. The other mums were in the same position so I was stood with Melinda and another lady (Safiye) most of the time we were there.

After an hour and a half, I decided Dylan had had enough and it was time to leave. I asked one of the men at the concierge to order me a taxi. They told me they had hotel taxis and there were no outside ones available. A hotel taxi was going to cost me Rs.500 (about £8) which doesn't sound like much but for the distance I was travelling and the normal cost of taxis here, it was a lot. I asked if they could keep trying to get me an outside taxi, which luckily they did. It ended up costing me Rs. 130 which is a big difference to what I would've paid for the hotel taxi. Anyway, Dylan was very excited about riding in a shiny emerald green taxi. We got in the car and headed home. It was very hot as it was coming up to midday and both children were tired and hungry, as was I.

Getting home, I made lunch and settled Abigail down for a nap. DJ was tired but couldn't settle so we played in his room while Abi was sleeping. At 3 p.m Raj Kumar (our cleaner) came to do the cleaning and Dylan then started running around after him saying 'Kumar, Kumar, chase me'. It was so cute! Poor Raj Kumar was trying to get his work done and DJ just wanted to play!

I have found a new, super brilliant way to communicate with Raj Kumar as his English is very limited and my Hindi is non-existent. Penri and I had been talking at lunchtime about the day the cargo will be delivered (still no date yet, but hoping it will be in the next few days). We were both concerned about making sure all the boxes are delivered (and nothing has been taken) and also, making sure that Dylan doesn't seize the opportunity of having the front door open and lots of people about, to try and run outside! So, Pens and I agreed it would be a good idea to have Raj Kumar here for the day, just to be another pair of eyes on the children but mainly to occupy Dylan. I said I would speak to him but then it occurred to me … if I couldn't even get him to understand a simple thing such as 'clean the bathrooms', how on earth was I going to explain to him what I wanted to say. I had an excellent idea. I asked Raj Kumar if he could read Hindi, which he said he could. So, I went on Google, found a translation site and typed in what I wanted to say – that our cargo was arriving from England, not sure of the day but would he be able to come and spend the day here at the apartment; not to clean but to watch Dylan? He read it all and nodded (well, shook his head side to side) and said 'Yes Madam, no problem!' He seemed very happy about it too, which I am pleased about. I know he likes Dylan and more importantly Dylan seems to be very happy around him. Don't get me wrong – there is no way I would leave Dylan with him if I wasn't around, but I know that him being here on that day will help me a lot!!

While Raj Kumar was here, I also used the Hindi translation again to ask him if he could help me as I needed to pick up a radiator that I had bought from the lady in the next apartment block. I was unable to push the pushchair with both children in it and carry a small radiator. So, he came with us and we all went to pick it up. When we got back to the apartment, I was trying to put up a curtain in Abi's room and having no luck whatsoever. The curtain rails here are so difficult as you have to unscrew the rail from the bracket (with a screwdriver) and then unscrew it from the wall in order to put the curtains on. It's not easy and not helped by the fact that I don't have a step ladder so was standing on four plastic chairs in order to reach it. Raj Kumar helped me get the curtains hung up. I think he must think I am mad because I am forever doing bits and bobs around the apartment whereas most expats have live in help for things like that. Even the other day when I was measuring the living room for curtains, he kept trying to do it for me and I was telling him 'no problem, I can do it myself'. He has this high pitched laugh which he always does and it makes me smile every time! He loves it when I am on Skype because he is fascinated by the fact that I can talk to someone and see their video. He has seen my mum, my sister, Indeg, Debs, Sam … he always looks at it with a big grin on his face :)

Anyway, back to my day yesterday. After dinner, at about 6.30 I took the children swimming. We hadn't been for a couple of days so DJ was really excited to go swimming. We got into the pool and then the lifeguard came over to me and told me Abigail wasn't allowed in the pool. I looked at him confused. He said 'no children under 2 in the pool, she had to go in the baby pool'. I told him I have been here for four weeks and brought her swimming many, many times (most days in fact) and never had a problem before. He said it was new rules. I asked him to show me the rules and he shook his head from side to side. So, I said 'I'm not getting out, I'm only here for 15 minutes and then I'll be going home'. Then I moved to the other side of the pool. It's ridiculous!! He wanted me to take her in the baby pool which would mean I would have to sit in a couple of inches of water myself and not in the pool. How crazy!! There's no way I'm just going to sit in the baby pool! So, we'll see what happens next time I go swimming. If I have to kick up a stink about this, I will. They let children (some as young as 2) in the big pool without an adult in the water with them. Their nannies sit at the side of the pool. That is more dangerous than having a baby in your arms in the water. Anyway, will keep you posted on what happens!

I have a few more photos to post which I will do in a minute. Some are of out and about in India and I have a few pictures of the children. Dylan has really taken a liking to shoes – especially mine! He walks around the house in them saying 'DJ shoes!' I managed to get a picture of him this morning wearing my flip-flops. It cracks me up. He's so funny! I also have pictures of Abigail playing with Dylan's toys this morning. She likes her toys, but she LOVES his toys. I can see this being a problem when they are older. Even now he doesn't like sharing but he will share when I ask him to. They were playing in Dylan's room this morning and she was having a great time with his puzzles and cars:


























Pictures Out and About:


























That's about it from me today. Not much other news to report. It's been a nice and busy day and I'm looking forward to a nice early night tonight :)

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

Tuesday 6th July

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.

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 :)

Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th June

We had a very chilled day at home today. I was really happy to get on Skype to Indeg and Manon, to Debs and also to Mel. What a cool programme Skype is. It was so lovely to talk to you all. Thank you for brightening our day and making us smile!

Dylan had a fun day today – just playing with all his toys and running around causing havoc! LOL. He can be such a good boy when he wants to be but then this naughty streak comes out in him and he knows he is being naughty but it's like he can't help himself. I saw a really cool t-shirt when shopping the other day – it said something like 'Chaos, Havoc, Disaster – my work here is done!' … I was so tempted to buy it for him but I resisted :)

We went swimming early today (at about 5.30 instead of 7). It completely threw our day out of sync and by 7 p.m both kids were in bed and asleep! Tomorrow I am going to make sure that we go later on so that we can stick to our normal routine.

Because today has been so quiet and uneventful, I am going to combine the blog post with tomorrow's news (that way it's a little bit more interesting to read!)

We all woke up late this morning (Wednesday) at 9 a.m because I had a really bad night with Abi, who was waking up every hour to every hour and a half so she was exhausted hence sleeping in. I decided I was going to go out today as spending a third day in a row stuck in the house really didn't appeal to me and I know it would've driven DJ crazy too! So, we all got dressed and when Pens went to work, we all went in the car too.

After dropping Penri off I went to Spencer's Food shop which is the best supermarket I've seen in India so far. I did quite a bit of shopping but even though the aisles were wide and there weren't that many people, it wasn't easy! I had the double buggy and I had planned on pulling the trolley behind whilst pushing the pushchair in front of me. Dylan, however, had other ideas. He wanted to push the trolley and insisted on walking around the shop. In the end we came to a compromise - I let him walk around with me but we left the trolley at the end of each aisle and Dylan went running backwards and forwards putting the shopping in the trolley. It was so cute! Luckily, Abi had fallen asleep just as we got inside the shop and she slept through the whole food shop which meant I didn't have to worry about her and I could focus on DJ. We got everything on our list and then went and paid and went to find the driver.

The hardest part about shopping here is I still don't have a mobile phone so I can't call Tyagi to come and pick us up when I've finished in a certain shop. You would think it would be fine and he could sit and wait for me outside the shop, but India is not like that. They don't allow cars to park outside the shops/malls. There is normally underground parking or the drivers have to go find somewhere else to wait. They always have a drop off point because nearly everyone here has drivers. Anyway, whenever Tyagi drops me off we always have to agree a time for him to pick me up and I have to make sure I am there at that time because he can't stop in the car outside the shops. Crazy! So, today we had agreed that he would pick me up at 1.30 p.m at the drop off/pick up point but because of the queues in the supermarket, I was a few minutes late. It was mayhem when I got outside as the security guard was going mad shouting at Tyagi to move and then there were cars held up in all directions. It didn't help that he stopped in the middle of a crossroad so no cars could get past from any direction! Oops! We quickly got all the shopping into the car, collapsed the pushchair and all got back in the car and drove off. Straight across to the next shopping mall where I was taking DJ for lunch and to the play area.

I didn't actually need to buy anything in the mall, I just thought it would be nice for Dylan to get to play a bit. I dropped him off and walked around the play area and then Abi and I sat and watched him play. I did go into a couple of the shops that are right next to the play area but didn't buy anything; just had a quick look around. Dylan loved his time in the play area but I was really worried at one point, that he'd hurt himself. He was at the top of the slide and he literally jumped off the top and nose dived forward. He hit his head half way down the slide, I inhaled a deep breath but he stood up, laughed and then jumped in the ball pool at the bottom of the slide. My goodness, he scares me sometimes!

After 45 minutes in the play area we went to McDonalds for lunch. It was packed and there were no real queues, just crowds of people at the tills. I joined the back of what looked similar to a queue and waited. As I reached the till this woman stepped in front of me and placed her order. I was so tempted to say something, but at this point, I just thought 'I cannot be bothered to argue with her' *sigh*

We finished our food 15 minutes before the time I had agreed to meet Tyagi so I walked to the middle of the mall, where there was a book sale. I bought a couple of books for DJ and a little present for one of DJ's friends. We then went to find Tyagi at the agreed meeting point. We found him having an argument with another security guard, who was telling him off for where he had stopped the car. We repeated the whole packing up and loading the car quickly (whilst being shouted at) and off we went and home we came.

We got back just after 3 and I showered and changed both children then Abi went for a nap and DJ and I cleared out the servants quarters. There was a lot of rubbish and empty boxes in there that needed sorting out so with the help of my little man, we got it all sorted. Afterwards I started to read DJ one of the new books I had bought him. It's a nursery rhyme book and there are all the usual 'Twinkle Twinkle', 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' etc etc but there were also a few extra that I have never heard of before. A couple of them made me laugh so I want to share them with you … hope they make you smile ...

















At 6.30 I got the children ready to go swimming and we all walked down to the pool. We swam for quite a long time tonight – about 40 minutes! Both of them love the water so much but normally between 15 and 20 minutes is enough for them. I cannot believe how confident Dylan is getting in the water. It's brilliant! He has his arm bands on and he stands on the side of the pool and says 'Ready, Steady, Go!' and then he jumps in! It makes my heart miss a beat every time, but he always pops up out of the water laughing. He loves it!! After swimming I showered the children in the changing room and came home. I have started a new routine now of telling DJ a story (we don't have many books with us as they are in cargo). I make up a story which Dylan loves and whenever I finish and say 'The End', he always says 'more story'. It's so cute! Tonight, I took Abi into DJ's room and told them both a story and then said 'night night' to Dylan and brought Abigail back in my room to feed her and get her to sleep.

Dylan is so cheeky. He kept getting out of bed and coming to my bedroom door. Every time I said to him 'Dylan bed', he walked away and came back two minutes later. The problem was, every time I spoke, I disrupted Abi's feed and she tried to sit up! In the end, after about 5 attempts at getting DJ to go back to his room, I didn't say anything to him when he came back. It was just so, so cute. He had his pillow in one hand and a little toy in the other. He came into my room really quietly, put his pillow on the bed, climbed up and got under my cover. He didn't make a sound! I stroked his hair and he turned over and closed his eyes. Within 3 or 4 minutes he was asleep! Abigail fell asleep about 10 minutes after and I put her in her bed. I then carried Dylan back into his room and went to make my dinner.

Twice now I have bought these frozen cheese samosas which I love. But twice I have cooked them and it has gone horribly wrong! You are supposed to shallow fry them on a low flame for 4 – 6 minutes. When they're made properly, they're delicious! The first time I made them I didn't have any oil, so I used mustard oil. It was gross and they had a slightly spicy taste. Tonight when I made them, I got the oil too hot so when I put them in the pan they cooked far too quickly and too much. Disappointed or what?! I was really looking forward to them. Never mind, third times the charm!

So, it's now just gone 9 p.m and both children are in bed and asleep and I'm going to follow suit. Penri is still at work and has told me he's going to be late tonight, so I'm not going to wait up. Before I go, I've got a few cute pictures of the kids to include in my post:

















Goodnight x

Sunday 27th June

Today has been another good day. I still can't believe it's two weeks since we arrived in India. Anyone who has been following my blog can probably guess what we did today … we went shopping and swimming!

We had a quiet ish morning, just chilling around the house. We had quite a few potty training incidents today though. Now that Dylan has learnt to take his nappy off himself, even when he has a nappy on we still have 'accidents'. I was changing Abigail's nappy when Dylan came in, having taken his nappy off, and said 'Mummy poo poo'. I thought great he needs to go, so I jumped up and said 'Come on then DJ, on the toilet'. As we started to walk through to the bathroom, he said 'no Mummy, poo poo' and took my hand. He took me to the kitchen where there on the floor … you guessed it … he had already been! I cleaned up the mess and went to get the mop to disinfect the floor. Just as I finished cleaning, I heard DJ say 'oh no'. I went through to the bathroom to find that he had done a wee wee all over the floor! It's my own fault because I hadn't put a new nappy on him straight away. So, I washed him and put a nappy and clothes on him and then cleaned and disinfected the bathroom floor. As I already had the mop out, I thought I may as well mop all the floors in the apartment, especially as the cleaner only comes on weekdays so they hadn't been done since Friday! That ended up taking me ages although it's kind of good that we have floors everywhere and no carpets because it does make it easier to clean up little accidents!

At 1 o'clock we all got in the car and headed to a shop called Spencers. It's a supermarket (probably the best and biggest chain you get in India). We did some food shopping; not a huge shop – just a few bits for the fridge. They have a luxury section which is all just imported items and at imported prices too!! So, it's things like … Robinsons squash, Tabasco sauce, imported meats and cheeses, peanut butter, jams etc. We bought only a couple of things in the luxury section because they were really expensive.

From Spencers we went onto a different mall where there was a TGI Fridays. Before we went in there, DJ went in the big play area that was there … it is much bigger than the other one he always goes to and they had different things so he spent nearly an hour in there. I had a wander around the shops and then we all went to TGIs for dinner (well, a late lunch really). It was about 3.30 p.m by this point and both children were really tired so Dylan started being really naughty and then Abi started screaming! It was completely manic! The food was OK. I was a bit disappointed because I thought I'd ordered a beef burger, but I hadn't – it was a lamb burger.

When we went to leave the restaurant, Penri realised his mobile battery was completely flat! It didn't even have enough charge to turn the phone on to get our driver's phone number. So, there we were standing in the heat on the side of the road outside the mall trying to decide what to do. We ended up going back into TGIs where I asked one of the waiters to put Penri's sim card into his phone so we could get Tyagi's number. It turns out that his number was saved on the phone, not the sim so we couldn't get it. We went back into the mall and looked for a phone shop where we could charge the phone a bit (just enough to turn it on to get the number)!

I was about to give up hope and kept saying to Penri, let's just get an auto rick home and then we can call Tyagi from there and tell him we don't need him any more. Pen said we wouldn't all fit in an auto. So, we kept looking for a phone shop. Eventually Penri found somewhere where they let us charge the phone for a few minutes and we called the driver and came home. We went straight down to the pool and swam for a bit and then by the time we got home, gave the babies showers and got their pyjamas on, it was bed time.

I got Abigail to sleep while Pen put DJ to bed. Just as she went off to sleep and I was laying her down, I saw something scuttle across the floor! OH NO! Another cockroach! This time though, it was dark in the room and he went under the bedside table. When I moved it, he was gone. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! They really creep me out. I'm going to have to ask our cleaner to move all the furniture in my bedroom to try and find him. Just the thought of it somewhere in my room … *shivers down my back*!

Abigail woke up at 1 a.m and I couldn't get her back to sleep. She was happily chatting away and wanting to wake up. At this point, I still hadn't been to bed so I was really ready to go to sleep, but she wasn't having any of it. So, we came on the computer and spoke to Sam on Skype, which was cool. It's weird that it was the early hours of the morning here, but it was only 8.30 in the evening in UK! Anyway, it was really lovely to catch up – thanks Sam!

At about 1.45 I tried again to get Abi to sleep but she was not wanting any sleep at all. She screamed every time I put her down. I tried feeding her, holding her, swaying her, dancing slowly – everything and anything to get her to sleep! Nothing worked! Eventually at 5 a.m after 3 hours of trying, both of us crying, her screaming … she finally went to sleep … for two and a half hours!!! She woke up at 7.30 and woke me up too. Then DJ came in at 8 to join the party! I am SO tired!!!! That'll teach me – in future – go to bed as soon as the kids are in bed!

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!

Friday 25th June

I had a lovely chat this morning with my friend Karyn and her little boy Benjamin. It was so lovely to catch up with them. I LOVE skype! We were able to see each other and the children could see each other and we had a really nice talk. Thanks Karyn – you made my day!

After getting off Skype, Abi went to sleep for her morning nap and I took Dylan to the supermarket. From there we came home, dropped the stuff, checked on Abi and Penri (who were both asleep) and then we went to the park. On our way to the supermarket I was thinking how pleasant the weather was (I guess it must have been about 9.30 a.m) so I thought it would be cool enough to go to the park. However, when we got there we only ended up staying for 10 minutes as it turned out to be quite warm. I managed to get a couple of photos of DJ. After being there for only 2 minutes, he decided he was going to take his shoes off – that's what the photo is of him sitting on the grass with his back to me. I also got a picture of this (rather huge looking) squirrel? Weasel? I don't know what he is. Any suggestions?



















On the way back from the playground, I saw these lights and I remembered what Pen had said the other day: 'Only in India!' So, all around our apartment block there are bushes and inside the bushes there are standing lights, however the bush literally covers the lights all the way to the top!! You can just see the black bit sticking out of the top of it.














So, Dylan loves his new remote control car … just one problem … he can't quite suss out that it is him who is controlling it. He pushes the button on the remote and the car zooms forward but then he goes running after it saying 'my car, my car' and picks it up. We keep trying to explain to him that it's him controlling it, but he just wants to hold it and push it along lol. Glad I didn't spend loads on it!

We had a very relaxed day yesterday just chilling around the house. I managed to get on Skype to my mum and to Debbie in the afternoon which was really nice. Dylan and I also made a money box out of some old magazines and a Pringles tube – I think we made more mess than anything but it was fun! Finally, I did a bit of handiwork … I moved the curtains out of the dining room and Abigail's bedroom and put them in my bedroom.

Let me explain – all the curtains in those three rooms are the same design – brown with silver circles on them, but none of the curtains quite fit the windows so every morning at 4 or 5 o'clock Abi would wake up because it is so bright in my bedroom (where she is currently sleeping next to me in her travel cot). When I moved the other curtains in next to the ones I already have, it made a huge difference! It looks much nicer and I bet the room stays cooler too. It was so funny because I don't have a step ladder and the curtain rails are really high up (they're above French window style doors), so after struggling standing on a dining chair and not quite being able to reach, I remembered there were four plastic chairs stacked up in the servant's quarters so I used them. Our new cleaner had just started and I think he thought I was mad … both my children were sleeping and there I was with a screwdriver, standing on plastic chairs taking curtain rails apart! It was worth it though and I can't believe I hadn't thought of doing it before!

Dylan has started waving goodbye and blowing kisses to EVERYONE we pass, see or talk to. It's so funny and far too cute! If he doesn't do it automatically, I say to him Dylan say goodbye to ____ (person's name). A few times now when I haven't known someone's name I have said to him 'Dylan say goodbye to the man' and he turns round and says 'Bye man' and waves and blows a kiss. Then another time I said 'Dylan say goodbye to the ladies' and he said 'Bye ladies'. It's really funny! When we went to the hospital that day, Dylan amazed me. At the beginning when we were in the waiting room, I said to Dylan 'we're going to go and see the doctor because Abigail has to have her injections'. That's all I said and then we were called in. Dylan sat in the pushchair and watched while Abi had her jabs and he didn't say a word. When Abi got upset, Dylan started to cry a bit and that made her worried and more upset. I told him she was fine and then she looked at him and started laughing, then he started laughing. Anyway, I've gone off on a tangent. When it was time to leave the doctor's room, DJ turned around and waved and said 'Bye doctor'. I couldn't believe he had remembered what I told him in the waiting room 20 minutes before! So clever!

Back to today … when the children woke up, Dylan had a snack and I tried Abigail with the baby cereal again (added a few photos). Dylan was 'helping' me feed her and there's a photo here of him wiping her mouth with the muslin and then another photo when she cried of him tapping her chest lightly and saying 'OK baby' … where's he heard that? I must say it more than I think lol.



















Later in the evening we went swimming. Pens came home about 9.30 and they were both still awake. We had pizza (which DJ ended up sharing as he was still awake) and all went to bed about 10.30 p.m.

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!

A few photos

The other day when we went out shopping Penri bought this dolphin for Dylan. He LOVES it but can't say dolphin, he says dollo. So Dylan is always saying 'Where's the dollo?' It cracks me up - will have to try and get it on video. As you can see, Abi likes the dollo too ...


















After swimming:














Little monkey making a mess everywhere - his face says it all in this picture 'Oh no!':













This morning Dylan was playing in his bedroom and all went quiet. I went to investigate and found him ... he'd used the toilet seat to stand on so he could get up onto (and into) the sink. At least he took all his clothes and nappy off before going for his quick bath :)

















Abigail in a pretty dress: