Sponge

I know that I have been blogging a lot lately about our Lily and Monet has taken a bit of a backseat here.  However...

Our five year old daughter is doing stuff that is making us proud (and sometimes a little irritable) but she's our Monet and we do love her dearly.  Even if I am currently working on a 'Star sticker' system for her behaviour! (She can earn up to 3 stars a day to get a present after a certain number is earned. Currently it seems to be working.)

She is blitzing school.  True dinks.  She is really enjoying it, loves her (young) teacher, has a 'best' friend and is learning so much.   

I was thrilled the other night when Monet actually read a book to me.  To me.  For five years it has been me reading to her so it was lovely for her to be reading to me.  Sure it was about Clifford The Big Red Dog running (and winning) a race against Mac the Dog, but it was a book all the same and she read it to me.  I could have cried.  

And after spending the past four years with Monet in the pool, first using floaties, then a swim vest and her being paranoid getting her face wet, now she can swim underwater!  She does swim lessons at school and even after only a handful of lessons she is doing so well.  Lyndon is usually the one who takes her to the pool at our place so he is rapt!

Monet went on her first school excursion today...to all places, 'Children's world' in Dubai!(Who goes to Dubai on their first school 'field trip'?)  There they saw a little play about the five senses which they are learning about.  She said she had a great time and was rather pleased with herself for not falling asleep on the bus on the way home! (Dubai is 150 kilometres from Abu Dhabi.)

She can count fluently to ten in Arabic and French and sings songs and says words in both languages.  She is learning to write the numbers and letters in both languages too.  

Makes you realise how much of a sponge the brain is when you're a kid, if given the opportunity.  

We're proud parents (its my blog so I can gloat), but we are still ironing out some current 5 year old behavioural problems, but we're getting there.  S L O W L Y.

Yas & Saadiyat Islands. Been there, done that.

We took a family drive yesterday...

Even though we couldn't get into the circuit, to actually see parts of it was jaw dropping.  They built the whole area from scratch in less than 3 years and it looked amazing...

That is a sneaky photo taken from in our car of the marina area of the Circuit. The pointy white bits are some of the Grand Stand seats and that big impressive building is the Yas Hotel.  (I don't know if you saw any of the footage of the race last weekend, but at night the 'covering' of the hotel is array of colours and looks spectacular.)  Parked right next to it was the Head Honcho Sheihk's Boat.  No photos are allowed and I didn't want to risk being thrown in jail by taking a snap.  (Funny as you couldn't take a photo of it, yet last weekend shots of the boat where beamed across the globe!)

Right next to the track is the (still being built) Ferrari World.  The only part that is finished is the concert area which hosted Beyonce, Kings of Leon, Jamiroquai and Areosmith last weekend.   From this photo it looks tiny, but in the flesh it is gigantic.  You can't see in the pic the roller coaster on the side of it.  Apparently it is going to be the fastest roller coaster in the world - travelling at excess of 220km's an hour.

The area where the Race circuit is, is on an island called 'Yas Island' - lots of infrastructure taking place and you honestly have to see it for yourself to believe it.  Yas Island joins onto Saadiyat Island and the road across the Island joins onto Abu Dhabi Island (yes, the city of Abu Dhabi is actually on island) which opened a few weeks ago.  

It is a 10 lane highway, with barely a car in sight for the 25-odd kilometers long it is.  (The above photo is the view you get closer to Abu Dhabi City.)  We were sitting on about 120km's an hour (the norm here people; but that is a different post altogether that one!) when we were passed (not unusual that either) by a Porche doing close to double our speed.  (Now, that was unusual!)  Our car moved around and the sound? Deafening.  My heart was in my mouth for about the next five minutes!

The Highway lead us into the heart of Abu Dhabi City.  We stopped by our favourite restaurant for lunch (Preggo's at the Beach Rotana) and made our way home.  

It was a nice family drive and also nice to get 'out-and-about'...

In other news, our baby is now a day off 9 weeks old.  She is a big smiler, a great little feeder and proving to be a good sleeper too.  She is basically now at night, waking once, after a seven hour chunk of sleep.  I'm loving that.  Her passport to is in the process of being processed and should be in our hot little hands before we know it.  :-)

Isn't she cute?  Well, we here think so...

Halloween. (Remind me to go away next year.)

It wasn't that bad really, my post title may suggest otherwise.  I just think I was taken by surprise just how many 'Trick or Treaters' there were!  You have no idea... You would think that we had relocated ourselves in the U S of A, rather than being slap, bang in the middle of the United Arab Emirates.

Lyndon had scored himself a one day ticket to the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix (and he *loved* it, even better than the Melbourne event which we've been to a number of times) so it was I who had to be giving out the 'treats' to the kids who came a knockin'.  

It had been organised over the last couple of weeks, by a couple of ladies in our street,  fliers which were given out to every home in our compound.  If you wanted to join in the festivities, the flier was to be posted on your door. This way if you didn't want to join in, you wouldn't get any unwanted 'trick or treaters'.  A good idea which I think worked well.  

As most people here in our street are rather 'social' (to say the least) I decided to sit outside with the neighbours and Lily in the pram next to me.  Monet was taken around with her little bestest bud and her mother.

Here were my girls;  Monet wanted to be a witch (of kinds) and I stuck a pair of bunny ears on #2 - not too pleased obviously.

The 'Trick or Treaters' were to 'door knock' between the hours of 4:30-6:30, and let me tell you, at 4:30 there was an onslaught of children, of all ages.  Oh.  My.  I have never seen so, so many dressed up children - the noise was amazing! (And kinda like my worst nightmare.)  I would say that I would have seen at least 200 children!  I was prepared with a big bag of 'treats'; more so than a few of my neighbours!  

It looked like everyone had a great time, especially the children.  Monet came home with her buddy EXHAUSTED!  (Yee-har!)  And with her bag over flowing with 'treats' or 'caaaannndeeee'!  

Lyndon too came home exhausted and buzzing with excitement.  He thought the F1 Yas Marina track was awesome and we're looking forward to watching the race in an hour.  (It is being shown on a local Sports channel here - along with Arabic commentary! Terrific.  Makes for interesting viewing...)

I'd Like To Be Pushed In This Too...

Lucky for me, Lily (currently) likes me to take her out in her pram for some fresh air and a wander about.  Our local little supermarket is about a 10 minute walk away so Lily and I have been making our way there each morning and back without a peep from her.  She'll either nap or lie awake, soaking in the bump, bump, bump of the pavement.  

It isn't a bad pram.  The part Lily is sitting in is actually the car seat capsule that fits into the car and then locks into the pram.  The shade cover of both the capsule and the pram fold over so she can rest and have a darkened environment to nap.  And not get strangers heads in her face!

I'm lucky to have such a good baby.  I can't complain.  At 7 weeks of age she's rather good.  Sure she gets a bit cranky (usually in the morning) but come the afternoon she dozes and is generally pretty quiet.  That is just as well, as we are planning (*fingers crossed*) a plane trip in the not too distant future...

Big (little) Sister

Once we had Lily, Monet didn't seem so small any more.  After all, she had a new status of 'Big Sister'.  Her head, all of a sudden, seemed big to me, her hands, her feet and those big blues...

We've already had parent/teacher interviews at her school.  They were a few weeks back now and all I can say is that her teacher regards her as 'a gem' and gave her an absolute glowing report.  Monet is way ahead of her peers, it was noted, and there was no behavioural issues at all.  (Which I thought could have been a problem due to not getting as much attention at home as she once was.)  

It was suggested that Monet do an after school activity class which has been designed for children who are ready to read.  (At a cost you understand.)  So we paid our fee and Monet attended the first session.  We were told that this class was 'too easy' for her and was then placed in the 'Advanced' class.  So she is learning to read now and is getting very good.  We're very proud of her.  

The Big Sister role is a role Monet is filling nicely.  She adores her younger sister and I have noticed that Lily adores her big sister.  I think Monet has scored more smiles from the youngest than anyone else!

Monet's Doll

...is 6 weeks old today.

(I believe Lily looks like me as a baby in this photo...)

And yes, Monet does think that Lily is a doll half the time!  A real life one.  The girls are interacting with one another more so than ever.  It warms your heart to see.  I will never actually forget the first time Monet met Lily and then proceeded to sing her a lullaby.  :-)  I keep telling her that we have a lot to look forward to with Lily growing, as I know sometimes Monet struggles with having a newborn in the house (constantly told to shush; Monet doesn't know volume control in her voice!) but she's getting better with not being an only child any more...  When you hear Monet telling Lily how much she loves her or when Lily is presented with a drawing done by her big sister, you know everything is okay with the world.

So everything is going swimmingly.  She's a beautiful baby who is a hit with all the mum's at Monet's school (who coo and ahh over her every morning and afternoon).  

I can't complain about the lack of sleep I have because we have nights were I can get in a chunk of four or five hours solid sleep.  Some nights she'll wake up every couple of hours for a feed (like on Friday night but I suspect it was a growth spurt) and other nights I am getting up around 2 am and then 5am.  I am finding feeding so much easier second time around.  I had heard women say that but didn't believe it.  I believe it now.

Lily isn't a big dummy/pacifier sucker, but at times it does help when she just can't nod off but you know how tired she is.  She's not a 'spewy' baby either.  Sure there have been a few chucks here and there and a few dribbles, but otherwise she's not.  

And our girl is now most definitely into an Aussie size 00, or a 3-6 month old clothing.  Her Bonds Wondersuits in the 000 were getting a little too tight for the wee one, so last night she progressed a size.  

Lily's citizenship is in the process of well, being processed and once that arrives (hopefully in the next couple of weeks) we'll then get her passport.  After that it is hopeful booking of air tickets so our family and friends can meet our new addition. I cannot wait for Lily to especially meet her two Grandmothers and Great Grandmother, who I know feel the same...

Learning to Smile :-)

My beautiful 5.3 kilo baby is beginning to give us some rewards.  

By attempting to smile.

We've all had quite a few smiles given to us, but alas the camera is never there to capture the right moment.

We are nearing Lily's 6th week but it feels like she's always been here.  I know, I have said that before but it is so true.  She is growing wonderfully, sleeps pretty well at night, though it is pot luck if she sleeps for a 6-hour stint or a 4-hour stint at a time, but I'm not complaining.  When she wakes during the night (usually) after a quick 20 minute feed she goes back down without a drama.  We've only had a few nights where she'll cry and not go back to sleep at 1am (or whatever early am time it is) in the morning for a couple of hours.  

Clothing wise, she's out of the 0-3 month old wear.  She's definitely into her 3-6 month old wear (probably similar sizing to an Aussie 00) and before I know it, she'll be the next size up - she seems to be growing at an incredible rate.  

I still can't get over how much she looks like a baby Monet.  When feeding or holding Lily I feel like I am in a time warp of 5 years ago and I'm nursing baby Monet in Melbourne with our city view apartment.  It is scary stuff when that happens!

I'm blessed to have two most gorgeous girls and am very much in love.  

Especially when they attempt to smile...

Baby Steps

Nothing is ever easy in the UAE.

In Australia when you have a baby this is what happens, (if memory serves me correct).

1. 1. You give birth to your baby.
2. 2. Paperwork is filled out for the government to see if you are eligible for child support and for your 'Baby Bonus'.
3. 3. Paperwork filled out and a payment made to obtain a birth certificate.
   

Now, we are Australians who have given birth to a child in the United Arab Emirates.  This is what happens here.

1. 1. You give birth to your baby.
2. 2. Your doctor, a receptionist, your husband fill out paperwork and a small fee paid to obtain the Notification of Birth certificate.  This includes coloured copies of both parents passports, resident visas, marriage certificate.
3. 3. Husband to take the Notification of Birth to the National Health Authority to obtain birth certificates; one in English, one in Arabic at a cost.
4. 4. Birth certificates to be authenticated by the UAE government.
5. 5. Paperwork for Australian Citizenship to be filled out and signed by either an Australian Citizen working in a particular industry, in the country you are living in, or by a citizen working in a particular industry in the country you are living in.   At a cost.  This includes coloured photocopies of both parents passports, visas, birth certificates and marriage certificate.
6. 6. After waiting for the citizenship to come through (could take a number of weeks), an Australian Passport can be applied (and paid) for.  
7. 7. Residency Visa can be applied (and paid) for once Passport is obtained.  The child that is born in the UAE has 120 days where they can live in the country without a visa.  (This gives us up until January 3).  To get the visa, the passport is taken and can take up to 3 weeks to come through.
8. 8. After all the steps are done, you can relax.

Lots of steps eh?  We are currently at step 5, which was a little stressful for a moment there.  The fact that most people we know here do not fit the criteria was a worry.  And for any one of us or our neighbours to actually know an Emiratie was also proving a stress.  I do know an Australian nurse living in Al Ain (about 150km east of here) and as my last resort she offered to drive to Ab Dabs to verify who Lily was.  But then I thought of one of our lovely neighbours who I thought 'might' fit one of the criteria, or if not, she might know someone who does.

Well 'N' came to my rescue as she was able to verify Lily's photo as she fitted into one of the criteria.  *phew*  Lyndon is off to Dubai tomorrow to drop off the paperwork, so fingers crossed that her citizenship comes through within the next few weeks.  

Nothing is ever easy in this country, but by jingo ringo, doing it all for Lily is worth it.  Time and money.