The Maiden Voyage

While NB was fast asleep in her swing (with a low probability of waking for hours as she was full to the brim with breast milk), I decided to take her big brother and sister outside. The winds have died down, and I feel it is important for them to occasionally breathe air that isn't artificially chilled.

With Malou's help to load (and unload) baby N, we popped him into the push tricycle. Little A was content to push, until we got to the curb of the sidewalk outside our villa, where she suddenly realized a desire to ride her OWN bike. So, we had to turn around and go back and get it. Unfortunately, I did not get the camera again.

Baby N had a few "I'm the king of the world" Titanic moments (where he then had to be pushed back down into a seated position), and overall seemed to really enjoy the experience. It was a delight to see his big sister making an effort to use her own legs to pedal her bike (though she got fwustwated many times when the unlevel sidewalks of Raha Gardens caused her to lose traction and made her pedalling useless).

It was a very short ride (about five minutes), but we all really enjoyed it.

Punjabi Chef

It seems that the wind has been blowing for over a week now. We are supposed to be taking NB S outside for some 'phototherapy'--but with the extreme winds, that hasn't been happening. For the first few days, there was a great deal of sand blowing around as well (which isn't good for anyone's respiratory system).

Sunday night, NB S experienced her first 'storm'. We had sheet lightning, and a pittance of rainfall--a whopping four minutes of downpour. Had we lived on the other end of Raha Gardens (which Peter tells me is 5 km away), we would have had four HOURS of rain (I love rain!!). However, it was enough to keep the sand down and I am grateful for that (probably not as grateful as Malou who is on the front-lines in the sand war).

But the wind continues to blow, and I want to take the babes outside for a walk--but nobody wants to walk a newborn in a crazy windstorm.

I am happy to report that my feet are returning to their normal 'cute' state. The children can actually step on my feet without causing me extreme pain, and I think I could actually slip on my Birkenstocks again (if I actually was going anywhere). I have also enjoyed walking up and down the stairs a few times, without having to use the railing to hoist myself up each step--that's how much the pain in my hips has subsided. Yahoo!!

Today, in an effort to use what little groceries we have in the house (thank goodness I put 'grocery shopping' as a priority the day before NB S was born) I made some Indian food (North Indian to be specific--which I have discovered living out here that you must be). I attempted to make aloo, mutter with paneer (translation: potatoes and peas with indian cottage cheese).

Last week, we discovered that a bunch of lovely tomatoes had gotten bruised and battered in the fridge. So, I took a page from my mom's book of 'waste not-want not', cut off all the bruised bits, chopped them into small cubes and stored them in a ziploc container in the fridge (see--I'm not totally my mom yet as she would have likely put them in a ziploc bag in the freezer). This week, I have been worried that the tomatoes that I saved from the garbage, would STILL end up in the garbage (but with extra efforts wasted on prepping them). I found some big potatoes under the sink and we generally always have onions. So, despite the time limits I have (as I am usually attached to NB S, nursing in a chair), I made an effort to get organized and make this dish (which involved quite a bit of juggling).

Boy--was it worth it! Both of the 'food critics' in this house (Peter and Malou) were very happy with the results. Malou continues to ask me if I have written the recipe down for this (to which I reply 'no--I just went with what came out of my head'--of course based on my mom's recipes, but I had to guesstimate all the spice amounts as I had a LOT of tomatoes to use!!).

We sent Malou off in a silver taxi to do the grocery shopping (this is the second day in a row that Peter has asked if we REALLY need the groceries--to which I replied: only if we actually want to eat). I am not driving yet or I would go myself. This worked out really well, as she knows what we need in the fridge, and she gets out of the house to do something different. The timing was poor, as in the evenings groceries are pretty picked over (for example, there was no lettuce left), but it meant that we got in our family time, despite the fact that Peter also had a late meeting AND an evening meeting as well.

Today, Phinn has been eating a diet of rice and egg to help his settle his tummy. N has learned that he can climb and sit on top of containers. A has been working on 'sharing' with N and NB S has learned she prefers the banana flavour of Salinol to the (minty?) Ovol drops.

Tomorrow I think I will make some pasta sauce with the remainder of the tomatoes. Pretty low on the 'labour intensity' scale. Additionally, I have to start preparing for NB S's 'First Moon Birthday' which we are hosting (a week early) on Friday.

A picture for Naniji

It feels good to be getting things done around here. On Saturday we finally made hand & foot prints for all of our little ones (to fill the various frames and growth charts that accompanied the kits).

On Sunday I decided enough was enough of baby N's wild and carefree hair look, and it was time to take care of things once and for all. So, with my helpers (little A and Malou) we moved his Stokke chair out into the garden (where Mother Nature could help with the clean-up), got out the scissors, and trimmed him into a whole new (cute) baby.

I was a bit apprehensive about going too short. I am by no means an expert hairdresser (my parents didn't let me take Beauty Culture in high school although I really wanted to). However, the results were smashing and he has been complimented many times (okay, okay--so it's only by little A, Malou and Peter...but every little bit counts). I am quite proud of my own work (and hope that it won't be a one off).

Here is a picture for Naniji. I have a similar picture of little A suckling on her thumb too (but it never took--she prefers the pacifying effects of the 'soo-bee' over her own digits). My mom insists that I must've posed the the picture and then snapped it. I didn't back then, and I haven't now either mom. Here is NB S, sucking her thumb--so very cute. Nice to see that her habit of keeping her hands on her face in utero (thus making 3D ultrasounds very difficult) continues on.

Here Comes Peter Cotton-tail...

...Hopping down the bunny trail! Hippety, hoppety, Easter's on its way!!

We have been busy 'taking care of business'. We spent Thursday at Abu Dhabi Mall, where the Canadian Embassy is located. Our intention was to kill a few birds with one stone: we had to apply for NB S's passport, use up some gift certificates (before they expired, which was happening soon) and see if I could return/exchange some baby bottles we had purchased, which we weren't going to be using (as NB S seems to be on board with breast-feeding).

I was a bit uncomfortable taking NB S out to THE MALL when she was so small (just two weeks old), but Peter insisted we needed to get moving on the passport and citizenship card. So, we had the whole morning planned out:

1. Peter goes early in the morning to get our friend Zee to notarize NB S's passport photos.

2. We go to Peter's office and pick up NB S's birth certificate (which was supposed to be ready by 9:30).

3. We head to AD Mall at a low traffic time, and drop off the application and supporting documents. We need to take NB S, because they have to look at her to see that she is actually the baby in the photograph (naively, I wondered why--I guess the concept of 'raising terrorists' is still very unreal to me--that's the kind of world I choose to continue to live in).

4. We do our other mall errands (which I have decided is: H&M and Premaman)

5. We are back home by noon.

Guess how far we got down the list before there was a problem?

Number 2.

The guy at Peter's office who was supposed to have this birth certificate done on Wednesday (and then by 9:30 on Thursday) didn't manage to hit any of these 'deadlines'. So, we ended up waiting for HIM til 11. Then we had to rush, because the embassy closed at NOON.

Number 3: Well--though we came prepared with ALL of our paperwork (and our baby), it seems that we need to APPLY to APPLY for citizenship (do you follow?). As there are new rules with respect to citizenship, everyone who applies for citizenship has to fill out an application to determine whether they are eligible to apply for citizenship--you know--so that nobody is wasting anybody's time (hmmmmm...does this sound EFFICIENT to anyone??). So--basically, we will be going back to the embassy once again (after they approve our application to apply for citizenship).

And--then the rest of it went well. We got A a ballerina dress at H&M, and Premaman allowed me to exchange our baby bottles for a nursing bra (which I desperately needed). As an added bonus, we even managed to spend our AD Mall GC's (unexpectedly pleasant!) on a Plasma-carfor A (which will get passed down the line).

Now--just a side note about the Plasma Car. The first store we saw it in was closed (surprising). Peter thought it would be a great way to spend our certificates. So, when we saw another one at Gulf Greeting, we were pretty happy. Peter tried to get A to sit on it (to see if she would drive it) and she refused. Then I noticed that this was not a REAL Plasma-car, but something called the "Wiggle Car"--a poor knock-off. So, we decided due to the lack of interest and the fact that it wasn't the original prize-winning car, to pass. However, on our way back to the car, we noticed that the store that had been closed only minutes before, was now open. We decided to check it out, and found that the REAL Plasma Car they sold was actually cheaper than the knock-off--and this persuaded us to take the plunge and buy the car. If A never rode on it, we had two more that might give it a go down the line.

We got home (finally) much later than expected (around 2 pm). After A's nap we started on some Easter crafts (she really likes crafts). When they were done, and I was cleaning up, A toddled over to the car, hopped on and began riding it.

I was amazed. Now I know why this car has won awards!!

Look out Mario Andretti!

The First Bath

When I was put on bed-rest with Little A, my co-workers from Donnan put together a lovely gift package for me, that contained all sorts of things to keep me busy while I was lying around. I really enjoyed the thoughtfulness of it all (there were all kinds of yarn and patterns for knit and crochet--something I was learning at the time). My friends Matt and Marci brought it over to the house at lunch-time, along with lunch. Matt took Phinn out for a quick walk, and I had a great visit to break-up my day (otherwise, it was a lot of me, my knitting needles and Smallville). All the gifts were packed up neatly in a little blue First Years baby bath-tub. We have gotten a lot of use out of that tub, and each and every one of my babies has had their first bath in there.

The 'Helpers' playing with peacock feathers

Today, we took the time to give NB S her first massage and bath. They actually did not bathe her in the hospital as they said she was very clean (plus, Nurse Cecile told me that the NICU was 'toxic' because there were several really sick babies in there, and they likely wanted to limit the exposure the healthy babies had to them). We have not been in a rush to give her a bath--our priority has been feeding and sleep (for New Baby, not me). Peter has taken two more days off, today and Wednesday (he'll be back to golf, errr...make that WORK...on Thursday) so we decided today would be a good massage and bath day.

Who doesn't love a good massage?

The massage was very successful. Using ancient massage techniques passed along to me through the Hindu collective unconscious (and reinforced at the Bonnie Doon New Mom's Group), NB S had a very successful and enjoyable massage (as evidenced by the quiet contemplative looks, the pee and the poo).

Rub-a-dub-dub!

We are also pleased to have our first baby who enjoyed the water from the first immersion. Although A & N love it now, both of them were quite unhappy in their first bathing experiences. We wrapped her up, brushed her hair and she slowly drifted off to sleep. I thought she might enjoy some milk before heading to dreamland, but apparently the whole experience was very relaxing and enjoyable for her.

Off to dream-land

What does 700 aed of chocolate look like?

In the west, when you have a baby it's traditional to pass out cigars. When we had little A, we bought our 'cigars' from Bernard Callebaut, and they were pink.

Here, in the east, the tradition seems to be to buy one of these large chocolate baskets (there are specialty stores dedicated to making them) and to supply enough chocolate for a small country. We bought one when baby N was born, all in shades of blue, with a sweet little blue teddy bear on top. As these come from 'local' shops, you often need someone local to do the purchasing for you. Peter's employee, Musabah, organized both the baskets for baby N and NB S on our behalf. He also loaned us his personal gift basket (apparently, locals just BUY a basket that is re-used) to fill with chocolates.

As if she isn't sweet enough!!

NB: I only got to keep about 8 of these chocolates, and the teddy bear (for NB S's keepsakes). Let me tell you--I have yet to find a chocolate here that has HALF the flavour of a Bernard Callebaut bar. The Patchi just doesn't do it for me.

Braveheart

Our own William Wallace

This morning it was a bit sad to see Peter get dressed and head off to work. With both little A and baby N he took an entire month off of work to spend some time at home bonding and helping out. However, this year 'we' decided (or someone decided--I'm still on the fence) that 'we' would save his vacation time for a summer trip back to Canada. With a friend's wedding and Peter's sister getting married, it is a good summer to return (two big events), but I'm still nervous about how I will manage with three children. I guess today will be a good test (although not really, b/c I am still very dependent on our helper to lift baby N when required, and to do anything that requires going up and down stairs).

Professional Pudding Painter

(she even has a bowl of pudding on the side for eating!)

Speaking of our helper, we have just given her a little raise, and thus ensured her happiness for the next year or so. We have also confirmed that she will be going home for a holiday in August, during Ramadan, and thus we will be back here during Ramadan. I have mixed feelings about this, as it will be seriously hot outside, but Peter will also be working "Ramadan hours," so he will leave home for work later and come home earlier (so, more 'family time'). The alternative, is that myself and my three children will spend August on our own in Canada. I know that many ex-pat families do this, but I am not interested in separating our family for a month (unless it is absolutely necessary).

We had a very nice weekend. As predicted none of our guests showed up on Friday (so we did some finger-painting--baby N's first time). On Saturday we were visited by Uncle Pete and his new friend Maia (a Goan lady from Southern California). Maia is here on a contract and seems to be considering whether this is a place where she would like to relocate her family. She seems to be a lovely lady and very knowledgeable about a great many things (which Peter tells me is a very 'Indian' trait). We had a long visit, and ordered delivery from India Palace for lunch.

'Iz-me' and 'Mini-iz-me'

NB S is settling in to our home. She is a lovely baby, and has even learned that diaper changes can be nice and pleasant experiences that are not to be confused with Chinese water torture. Everyone in our home adores her. I'm not sure who is MORE protective of her, little A or Phinn. Little A often sits and plays quietly around her, and the minute she makes a peep, it's a race between the big sister and the big (chocolate pomeranian) brother to get to her first. Little A makes sure that Phinn does not harass NB S by being overly affectionate. She has learned to say 'Phinn OFF' with a great deal of authority (and kindness). Baby N is still not overly interactive with the new baby, but considering his fine motor skills and limited ability to grasp the word 'gentle', this is preferable. Still, whenever NB S is presented to him, she never fails to bring a six-toothed smile to his face.

I need to take a minute and commend Phinn on his maturity. This is the first time we've brought a baby home (and it seems over the years we have brought many--not just our own, but our friends' babies who have come to visit as well), that Phinn has not gone 'crazy' and needed to stay outside of the home. When little A was born, we had to put him on meds to help him calm down, and he had to spend some time with our neighbours (Colin and Caroline--we miss you!!) so the meds could kick in. With baby N, even WITH the meds (which we introduced before bringing the baby home), Phinn was a panting, barking mess, and had to spend a few days with our helper in her room. This time I didn't bother with any meds and just figured he could spend some time in our helper's room, but it wasn't necessary. He was very excited to meet NB S, but there was no barking or panting. He came, he saw, he loved, and he left her alone. We still have to watch him as he will jump up on the sofa to see her (that's where she is sleeping most of the time), but as already mentioned, he is often countered by NB S's big sister.