Catch up for last two weeks - 7th October 2010

Sorry for not writing for so long but this last couple of weeks has just been crazy! I have so much to write about that I am sure I will forget something. Anyway, I will start from where we last left off – our last weekend in India before our holiday.
On Saturday we went to Ambience Mall early. When I say early, I mean 10.30 (as the shops open at 11). It was so quiet; I couldn’t believe how few people there were there. We started off in Debenhams, and then to Archie’s to try and change the watch I bought (as it was faulty). Archie’s Gallery couldn’t change the watch as the manager told me that although Archie’s is a chain throughout India, they are all franchises so they don’t all stock the same things and the watch I had bought was an item that they didn’t stock. He told me I had to return it to where I bought it from, which was a real pain!

Penri had tried to get a massage booked in the spa in Ambi but they were fully booked. So, we left there and went to get Dylan some lunch and then asked him if he wanted to go in the play area, but he didn’t – he wanted to go into Early Learning Centre! So, Pen took him into ELC and I went and sat somewhere quiet to feed Abigail. Afterwards we went down to the basement to Big Bazaar to do our weekly shop. We didn’t actually need that much as myself and the children were leaving on Monday morning to come to Doha so we only needed a few bits to tide us over the weekend and then obviously, things for Penri.

We would have had a fairly cheap shop compared to our usual weekly shop except that Pen decided to buy DJ this HUGE bear! When I say HUGE I mean three times the size of Dylan! Dylan can actually sit on the bear’s knee. Will find a photo – hang on …

















Wednesday 6th October 2010

The bear was reduced because it was a bit dirty but it was still expensive. I asked the guy who worked there if he could give us more discount than they were offering and we managed to negotiate a price. I basically told him if he gave me 50% off, we would buy it, which he agreed to. When we got to the till Pen said he would have asked for more discount and I told him he should have. I know he actually wouldn’t have as I am always more outspoken when it comes to things like that. Anyway, we got the bear and our bits and pieces and headed back to the car.

As we were driving home, Abi fell asleep in the car. I wanted to let her sleep as long as possible because I knew she was exhausted. I suggested to Penri that we go to Ansal Plaza, which is another mall that we haven’t been to before. I know they have a massage place in there because that’s where my friend Alex goes to get her massages. I had the number saved in my phone so I called them and we found out that they could fit Penri in, so we headed there instead. I was going to stay in the car with the children but as DJ was falling asleep, I decided to go into the mall instead. Abi managed to stay asleep when I moved her into the pushchair and DJ fell asleep in the pushchair straight away. So, while Pen went for his massage, I had two babies asleep in the pushchair and I was able to look around the shops without any interruptions or stress. It felt really strange not to be rushing around grabbing things quickly before one of them needed me!! While I was in the supermarket, a lady came up to the pushchair and bent down and pinched DJ’s cheek. I looked at her completely gobsmacked! I said to her ‘Please don’t touch him – he is sleeping!’ – I mean really! How stupid is she?!! If you saw a toddler or baby sleeping, would you touch him/her let alone pinch their cheek?! Anyway, DJ didn’t wake up and I kept on shopping.

I went in this really cute children’s shop that had 50% discount on everything and I bought DJ a cute little vest top and Abi a t-shirt. The two together cost Rs. 300 which is like 4 pounds! After that DJ woke up so I took him downstairs where they had a fish tank and ride on cars. He went on two remote control cars, at this point Abi had also woken up and was watching with fascination! Then we just passed time until Penri finished at the spa. By the time he came out, he had been there for two hours and I’ve no idea how I kept the children amused that long without one of them crying!

We left there and went home where I started washing clothes and getting things ready for the suitcase. Pen went for a lie down and the children played in the play room. It was a very chilled afternoon/early evening for the children and they both went to bed about 7.30.

On Sunday (26th), I was up really early with Abi. I decided to make the most of the early start and get my cases packed. DJ must have sensed that I needed quiet time because before I had even opened one suitcase, he was awake and bouncing around lol. So, I laid the two cases on the living room floor and put cartoons on. Then I brought everything we were bringing into the lounge and laid it all out on the floor. The children played and watched cartoons while I tried to pack. Abigail was into EVERYTHING! I would put something into the suitcase and she would take it out, then DJ joined in too. It was taking so long and although I knew I had all day, I just wanted to get it done.

At 10.30, after trying to pack for two hours and not really achieving much, I decided to wait until Abi went for her nap and then it should be easy. I called Sam, who was supposed to come over on Friday to see how she was getting on. As Penri was still asleep and I knew he would be asleep for a while, I invited her to bring her little girl, Elle over for a play date. As soon as I hung up from her, I put Abigail down for a nap and then got myself and DJ showered and dressed ready for them coming over.

We spent a few hours with Sam and Elle and Dylan had lots of fun! It was really lovely! After they left, I woke up Penri and we headed out to City Centre Mall to Archie’s as I still needed to change my watch and needed to do it before we left. Before going to City Centre, we went to Penri’s office as I needed to print our air tickets and boarding passes.

Archie’s were fine about changing the watch although you should have seen me trying to explain the problem to the man behind the counter. The watch was actually working, in that, it was moving but every hour, it loses 10 minutes. Well, I couldn’t make him understand that. My final explanation which got him to change it was ‘It’s now 3 p.m on the watch, but in one hour it will be 10 to 4’. He looked at me like I was stupid. Anyway, the long and short of it is, he agreed to change it. Instead of getting another watch, we exchanged it for a really cool night light for Dylan. It’s an orange Volkswagen Van light. The whole thing lights up and it’s really nice.

We headed home after that and I finished packing and then played with the kids until dinner and bed. We put them to bed at 7 knowing that we would have to wake them both at 2 a.m. Unfortunately, Abigail found it hard to settle and woke up about 3 times between 7 and 2.

When it was time to wake them, I let Pen wake up DJ and we got him dressed and then I lifted Abigail out of her cot and put her straight in the pushchair. I was going to try and keep her asleep, but that didn’t happen because as we walked out of the front door, she started screaming. When I picked her up, I realized she’d just done a dirty nappy so I ran back inside to change her.

We headed to the airport and off we went!

We were the last passengers on the plane because as soon as we walked on, there was an announcement over the tannoy saying that now all passengers were on board, we would be taking off. Oops!

The journey was actually very pleasant. My dad paid for us to fly business class so not only did we have use of the business class lounge at the airport but when we got on the plane, the seats were huge and converted into beds!! I wish I’d had my camera to get a picture of Dylan’s face when I put the bed out. He was absolutely fascinated and had the biggest smile on his face! Both children slept on the flight. Abi slept in the bassinet for all of five minutes then spent the rest of her sleeping time on my lap! I took a couple of photos of them on the plane and in the business class lounge:


















The flight was really good in that, before I knew it we were here. It was only 3 hours 50 minutes but we actually landed 15 minutes early. We arrived in Doha on Monday (27th) morning at 6.15 and my mum was there to pick us up. My mum had also arranged for a service here called Al-Maha, who meet you straight off the plane and take you to a lounge and then they do all your paperwork and get your cases and everything. So, literally all you do is get off the plane and sit in a lounge and have tea, coffee and there were fruit and nuts and wait while they take care of everything. They took our passports and got our visas and then came to get us to take us out to my mum. Our cases and pushchair were there waiting for us. It’s amazing! Queuing up for ages is hard enough, but when you have two little ones, it is really hard! So, it was wonderful not to have that stress!!

My mum brought us to my parents’ house and you should have seen Dylan’s face when he walked in the front door. My mum and sister had set up a play area for Dylan and Abigail with two little tents, a play mat, cars, toys, a garage, books – it was amazing! Dylan ran straight over and started playing and I went and had a cup of tea with my mum and Mel. Here are a couple of pictures of the playroom (and our bedroom) before Dylan messed them up lol:





















In our bedroom, my mum had bought DJ a blue racing car bed, which he was also amazed with. He kept saying ‘my bed, my blue car bed!’ and there was a travel cot for Abi too. It was really lovely! My mum had to go to work, so we spent the morning with Mel. In the afternoon, my dad came home and picked us up and took us to the HUGE Toys R Us shop. We were looking for a ride on car for Dylan. They didn’t have what we wanted but my dad bought Abigail a little pushchair toy and a transporter for Dylan with some little cars inside. We left Toys R Us and headed to one of the shopping malls ‘Villagio’. We went into Hallmark which is only a small shop, but they have the swing cars (like the ride on car DJ has in India). They had a yellow one on the shop floor that DJ didn’t think twice about getting on and riding straight out of the shop and into the mall. My dad went running after him. He couldn’t quite believe how fast DJ was! LOL! My dad bought him a yellow swing car and Abigail (and Dylan) a giraffe that walks and makes a noise and lowers his head. We left Villagio and came home. Abigail had a nap and DJ played with his new toys.

On Monday night (27th) – our first night in Doha – DJ slept for 13 hours straight! He didn’t even wake up for a drink. Abigail slept well too. It must have been the journey – it really took it out of them even though it wasn’t long. It was probably from being interrupted from their sleep on Sunday night.

On Tuesday, we went out to Mega Mart, which is a huge supermarket. It was so nice to see all the familiar things again – salt and vinegar crisps, parsnips, and every chocolate bar you can imagine, baby food – you name it, they have it! So unlike the supermarkets in India! So, we did a bit of shopping and then we took the children into the small toy shop that is in the same building. Dylan made me laugh so much … he was in the main part of the trolley (and Abigail was in the seat) and as we went past a Hello Kitty shelf, he lent out and grabbed a pink and cream handbag. He put it on his arm and said ‘My bag mummy, I go shopping!’ it was too funny! After Mega Mart, we went up to Villagio (mall) and Mel took Dylan in the HUGE kids play area they have there. They had a great time – well DJ definitely did. I could hear him giggling constantly!! We called into a couple of shops and then we headed home so Abigail could have her nap. Dylan ended up having a sleep too. In the evening, my mum took us to pick up an electric car she had bought for Dylan. He was too tired when we got there to appreciate it but as soon as we got it home, he couldn’t wait to ride on it.

On Wednesday my sister and I and the children went out shopping. We went to City Centre Mall to go to Mothercare, only to find out that Mothercare closed down on Monday. We did some other shopping while we were there. It is such a huge mall though and took forever to walk from one end to the other. We didn’t get back home until 6.30 p.m so it was dinner and bed for the kids. My mum was out working until late last night so Mel and I waited till she came home and then had a cup of tea and then we all said we were going to bed. I came upstairs to ask my mum something and while we were talking, I asked her what was in this plastic box that was in her bedroom; she replied it was old photos from when we were kids. I started looking at them and Mel came in and looked too and then we sat there looking at photos, reminiscing and laughing at the crazy things my mum used to dress us (and herself) in! The funniest part of the photos were my mum and her sisters’ hairstyles (sorry Aunty Viv and Aunty Ann) but some of them were crazy!! We finally went to bed at about 11 p.m!

Thursday was a really relaxing day – apart from being woken at 5 a.m. DJ made a really loud noise in his sleep, which woke up Abi, who woke up me and then DJ got up. I couldn’t get either of them back to sleep so we ended up getting up out of bed and I took the children into the play room. Mel came downstairs at 6, but she wasn’t feeling well so she went back to bed.

At 11 ish Mel came downstairs again and then my mum popped home for lunch. I made DJ’s lunch at the same time and then we took my mum back to work so I could have her car. We were supposed to be going to the beach with my dad, but didn’t end up going … let me explain …

Here is the definition of love …
I didn’t want to go to the beach, but I know it’s my dad’s thing and he had offered to take the children and I for an hour today so they could have a swim. I thought it would be a nice opportunity for my dad to spend time with the kids so I said yes, even though I didn’t really feel like it. I don’t like going to the beach as I hate the sand (it gets everywhere), it’s so hot as there’s not much shade and the sea leaves you feeling really salty so it’s not something I choose to do. As it turned out, my dad had a lot to do and he wasn’t feeling up to it. He had mentioned to Mel he wasn’t feeling well but he was going to take us to the beach anyway as he had promised me and didn’t want to let me down.

I saw Mel in the kitchen and mentioned to her that I really didn’t want to go; she then relayed to me what my dad had said – so it turned out neither of us wanted to go but we were both still going to go because we thought the other person did want to go. How funny! I’m just glad I spoke to Mel as it meant we didn’t go to the beach. Both children ended up having a really long nap at lunch time – they slept from 12 until 3! I had to go and wake DJ up as I was worried he wouldn’t sleep that night.

In the late afternoon, I put up a paddling pool for the children next to the back door. My dad, sister and I sat outside with them while they had some fun splashing in the water. At about 5.30, my dad's friend Dave came over and DJ wanted to go upstairs and play cars in 'Gaddad's room' (my dad's television room upstairs), so he went upstairs with my dad and I played with Abi downstairs. At 6.30 I made them dinner and then got them ready for bed. My sister took some photos of them in the pool, this is the best one: .....














On Friday my dad went off early to go birding with his friends and my mum and I (and the children of course) went shopping! We went to a few malls and
We had another day shopping yesterday (Saturday). We left home at 10.30 and called at the tailors. I brought several items of clothes with me that either needed shortening or needed new buttons. My mum said to me that she would sew all the buttons on but I asked her why bother when it costs like a pound to get a button put on; plus, I didn’t have most of the buttons so it would cost that much to go and buy buttons and then sew them on ourselves.

After the tailors we went to the supermarket and then to a couple of malls. My mum spoilt the children buying Abi a little doll that laughs (Abigail loves it) and she bought DJ a new puzzle and a set of 18 little cars (which is his absolute favourite thing to play with). We also found in Toys R Us, a really cool material seat thing that you put in a shopping trolley before you sit the baby in. It makes it more comfortable and the baby has toys and things to play with. When you’re not using it in the trolley, you can lay it down and it’s like an activity mat. It’s really cool! We also bought lots of other bits including a bag full of books as we visited a book fair here. We came home laden with shopping bags and all exhausted. We had dinner and both children were asleep by 7!

I have a couple of photos of Dylan and Abigail in one of the shopping malls. We arrived at Landmard before the shops had opened so we walked down to the food area and Dylan had loads of fun running up and down the ramps. There are two HUGE elephant statues and Dylan was fascinated by them but it didn't take him long to notice an unattended counter with helium filled balloons just behind the elephants. He ran under the open counter and grabbed one of the balloons; my mum had to chase him in there and tell him he wasn't allowed in there. Anyway, he had a great time and spent a lot of time chasing, and being chased by, the other children who were there. Here are some photos:
























After the children went to sleep my sister and I went on the internet and did some shopping on Amazon which was fun! ☺ We ordered a couple of DVDs and books that should arrive in the next couple of weeks. I was so tired by the time I went to bed at 10.30!

On Sunday 3rd October (I cannot believe it is October already!) we went to a place called Garvey’s, which is a European family club, which has a restaurant and swimming pool. We decided to take the children swimming. DJ couldn’t wait to get into the pool, but he was so good and stood there while I put LOADS of factor 50+ suncream on him and dressed him up in a swim nappy, full bathing suit, armbands, sunhat – the works … I took a couple of photos before he went in ….


















Mel took DJ in the water, while I put cream on Abigail and got her ready to swim. We got in the pool for less than 5 minutes before Abi started crying to get out. I think she must’ve got sun cream in her eyes as she was really upset and crying and rubbing her eyes. I took her in the shower while Mel stayed with DJ in the pool. After getting myself and Abi dressed, we went back to find Mel and DJ who had got out of the pool and were now in the restaurant. There was no-one else in the restaurant and DJ was playing cars with Chris (one of the owners). There’s a ramp down into the restaurant and they were pushing the tiny cars up and down the ramp. Dylan was having a great time.

We had some lunch, which was really delicious and I fed Abi, who then went for a sleep. After eating Dylan and Chris were running around playing hide and seek and DJ couldn’t stop laughing. Chris was hiding behind a curtain and DJ kept ‘finding’ him. It was so funny because DJ couldn’t say ‘Chris’ – he kept calling him ‘Piss’ so he kept saying ‘Piss … curtain!’ Mel and I were laughing so much. Once Abi woke up from her nap, we headed home. We had such a lovely time (even though we didn’t swim much!) but we all came back absolutely exhausted!

I had bought DJ a swing and some small toys from Abi from a woman who was leaving Doha. The swing is an indoor swing but still probably too big to fit in Mel's car, so my dad went to pick up the items for me. He brought them all home and it was like Christmas not only for him and Abi but for me too. As it turned out when my dad got there to pick up the items, the woman told him she had other things for sale too and managed to convince him to buy a huge bag of puzzles and some musical toys and a few other bits. The swing is really cool - both the children love it. Here are some photos:
















On Monday we hadn’t planned to go anywhere although we were supposed to see a friend in the afternoon. As it turned out, we had got our wires crossed and didn’t end up seeing the friend because she thought we said morning and we thought she said afternoon! All a big mix up. We ended up going out in the morning anyway - we popped out to run some errands. Afterwards we took DJ to McDonalds play area. Abigail needed feeding so Mel took him in and then I joined her afterwards. Dylan has started to recognize the yellow ‘M’ for McDonalds and now whenever he sees it he says ‘yellow M, McDonalds, chips, nuggets, pop!’ – it’s so funny!! After McDs we came home and chilled out for the rest of the evening. Mel’s best friend Kat came over in the evening and got to meet DJ and Abi.

When it was bedtime, Kat helped me with bath-time and then she read a story to Dylan while I took Abi to put her to bed. What I have been doing at bedtime is - after their bath, read a story to DJ, then tuck him in bed and I then take Abigail into the living room to feed her and put her to sleep. Once they are both asleep, I wheel her travel cot back into the bedroom. They don’t seem to disturb each other through the night but to get them to sleep and first thing in the morning, just wouldn’t be possible if they were in the same room. Anyway, after feeding Abigail I came out of the living room expecting to see DJ still awake but Kat had got him to sleep! I was really shocked as she is a stranger to him yet he felt comfortable enough with her for her to read to him and then for him to fall asleep. She obviously has the knack! ☺

On Tuesday – I cannot believe I have nearly caught up with my blog – my sister and I stayed home with the children in the morning. First thing, I did some painting with Dylan. He painted a couple of items of ceramics and he loved it! While he was doing that Abigail watched a bit of television next to us so we didn’t paint for long but 20 minutes (or whatever it was) was long enough! At 3.30 p.m Mel had made an appointment for me to have an aromatherapy massage. We left home at 3.25 (the Thai Massage place is about 3 minutes drive from my parents’ house), and Mel looked after DJ and Abi in the entrance lounge while I had a massage. I have never felt pain like it – she cracked my back, my shoulders, my arms and fingers! She asked me how much I carry the baby as she said there is a lot of problem in my right shoulder and back! I do carry Abigail far too much! Anyway, the massage was nice, but also painful! She warned me that I would be in a lot of pain the next day … charming! ☺ She also kept apologizing but it was worth the pain! It felt really nice afterwards.

While I remember – I weighed both the children yesterday and DJ is 14 kgs and Abi is 10! My mum couldn’t believe that Abigail is nearly as heavy as Dylan lol!

I was so worried how the children would behave while I was having my massage, not because I didn’t think Mel could cope but because I was worried about other people who were there for treatments. As it turned out, Mel said both children were really well behaved and Dylan was so good that she had promised to buy him cars and trains. So, after the massage, we went to Toys R Us, which is just across the road from the massage place. Mel bought Dylan a new train and a pack of new cars. I bought some stickers for Dylan and two new tommee tippee cups. On the way home we picked up some chips for Dylan from McDonalds drive through. When we started to head home
On Wednesday (yesterday), I went out in the morning with my mum. She had a meeting in Landmark Shopping Mall, so she picked us up on the way. When we got there I went off and did some shopping and she went off to meet her clients. I find Doha has changed so much over the last few years. The shops are amazing and you can get pretty much everything here but, and it’s a big ‘but’ – things seem to be so expensive here! I don’t know if it is because we’ve been living in India where things are much cheaper so things seem more expensive here. I suppose it’s also because I’m on holiday; I’m buying things I wouldn’t normally buy. After Landmark, we called at Al Khaimer (the Tent) restaurant and picked up mezza for lunch. My mum dropped us back at home and then she went back to work. The afternoon passed by pretty quickly. DJ had lots of fun playing with his cars and Abigail had a nice nap. At 7 p.m both children had a bath and went to bed.

So that’s it. I have finally caught up with what we have been up to the last two weeks!! There are a few other things I want to write about quickly before I finish this very long post!

Dylan is doing so well with potty training. He is now fully potty trained. He doesn’t wear nappies at all any more. He has now had 5 nights straight with no nappies in bed and no wet bed! He goes through the night wearing his pants and every morning when he wakes up with a dry bed, I praise him so much and he responds by saying ‘No pee pees in the bed, pee pees in the potty!’ with a big grin on his face. Such a clever little boy! I am so proud of him!!

The other expression Dylan has started to say is ‘when the sun comes up’ and then he says what he wants. So, for example, the other day when he was talking to Penri on Skype he said ‘When the sun comes up, I go Aunty Mel’s car, I go shops and buy trains and cars’ … as I said – he knows what he wants lol. It’s also really good as he understands exactly what it means so when I put him to bed at night I can tell him ‘when the sun comes up we are going to go swimming and to the play area’ which is what I told him last night (as that is our plan for today).
Dylan is having such a lovely time with his grandparents and Aunt. He always continues to amaze me with the things he says and does and he is so wonderful; I feel so absolutely blessed ☺

Abigail, my other little blessing, is doing really well too. She is trying now to get herself into a standing position all the time. It’s good to see her getting so much stronger on her legs. She has also completely mastered the art of crawling and getting herself into a sitting position and then getting back ready to crawl. She is crawling really well now and she is so much more communicative with Dylan. They absolutely adore each other and it’s so beautiful to see! We still have our moments of jealousy from DJ but overall, he is really good with her. Abigail is now getting into EVERYTHING and she always wants what she is not supposed to have. I asked my mum the other day – how is it that babies know what they are not supposed to have?! Anyway, I now have to watch her like a hawk as she is so fast and so clever, she’s just like DJ was as a baby! ☺

I play a game with DJ where I pretend to sleep (by snoring) and he says ‘WAKE UP MUMMY!’ – it’s so funny because now when I do it, as soon as I start snoring Abigail makes a loud shouting noise too. When I pretend to wake up with a shock (because of her noise) she just giggles and giggles. It’s so cute!!

So, that’s about it from me now. I am so happy to have caught up with all my blog. I apologise again for being so rubbish at getting online and keeping up to date. I also apologise for any spelling or grammatical errors – I’ve been trying to hard to get this typed and I have had to start and stop so many times, so I’ve no idea how it reads. It’s been so busy here and I don’t always have access to a computer or the internet. I will be much better from now on! Thanks for reading ☺ Bye for now x

Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th September

I had a taxi booked this morning for 10 a.m but at 10.15 we were still waiting for the taxi. I was getting so annoyed as they never arrive on time. Tyagi was always prompt and although on the odd occasion was late, it was only by 5 or 10 minutes maximum. Finally got the taxi at 10.25 and headed straight to Thomas Cook as I needed to change some Rupees into Riyals or Pounds.

There was no point in taking the double pushchair out of the taxi to go into Thomas Cook as the driver parked close by but also there was no way I could have got the pushchair over the rough terrain and up the HUGE curb that there was. So, I put Dylan on his reigns. It's the first time I have used them in such a long time and he didn't like being restrained. But, it was too dangerous where we were – even the short walk to Thomas Cook from the car, there was traffic in all directions and it was really busy as next to Thomas Cook are all the different banks – ICICI, HDFC, RBS, India Bank etc. Anyway, you should have seen the looks I was getting for having DJ on his reigns! They were looking at me with disgust as if I'd put a dog collar on my child or something!

Thomas Cook was a disaster! The guy behind the counter wanted my Residence Permit, my passport, my visa, my air ticket and my bank card! I told him that I was changing cash and I didn't have any of those things – except my passport with me. He wouldn't accept that and basically said 'tough!' So, we left there and I tried to explain to the driver to take me to another money exchange but I could not make him understand what I wanted. In the end I gave up and asked him to take me to City Centre Mall. He dropped us off and I told him I would be a couple of hours as everything takes so much longer here anyway, and shopping with two little ones by myself is very hard!

We had a wander around a few of the shops and in particular, Lifestyle. While we were in there, a blonde lady came up to me and said 'hi'. We got chatting and her name is Sam and she's only been in Gurgaon for 10 days. Her and her family have just moved here from Canada and so she hasn't met anyone or been to the Gurgaon Connection stuff yet. I told her that I could give her lots of help – contact numbers, events etc. We exchanged numbers and I said I would call her later to arrnage for her to come over with her little girl. She seemed really lovely and I was happy to help her in the same way Alex helped me when I first got here. It's so difficult trying to get established, find things and especially meet people. Knowing where to go for things is the hardest thing.

Anyway, Sam seemed grateful to have someone who could help her. It is so funny because just before I met her, I had told Dylan what a good boy he had been and I would buy him some new cars (the little matchbox ones), so while I was talking to Sam, Dylan was looking at all the cars on the shelf. I was holding Abi on my hip because she was so tired but was having one of her funny moments where she wouldn't feed in public. Anyway, after I finished talking to Sam, I turned round and couldn't believe my eyes … Dylan had FILLED the pushchair (Abigail's seat was laid down as I had previously been trying to get her to sleep). It was absolutely jam packed full of every pack of cars off the shelf – the shelf was now empty! There must have been at least 70 packs of toy cars in my pushchair. Even funnier ... there was a woman who worked in the shop, who was standing a few feet away and just giving me the strangest look ever! I had to explain to DJ that I would buy him cars but not all of those … he could choose one pack! He seemed really disappointed when I started putting the cars back on the shelf lol

We left Lifestyle, having bought nappies and a pack of new cars and I managed to expalin to the driver that I wanted to go to another money exchange place. He finally understood me and took me to another company. They were happy to exchange money but had to order it in. They told me it would be ready at 6 p.m or I could pick it up the next day after 11. I told them I would be back on Friday as there was no way I was going to get in rush hour traffic – it would take forever!

We left the exchange place and came home. Before even going into our building DJ asked if he could go on the slide. Abi had fallen asleep and stayed asleep when I put her in the pushchair and it wasn't too hot outside so I thought, why not? So, off we went to the park … again. Third time in two days – not bad! While we were in the park, I had a really nice surprise – my friend, Pam from Chennai phoned. It was so lovely to talk to her and catch up and such a nice surprise! It really made my day :)

Raj Kumar arrived early today – at 2 which I was surprised about but it was fine. Abi went for her usual afternoon nap at 3 and Raj Kumar was able to help out with DJ while I took Abigail to sleep. When she woke up I took both children down to the shop and then on the way back to the park for just 10 minutes. While we were in the shop, I bought DJ a treat – a small can of Fanta. When he came and asked me to open it, I asked him 'What's the magic word?' and he looked at me as if to say 'I don't know!' I told him it was 'Please'. And now, every time he wants something he looks at me and says 'What's the magic word? Please!' … it makes me laugh every time.

While we were in the taxi earlier, I almost forgot to mention – Abi reached another new milestone! She clapped for the first time!! She spent the whole taxi journey figuring it out and practising – it was so cute!! Anyway, she's now got it down to a T – whatever does that expression mean?! My mum used to say it a lot but I actually don't know what it means – anyone know?!

When we got back from the park, the children played in DJ's bedroom and I sorted through all his clothes. He had quite a few things that he has grown out of, so I tidied all his drawers out and then we made dinner and I put the children to bed.

Friday 24th September

This morning I had a taxi booked for 10.30. Surprise, surprise – he was late!! We left home at about 10 to 11 and went to the money exchange via the bank. I picked up my money and we headed home.

Sam was supposed to come over this afternoon but she called to cancel because she was having a lot of problems with things that were supposed to be done this morning such as having air conditioners installed, having her gas connection, having deliveries of stuff etc etc. She told me that people kept turning up late for delivering and fitting stuff and then not actually doing what they were supposed to do so just leaving their tools and telling her they would come back! I felt so bad for her as I remember the first time we went to India we had the same problem. Everything just takes so long to get done here and as Sam was saying to me, when you get told someone is coming at 10 a.m you expect them at 10 – not at 4 p.m! Anyway, I was disappointed that she didn't come over, but I completely understand.

Penri worked from home today which was nice. The children and I didn't actually go out this afternoon. In fact, DJ was so tired by 3 p.m that he went for a nap! I wouldn't normally let him sleep in the day but he was just so tired that he couldn't stay awake! It did mean that at bedtime, he didn't sleep. He finally went to sleep at 10.30!

I don't know where this week has gone – it seems to have flown by and the weekend is here already. I'm looking forward to Ambience Mall tomorrow and I know Dylan is too. He keeps asking to go to the 'big shops' and on the 'yellow car'. I really think it's the highlight of his week. It also helps that Pen is there too because DJ gets to spend time with him.

That's about it from me today. Will write more after the weekend. :)

Wednesday 22nd September

It's been a quiet day today again. Decided not to go out of the compound as I knew I needed to go out tomorrow so I thought we could have one more day at home. I always worry when we don't get out for a few days at a time as it is a lot for Dylan and Abigail to be home all the time, especially DJ because he just loves going out. We spent a lot of time in the play room today and being at home these last few days has really helped Abigail. She now pulls herself up onto her knees. She tries to get up onto her feet but she's not quite mastered that yet. The fact that she is now wanting to get up and try to stand up is really good though.

I took the children to the park today. Dylan had a great time on the swing and see-saw. There were a few older children there on the climbing frame/slide set so DJ didn't go on it very much. When we left to come home, he was happy to walk towards our building but as soon as we reached it, he was asking to go on the slide again. When I told him no, he went crazy and started shouting at me saying 'No Mummy! No home!' I had to push Abi's pushchair with one hand whilst carrying Dylan under my other arm. It was really difficult.

Penri phoned me in the afternoon and I asked if I wanted to help him out with a bit of audio typing. I love audio typing – as long as the recording the clear so I said yes, no problem. When he sent the video over though, it was really difficult because not only was the recording not a fantastic quality, but the whole 40 minute lecture was about haemoglobin so I'd never heard most of the words in it! Pen had 12 videos to do and needed a quick turnaround so I got my sister on board to. She is even faster and better at audio typing than me, but she too found it to be a difficult task. Mel finished one video that evening, I finished two thirds of mine (and then Mel finished the last bit) and Pen finished a third of his. There was no way we could turn them around in the time span needed so Pen had to get some freelancers to do the rest. It meant though, that I was up until a stupid time in the morning – I think it was about 3 o'clock and Pen was up the whole night working. Mel didn't sleep either (as she continued mine after I had gone to bed). I was so tired the next morning, I could hardly lift my head off the pillow!

After Abi had her little nap and Dylan had eaten some lunch, we walked down to the shop. The weather has cooled down a lot and it's so much more pleasant now. After the shop, DJ asked me very politely if we could go to the park. How could I refuse?! So, I took them to the park again. Afterwards, we came home, changed and went over to Isaac's house. By the time we got there it was already 6 o'clock so we stayed for about 40 minutes and then headed home and I got the kids ready for bed.

Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st September

After a pretty good night, both kids slept in until 9 a.m! It was so lovely to have a lie in!

We had nothing planned today so we just relaxed around the house and I did all the housework. Raj Kumar had called to say he wouldn't be coming today as his wife had gone into hospital to have an operation and she hadn't been discharged. So, I ended up doing all the work around the house today. There seemed to be more because it was just after the weekend so it had piled up a bit; but regardless of that – there always seems to be so much to do! Anyway, apart from doing the housework, which I did while Abigail was having a late morning nap, all we did was sit in the play room playing which was nice and chilled.

Isn't it funny how we tell our kids things to make them consider the consequences of their actions? It normally works with Dylan – for example, I will say to him - “Tidy up all your cars or else mummy will put them in the bin!” and he will tidy them up. But today, it backfired on me. Dylan came to me in the kitchen with a car in one hand and four tyres in the other hand. One of his friends has taught him how to bite all the tyres of his toy cars and it drives me crazy!!! I have told him off again and again for doing it. Anyway, he brought me this car – which is one of his new ones and I turned to him and said “Oh no DJ, mummy told you not to bite the wheels off. It's broken now!” DJ replied “Mummy, fix it!” I told him I couldn't and that it was broken and I'd have to throw it away. I was hoping for a reaction that would stop him biting the tyres off. I'd only just emptied the bin and put a new bag in so I lifted the lid and threw the car in. I put the tyres on the kitchen sink but dropped one by accident. Dylan bent down, picked it up and put it in the bin!! Hmmm … so that didn't work out as planned. I then had to wait till he left the room before retrieving the car and fixing the tyres back on. I later sneaked it back into his box of cars.

Tuesday 21st September

Today we had another day at home. I decided as we weren't going out anywhere and we'd had two days at home now, I would do something really fun with the kids. Well, more with DJ but Abi could participate too. I set up a plastic cloth on the floor and got the paints out. Dylan had so much fun!! Abi was desperate to get in there and make a mess, but I kept her away. As you can see from the pictures below – Dylan loved painting himself as well as the paper. I managed to get a really nice picture of both their feet and hands. It was not easy … I got the paint on Abi's foot and before I could put it on the paper, she had grabbed her foot with her left hand so I was trying to hold her right foot, left hand and get some wet wipes before she got paint everywhere! :) After that, once I had done her foot and hand, I put her in the baby activity gym. I felt kind of bad for her watching on as Dylan painted but it was just too difficult with both of them.

















After painting Abi went for a nap and DJ watched some television before we made lunch. Pen went into work later on this afternoon so he came and spent a bit of time with the kids in the playroom which was nice.

At 4.30, we left home and went over to Isaac's house. We stayed for about an hour and Divya made the boys dinner but Dylan didn't really touch his so when we got home at 5.30 I gave Dylan something else to eat. He is funny about food sometimes! After dinner, we played and then I got the kids ready for bed. 7.30 and Abigail was asleep but DJ didn't get to sleep until about 10 p.m! He was in bed for all that time but he just didn't sleep! I kept going in to check on him and he was laid there wide awake! Strange! Anyway, he finally went off to sleep and by the time Pen got home at about 11 p.m I was also asleep.

Friday 17th, Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th September 2010

Friday 17th

It's Friday again!! Where does the week go?! I just can't believe how fast the time goes by. Sometimes I wonder how I fill my days especially when we have a day like today where we haven't actually gone out or done anything in particular, but managed to fill the day anyway.

As I mentioned above, we didn't go out today but stayed home and I played in the play room with the kids. I took a few photos of them and then a couple of videos too. Penri always says that I spend too much time living through my camera but I'm not – not only am I making memories for the kids when they are older (as they won't remember these early days), I am also sharing the children growing up with our friends and family via my blog and Facebook. I love looking at other people's photos and videos so I hope people feel the same about mine.

We got Tata Sky installed today so now have television in the living room! Up until now, the living room has been rarely used because there is no point sitting in there when there is nothing to do in there. It's quite cool; it means we have films, entertainment channels, kids tv and sports for Penri. Pen decided he was going to work from home today but then at 4 o'clock he said he had to go into the office as there was a problem.

The afternoon passed really quickly after that and before I knew it, I was putting the kids to bed and thinking about dinner for Pen and I.

Saturday 18th

I was up really early this morning. Both children were awake by 7 so I had to get up to sort them both out with breakfast, showers, getting dressed etc. Dylan is at the stage now where I need to convince him to get dressed. He just loves running around naked! Since we started potty training I have been letting him run around in just his pants (as it makes it so much easier to get to the potty quickly!) but now he is so good at going on the potty that even if he is wearing shorts, he can still get there in time. Anyway, in order to get him dressed I have to really emphasize how cool his clothes are so this morning, for example, I said to him 'WOW! Look DJ, Daddy's little monster on the t-shirt' and he looked at me for a second before getting into it too. He said 'WOW, monster' and allowed me to put the t-shirt on him. The shorts were a bit harder to persuade him with, but in the end we managed it. Got some cute pictures of him and Abi today in the playroom:























As we were up so early I managed to get a lot done before 9 a.m! I sorted out the rubbish and put it outside the front door as our rubbish gets collected every morning at 9 and if it's not outside, they ring the doorbell so I prefer to just have it there ready. I made brownies, I did two lots of clothes washing, washed the dishes, tidied up, replied to my e-mails and between all this managed to get the children washed, dressed and fed and into the playroom. Busy morning though! By 10 a.m when Abi went for a nap I was exhausted!

Alex phoned at about 10.30 and asked if she could pop over to pick up the suitcases I said she could borrow, which was fine as both Abi and Pen were sleeping and DJ was playing cars in his room. Alex arrived and had a cup of tea and a brownie and then about 10 minutes later Divya arrived with Isaac. The boys played for about 15 minutes before they left. They were going shopping and I had to get ready to go shopping too.

I got the pushchair and nappy bag etc ready by the front door then I got myself ready, then DJ and then when Abi woke up, I woke Pen up too. Off we went.

We went to the bank first as Pen was getting some money out for me to exchange into Riyals and because it was a Saturday morning, and we knew it would be busy, I waited with the children in the car. While we were sitting there, this man walked right up to Penri's car window and started really staring at the children. Then he got his mobile out and pretended to be looking at the motorbike that was parked next to our car. He was walking around and around it and kept glancing at the car. I knew what he was doing – he wanted to take a photo of the children on his phone. As I have mentioned in a previous post – I really don't mind people taking pictures of the children – if they ask, I always say yes. But, it really gets my goat when people try and take pictures slyly. It drives me crazy! So, this guy was still hanging around holding his phone and glancing at the car; I picked up the large sun screen visor thing we have and put it across the car windows so he couldn't see us any more. He walked away after that. Creepy!

Pen came back and we went to Ambience Mall … our weekly Saturday ritual. Food shopping first in Big Bazaar. We didn't actually need too much this week so Pen went to get his hair cut and took the pushchair (and Abi) with him and I took DJ with the trolley and whizzed around the shop. When Pen came to find me, he was pushing the pushchair with one hand and carrying an extremely red faced, snotty little Abi. She had been really crying bless her! As soon as she saw me, she was fine again. I think it's probably because one of the ladies in the hairdressers picked her up to hold her and she got a bit freaked out.

We finished the food shop and Pen took the stuff down to the car, while I took the children upstairs to the Food Court. Pen joined us and we had some lunch and then took DJ to the play area. Pen went off to shop and I went to sit opposite the play area to feed Abi (as she wanted to sleep). After about 10 minutes of sitting there, the man from the play area phoned me and said I needed to come. My first thought was DJ had run to the Early Learning Centre again, but I looked over (as I could see the play area from where I was sat) and I could see DJ playing quite happily. I phoned the man back and asked what the problem was as Dylan wasn't upset. The man said 'Toilet! Toilet!' Thinking that Dylan had a dirty nappy, I put Abi in the pushchair and walked over to the play area. When I got there, I saw what the problem was. His nappy wasn't dirty – it was wet – so he decided to take his shorts and nappy off and was running around the play area in only his t-shirt!!! I quickly grabbed a clean nappy and picked up his shorts and left a screaming Abi in the pushchair so I could go and dress Dylan.

I left again and went to sit and finish feeding Abi. She didn't go to sleep so when Pen came back, we all went to Reliance shop (including DJ who had had enough of the play area). We picked up a few bits in Reliance and then DJ was asking to go on the yellow car. We decided to let him go on the car and then we would head home. He had a quick ride on the motorised car and then we went for a quick drink in one of the big restaurants upstairs. They have lots of animals in there that move and make sounds. DJ has never seen them move before. He loves going to just look at the animals but we thought we would go and see if we could get them to switch the animals on.

DJ loved it – there was an elephant, giraffe, snake and monkey that all moved. There were other animals too which he loved going around and looking at. I wish I'd had my camera with me as Dylan's face was a picture. He was absolutely fascinated!!

We left the mall at about 4 and headed home. Abigail fell asleep in the car and for the first time in a long time I was able to bring her upstairs and keep her asleep whilst laying her in her cot. She was really tired!!

DJ and I played while Pen did some work and then Laura phoned and we all had a nice chat with her. The evening went pretty fast after that – before I knew it, I was making dinner and getting the children ready for bed. I was so tired that I thought I would get into bed and watch a film. I started watching the last Harry Potter film, which I have watched before but I ended up going into labour about half way through so I don't really remember it lol. I only managed about 10 minutes of the film before falling asleep!! I will watch it at some point :)

Sunday 19th September

It was raining really heavily this morning. We had decided to go out today as we wanted to go and buy a foot spa. We also wanted to go and check out this place in one of the shopping malls where you can put your feet in a fish tank and these little fish suck off all the dead skin. It sounds gross, I know!

Abi ended up having a really long nap this morning so DJ played in his room and I pottered around the house a bit. I spoke to Efi on Skype but unfortunately couldn't get my camera to work. It was really annoying as her little boy wanted to see and talk to DJ, but it didn't work. I tried to fix the webcam and couldn't so told her I would ring later.

We decided because it was already 12 p.m to have lunch at home before going out so I made food for Dylan, P and myself and dished Abi up a tiny bit of baked beans. She is still being fairly difficult with the food so I thought it may encourage her if she ate the same time as us and also had what we were having. It worked a treat! She loved the baked beans and ate them without me even mashing them up. After eating we set off down to the car. DJ was so excited to go out! He absolutely LOVES going anywhere – it doesn't matter where – he just likes to get in the car and go somewhere.

We went to City Centre mall and Penri had the foot thing done in the fish tank. It was the weirdest thing to see. As soon as he put his feet in, all these little fish swam to his feet really quickly and attached themselves to him. While Pen was getting his feet done, I took the children upstairs to the toy shop and then we went into a gift shop called Archie's. I ended up buying myself a new watch, which is something I've been wanting to buy for a while. Afterwards we went back to see Pen, who was nearly finished. He said it felt amazing afterwards and persuaded me to do it as well. He told me if I didn't try it, I would regret it, so I did. It is the weirdest feeling … you can't describe it. It doesn't hurt – it just really tickles and it's a really odd sensation. Lots of people stopped and asked me if it hurt and what it felt like. I must admit, it looks worse than it is. After about 10 minutes, your feet kind of go numb anyway. I managed to find a picture on the internet to explain better what it looks like:















We left the mall as I had to feed Abigail and there was nowhere really suitable. I fed her in the car while we were in the car park. As it turned out, it took us about 20 minutes to get out of the car park as a car had blocked us in. We were totally stuck in this space with no way of getting out. There was a man with the car that had blocked us in but he said he couldn't move it. After about 10 minutes – and Penri getting more and more angry, the man next to us went to phone the driver of the car that was blocking us. He came and moved his car – no apology or anything! Penri just lent out of the window and said 'nice parking, idiot!'

We went to Spencers shop where we bought a foot spa and a few little grocery bits. We finally got home at 6. The children were relieved to get back in that, as soon as I put them in the playroom, they both happily started playing. I changed nappies and got them ready for bed and then let them play until it was time to go to sleep. They both went to sleep early, with no problems! DJ slept right through until 6 a.m! Abi woke up a fair few times in the night, but it wasn't too bad as I myself had gone to sleep at 8 as soon as they were in bed :)

Thursday 16th September

It's been a busy day today again. I'm just trying to get stuff sorted before going to Doha so I know I can leave without having to worry about things. I cleaned out the maid's/storage room this morning and mopped the floors then I moved all the cases and boxes back in – now all sorted out though. DJ was so cute! He kept trying to help me and saying 'DJ suippase' (cause he can't say suitcase). He was pushing all the empty cases down the corridor. I was really lucky as Abigail had a nice long nap for about an hour and a half, which gave me enough time to move all the boxes and cases. Now the room looks like this:


















It's so much better than before and I know now exactly what is in there and where everything is. I also know now exactly what is missing from our cargo. It seems ridiculous but I keep noticing things that haven't arrived, but they are really silly things like Abigail's jungle play mat (which I have all the toys from but the mat is missing) and a deep pan baking tray and a little box that had stuffing and pancake mix in. As I said, just silly things but things that I am slowly noticing aren't there.

When I finished moving all the cases, I went and had a shower and while I was in the bathroom Abi woke up. Perfect timing! I'm so happy I got the maid's room/storage room done as it is one more thing off my list!

With Abi awake now, I was able to tidy up the play room. I had previously moved one of the children's toy storage units into DJ's room as I was fed up of picking up toys from all over his bedroom and having nowhere to put them, but as it turned out – moving storage into his room just made it worse. It gave him the impression that he could bring even more toys into his bedroom and it was just getting chaotic! So, I moved it back into Abi's room and tidied up all the toys. Then we chose a select few to move into DJ's room in a large bucket, which is how he used to have a selection of toys. It's handy to keep tidy and easy to swap them over and get different toys. The playroom looked brilliant … for about 10 minutes lol. It just never stays tidy!

When Raj Kumar left at 5, we went downstairs too. We walked to the veg stall to get some things for dinner. After getting what I wanted, I said to DJ 'come on let's go home' to which he replied 'no home!' He wanted to go to the main shop or the park – or anywhere I think other than home! We had to come home though because of the time … as soon as I told him he could wash all the veg, he was happy to come home :)

When we got back, Abi wanted to sleep so I asked DJ to watch Dora for 10 minutes while I took Abigail to put her to bed. He sat watching Dora and eating peas out of the pod! Abi fell asleep relatively quickly and then I went to see DJ. He wanted to jump on the trampoline so we went into his bedroom and played for a little while. Abi didn't sleep long and then she came and played in DJ's room too. The doorbell rang at 6.30 and it was Isaac with Divya. The boys played for about 10 minutes and then they left.

I hadn't realised the time – I was so late making dinner so I got to work quickly and made Dylan something to eat. I then took Abi for a quick bath and got her dressed for bed, then it was Dylan's turn. Into pyjamas and ready for bed. It took quite a while to get them both to sleep. Abigail finally fell asleep just after 8, but DJ was up until about 10 p.m when I laid down next to him with all the lights off and then he went to sleep.

So, the potty training is going amazingly well. In fact, it's fair to say that at home Dylan is completely potty trained! He even gets out of bed to use the potty! He wears pull up nappies now, which he can take off but can't put back on so I keep going into his bedroom to find him with no trousers or nappy on. At least he is using the potty though! I cannot believe it only took 5 days to potty train him – he's brilliant!!! I'm still not sure how to go about the next step of taking him out in pants instead of nappies, but we will get there. I'm not in any rush – he is happy using the potty whenever he can and I am happy that he is really comfortable with it.

Weaning, I'm sorry to say, is not going at all according to plan! Abigail is just not interested in being weaned. The last three times I have tried to give her food, she has tightened her mouth completely shut, she shakes her head from side to side really fast so it's impossible to get any food in her mouth and she bats the spoon away with her hands!! I just don't know what to do. I don't want to force the issue because I want her to enjoy food but she just doesn't want it! She will happily eat something that she can hold in her hand such as bread or biscuit or cereal but she just won't eat anything off the spoon! HELP! Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Well, that's about it from me today. I'm exhausted and hoping for a good night. Will write more tomorrow x

Wednesday 15th September

It was the weirdest morning today … I woke up at 4.45 to feed Abi and she wouldn't go back to sleep. I finally got her back to sleep at 6 and I went back to bed. Now normally, she would wake up between 7 and 7.30 which is when I usually bring her into our bed but I woke up and heard her talking away to herself in her cot. This was at 8.15!! She was really happy – she was just chatting and gurgling away and I kept thinking to myself, any minute now she is going to start crying, but she didn't! At 8.30, I went in to her room to see her and she just beamed at me! So cute!!

I got her out of bed and before we even got out of her bedroom, DJ was there too! I think he may have been awake for a while and just waiting till he heard us pottering about before coming out of his room. Both of them were so happy and it was really lovely. Not that they are not normally happy – but this morning they seemed super happy!

Anyway, we came through to the kitchen and made breakfast. Abi managed a bit of banana porridge and DJ had banana with toast and a bit of cheese. Then I set about getting our things ready. I had ordered a taxi for 10 a.m and I wanted to be ready to leave as soon as it got here. Abigail went to sleep at 9.20 which is good because it meant she could have half an hour before we left to go shopping.

The taxi was here on time and we went downstairs. Before we hit the mall we had to go to pick up some things I had bought from a lady in Sector 46! I've never been that side of Gurgaon before and it was really strange as it was all unfamiliar and new. The driver found her house really easily and we went in for 10 mintues just to pick up everything. She is leaving Gurgaon so I bought a few new packets of pull up nappies from her, 5 tubs of Sudocrem :) which I was thrilled about as I haven't seen it here and a baby paddling pool. After leaving her house we headed to Ambience Mall. Halfway there and I realised – how stupid! - I had forgotten the pushchair! I couldn't believe it … I had two choices – I could turn and head home to pick it up or I could try and manage.

Just then Penri phoned and told me he would meet me at Ambi which was brilliant! I asked him to bring the double buggy with him, which he said he would. We arrived at Ambience Mall in good time and just as we were walking in, Pen phoned again. He said he wasn't going to meet me after all. So, I walked the length of the mall to Gate number 7 to get a mall pushchair. You can pay a deposit and borrow a single pushchair, which I thought I would absolutely HAVE to do if I was going to get any shopping done. Abigail is getting so heavy now that I just can't carry her for any length of time.

We got to Gate 7 and no pushchairs! They told me to go to Gate 5 so we walked down to the next Gate. They told me I had to go to Customer Care (which is between Gate 7 and Gate 5) so we walked back up again. Poor DJ – his little legs were struggling already and we hadn't even started shopping!! We got to the Customer Care desk and she told me to follow her to Gate 7! Again! So we walked up there and FINALLY got a pushchair. I put Abi in and then gave DJ a piggy back up to the third floor so we could get some lunch. I couldn't believe it was already 10 to 12 and I hadn't started looking around the shops.

As we were sitting eating our food I was looking at Dylan and Abigail and it occurred to me! They were straight out of a Mothercare catalogue. Both of them fully clothed from head to toe in Mothercare clothes. I still can't believe the amazing deals I got when we shopped there on Sunday! :)

After our lunch, I put Dylan in the play area and gave my mobile number (as always) and told them to call if there were any problems. Abi and I went into Mothercare – again – I know i'm a shopaholic! But there were no sale items. I asked one of the members of staff but he said there was just one rail left of sale items. I'm so glad I went there on Sunday!! Anyway, I bought what I went in for which was some plastic bibs for Abigail as the material ones just get really mucky and stained too quickly! I also bought two new PINK bottom sheets for her cot. She has been using Dylan's old ones so she's had cream, brown and blue ones till now. I thought it would be nice to get her some of her own new ones :)

Leaving Mothercare Abigail started screaming because she was really tired! I could hear DJ screaming in the play area but for a completely different reason – he was having a blast and screaming and shouting with joy! :) I sat behind the play area and fed Abi, who fell asleep within 10 minutes then I checked on DJ, who was totally fine and I went into Reliance. I'd only been in there for about 5 or 6 minutes when my mobile rang. It was the play area and they asked me to come back. I left the shop immediately and went back to the play area. When I got there Dylan wasn't there – I asked the staff where he was and they pointed across the walkway to Early Learning Centre. I went into ELC and you won't believe the sight that met my eyes! Dylan was on a pink tricycle carrying a huge blow up dinosaur under his arm and riding around the shop. There were about 5 members of ELC staff watching him and talking to him. Luckily the mall was really quiet today and there weren't actually any other customers in the shop. I apologised again and again to the staff, who told me that he was no problem and if I wanted to go and continue shopping I could leave him with them!!! I laughed and told them thank you, but it was ok, I would take him with me. Dylan was having a ball!!! And having all these people running around after him, he was just giggling and laughing away to himself.

I decided to buy him the blow up dinosaur because he loved it so much. He kept hugging it and kissing it and saying 'Ah!' - it's as tall as he is! We left ELC and went back to Reliance where I picked up a few bits. Dylan was SO good bearing in mind he had no pushchair and he had been on the go since 8.30 this morning and walking and playing and burning up lots of energy! After Reliance I said to DJ 'Let's go in the taxi and we'll go home!', his reply was 'No home, DJ yellow car!' - he wanted to go in the motorised car they have near the play area and do you know what? Maybe I spoilt him a bit today, but I thought why not? He had been so good and deserved all the little treats he had today. So, we went back to the play area and he had a ride on the orange car (the yellow one wasn't available).

When he finished, we bought food for Penri and went downstairs to take the pushchair back and to get our taxi. You would think my story of our shopping trip is nearly finished but it's not quite. We got back to 'Customer Care' and Abi was still sleeping and the pushchair was loaded up with bags and nappy bag and handbag etc. I asked the woman if I could take the pushchair down to the main door as I couldn't carry everything and a sleeping baby; and DJ was getting really tired now and struggling to keep up with me walking. She told me that I couldn't take the pushchair and had to manage. I asked her if she would mind walking with me and she told me she wasn't allowed to leave her station. I pointed out to her that when I picked the pushchair up, she walked with me to Gate 7 to go and get it and the station was unmanned, she wasn't too impressed at this. She then turned and started serving someone else. I waited a few minutes and it was obvious she was going to finish serving the other person, so I took Dylan's hand and walked away.

I went into Body Shop which is just next to where the desk is and I bought a couple of bits, I then went back to see her to return the pushchair. I phoned the taxi and asked him to come to Gate 5 instead of the front (as it was much closer to where we were). She then told me off for putting bags on the pushchair handle. She said 'It is only for baby, not for bags'. I looked at her totally shocked and said 'Do you have children?' She replied that no she didn't and she wasn't married. I said to her 'Just you wait and see' and nodded my knowing look at her. I apologise if I offend anyone who doesn't have children but anyone who has been shopping by themselves with a toddler and a baby will know just how hard it is shopping, let alone trying to carry bags and manoeuvre a pushchair whilst keeping hold of the toddler! Anyway, I lifted Abi out of the pushchair, picked up my shopping, got DJ's hand and went outside to Gate 5 to wait for the driver. We were waiting for about 10 minutes and when I phoned him to ask where he was he told me he was waiting at Gate 5, to which I replied that I was standing outside next to Gate 5 and he was not there! Why lie?! 2 or 3 minutes later he turned up.

We went to Penri's office as he needed his credit card (which is why he was going to come to meet me at the mall earlier). We were there for about 15 minutes. At 5 to 3, Pen asked me if the Kumar was coming today! DAMN! Yes in 5 minutes! So, we said goodbye to Pen and piled into the car to head home. I called Raj Kumar to tell him we were on our way. Luckily, it only took about 6 or 7 minutes to get home.

Abi went for a quick nap and DJ and I unpacked the shopping and talked to Nanna and Aunty Vivian on Skype. At 5 p.m when R.K left, we also went downstairs to go to the vegetable stall to buy something to cook for Dylan's dinner. I made Dylan's dinner late tonight – started cooking at about 6 p.m. He had a bit of dinner but then the doorbell rang and it was Isaac so Dylan abandoned his food and went off to play. Abigail refused to have any food tonight. I had made her carrots and cauliflower mashed together but she wouldn't have ANY of it! I didn't force the issue, just left it.

At 10 to 7 both children had a bath, hair wash and got into pyjamas. Dylan asked to watch 'Thomas the Tank Engine' which is really odd because he has never really liked it before now. I mean he loves the idea of Thomas but actually watching it has never appealed to him. I think it is targeted at kids a bit older. Anyway, I put it on for him and tucked him in at about 7.15. Abigail went to sleep at 8.15 and I checked on DJ and he was asleep too. I then came on my computer and typed to Mel on Skype for a bit whilst catching up writing my blog and adding photos and videos on FB. And that has been our hectic, but good day! Now I am going to call it a night! Will write tomorrow x