Out with the mermaid ... in with Plan B

Remember the failed mermaid costume? Well, we came up with costume plan B. Costume plan B was nearly cost-free, very comfortable, very Sera (and very me!), and most importantly very cute, in my opinion. Ha ha. I pieced together a few items - one oversized combat pants (gift from a neighbour), one white singlet, boots (borrowed from Gaston), black eye-shadow (this, I had to buy but I figured I'd use it for myself one fine day) ... and what do we have? G.I. Sera!

All I can say is ... Sera loved the outfit, most especially the 3-size too big boots (are you surprised?). We had a dress rehearsal for Johan (he couldn't make it for the 'Trick or Treat' session) and she was happily stomping around in the boots, like a real soldier. Phew! A costume good enough for her.

The three little friends gathered at our place for a ra-ra session before the 'Trick or Treat'. We tried to get a photo of them together, quite impossible really! We set off at 6pm, happy, excited and full of energy ... ready to go round the compound. Kids of all ages were having a blast, zig-zagging from one house to the next, competing to get their buckets filled up. I'm not sure if Sera, Gaston and Keylan understood why those kind adults were giving them sweets that they'll probably never get to eat, but they just went along with the flow and had fun picking out the sweets and dropping them into their buckets. Trick or Treat ended an hour later with three very relieved mothers and three very happy and maybe clueless over all the commotion kids.

Absolutely no cooperation from these three when it came to taking photos. So now, I have no choice but to present three photos in which one of them is looking at the camera. First up, Sera.

Kelyan with the sexiest puckered lips!

And Gaston with a big smile!

Sera dancing to 'Wheels on the bus' while the other two boys go ... "errrr, what's up with her?"

Special treats from uncle Teddy and auntie Amy

Sera, getting treats from a mother-daughter duo

Not sure what's with the marshmallow in her mouth, but here's Sera with the big boys getting getting their treats

The gang goes to the Zoo

No school on Wednesday morning for Sera, Gaston and Kelyan so that meant 'Think of ways to occupy active toddlers' moment for the mothers three. To the zoo, of course ... where else? We visited the zoo 7 months ago when Sera was 8 months old, still stroller-bound. All I remember of the zoo visit then was one of sadness for the animals. Ok, I was having a melodramatic moment then, feeling that the zoo could have been better in so many ways. I was a little enraged, even thought of writing to the local paper. That thought never became more than that. So this second visit to the zoo, I was a little more prepared for what I could expect to experience ... and it was as expected, a lot more sadness and despair for the animals. Sigh ... this post is getting a little depressing huh.

Anyway, we made the best of it. We amused ourselves and tried to enthuse the kids with the one chimpanzee, one leopard, one jaguar, two tigers, two lions and what else, err ... and an overpopulation of monkeys behind the very small cages. There were also some zebras, some deer, giraffes, one elephant and one rhinoceros in pretty grass-less fenced up areas (ok, ok I will stop harping about the bad conditions). The weather was a little hot so the kids were either sleeping, sleepy, lethargic or bored. The two highlights of the zoo trip for them was probably the time they were let out of the stroller and having ice cream at the end of the trip. We had fun, nonetheless, really.


Start of the trip ... one is already bored, one is feeling hot and one is fast asleep

Two adorable monkeys ...

Zebras, appearing to be a little sun burned

Kelyan and Sera having fun on a stool

Sera and oma enjoying each other's company

The mothers pose while the kids have a chat with each other

The reluctant little mermaid

I think 'reluctant' is too mild a word. It was more like the little mermaid morphing to the 'Incredible Hulk'. Yesterday afternoon, we had a pre-Halloween costume party for the children. As a child, I've never celebrated this holiday just because it's more commonly celebrated in the western parts of the world. It's nothing significant to me or the family but I thought it would be fun for Sera to join in the fun. I couldn't have been more wrong!

A few days ago, the mothers (Manuela, Slyvie and myself) went in search of the perfect and cutest costumes. Not much of a choice, but I thought I found the costume. A little mermaid costume, which I thought would look adorable on Sera. I avoided all the 'princess' costumes, just because it was too girl-y for my taste, if that makes any sense to you. Oma made some adjustments to the costume and it was just perfect! The only problem was that Sera hated it. I mean, she practically ran away from it when she saw it. And when I managed to pull it over her, she screamed like there was no tomorrow! She did the 'Incredible Hulk' antic of pulling and tugging the costume, and I was like screaming at her to stop or that would be the end of the cute little costume. How crazy ... how disappointing!

I was, admittedly, a little crushed that she didn't like the costume. I felt even worse for her oma, who spent hours making adjustments to the costume. Anyway, I thought I'd just try again for the actual day, which was yesterday and guess what? Nah, she still hated it. Shucks! She wore it long enough for a group photo with Gaston and Kelyan. She tried to tear off the dress during the drive to the party but the car seat straps restricted her movements. We arrived at the party and within seconds, she was pulling off the straps, pushed down the costume to her feet and YIPEEEEEE, she was a semi naked child, free from the 'horrible' costume. I accepted defeat, got out her jeans and t-shirt and got her covered up.

I can't say this isn't my fault, this aversion to costumes. You see, I remember vividly how I protested when my nursery teacher tried to make me wear costumes during costume day. I refused, I just wanted to stand and watch the other kids get dressed up. Secretly, I thought they all looked really funny and I was just relieved I was spared the embarrassment. Could a 4 year old really think that way? Yes, I truly did. And now, I see myself in Sera. Totally. So yesterday, while the other children pranced and played in the costumes, she observed, sometimes stood by the side, randomly touching their costumes. I know she had a great time, just in her own way.

Kelyan, the giraffe. Sera, the mermaid, and Gaston the Skeleton. Sera put up a struggle while we pulled the costume over her, thus the hot and sweaty look.

Standing and watching ...

Sera, by the side, while the other children posed for a group photo

This is painful for me ... but this was the other mermaid who won best costume (little girl category). 'sob'

Visiting papa at work

This morning, we (opa, oma, Sera and I) paid Johan a visit at his work site at the industrial city of Ras Laffan. I was excited just because after nearly two years here, I finally get to see what he does 12 hours a day. I have to say, the work itself is impressive and it's hard to describe the extent of it until you actually see it for yourself. So if I say they are expanding an existing LNG port, a person outside this field would say, 'a-huh'. But trust me, the entire project is a complicated, systematic and highly technical process. And I know won't do justice to the work with mere words.

Sera, on the other hand, had a ball! She was ecstatic upon seeing Johan, ran to him with open arms when she realised the long car ride led to seeing her papa at work. She played hide-and-seek with us, said 'Hi' to every person she saw, ran along the corridors, and tried to enter every office we passed. I had a privileged tour to one of the backhoe dredgers, which required us to take a ride on a speed boat (honestly, the highlight of the morning for me). Sera, of course, didn't join us. Instead she was taking a nap in the car while opa and oma continued the land tour of the site.

We had a really good lunch at the camp site, after which we drove back to Doha.

Sera was the first to get up, waiting for the adults to get ready. By the way, completely irrelevant, but check out those feet ... those toes of hers.


That's Johan and his corner of the room. He spends half the day in the office and the other out on site


Just recently, Sera started to 'smile' when we say smile for the camera. It's hilarious watching her scrounge up her face like that but how do I tell her not to smile that way?

Johan, the 'sea cow boy' ...

I have to say, quite a funny photo. Firstly, that hard hat was giving me a headache and those safety boots (borrowed from one of the female colleagues), which I wore sock-less were an inch and a half too big.

Mom and toddler gym class

Every Monday afternoon, Sera and Gaston go for toddler gym classes. The children go on a circuit of different gym apparatus that basically develop their motor development, among other things. Huh? What? Just know that it looks like lots of fun. Sera, well ... she is a little resistant when it comes to taking part in the circuit, unlike most of the children who nicely line up and go through the circuit with genuine interest and enthusiasm. Sera, the little 'non-conformist' (don't anyone dare say it's because of me!), doesn't understand why she needs to line up for her turn and has yet to discover the fun in repeating the circuit over and over. All she really wants is to run around the gym, play with the big sponge shapes in the middle and check out what the other children. So I just let her be if that makes her happy.

So anyway, this past Monday, Johan came along for the gym class, thus I was able to take a few photos of Sera when she attempted the circuit for the first few minutes. After that, we let her run free ... to do as she pleased.

On the balancing beam ...

Weeeeeeeeeee ....

She's a little young for the parallel bars, but she attempted the first part, which is to hang on to the bar with her hands. The next part would be to swing her legs unto the next bar, release her hands and dangle like a monkey. Yah, maybe the next session ...

Sera and Gaston jumping on the trampoline. Gaston loves the trampoline, he can really jump. Sera, on the other hand, hasn't figured out the art of jumping. She 'jumps' with her arms and a face that looks like she's jumping but her feet are still planted firmly on the ground. She'll get it ... one day ...

It's great having Sera ...

Because she wakes up with a hair do like this, smiling from ear to ear ... and you think life's not so bad.



Because I can dress her in a green and pink polka dotted swim suit and she's still having a blast, unconcerned and oblivious that she's having a fashion faux pa moment.



Because she waters the garden with so much enthusiasm that she nearly floods the garden patch.



Because it's just so sweet seeing her play with her good friend Gaston ... ok, they're not exactly playing here but having a 'Barney' zoned-out moment (sorry Manuela, but the TV was turned on for just 10 minutes!)

No school for a week

Has it already been a week since my last post?

It's Friday morning, 5.30am to be exact. I was tired when I opened my eyes at 5.30am, having slept another night with Sera ... yet again. She has been waking up every night for, I would say, the past week or more, insisting that either one of us attend to her. That would basically entail lying beside her and patting her shoulder or stroking her back to sleep. Johan and I have not even tried to analyse why she is doing this, because with Sera, we have learned that her strong but quirky sense of her own being just rules. So for the past week, I've just crawled into bed with her, no questions asked.

Aside from the our interrupted slumber, it has been a good week. School has been closed for a week due to the Eid holidays, thus Sera has been with me 24/7. Yes, I have actually appreciated the few hours of break I get when she is at school three times a week, but surprisingly no meltdowns this week. She has been a sweetheart and I've just been thrilled to spend so much time with her. The weather has improved a lot. It has been hovering between 33 to 36 degrees this week so that meant we have been outdoors a lot. And that makes this mama and her daughter very happy, indeed. Here's a quick (yah, maybe not) flashback ...

Flashback one
So everyday after breakfast, Sera and I have spent our mornings in our garden at the front. I've opened up this, I call it, sand and water table thing (kindly passed on by my neighbour) so that she can fiddle around with it. But she doesn't usually stay put, instead she'd wander around the garden patch or play with the cracks in the asphalt pavement or jump in the murky puddles of water. I, on the other hand, was just horrified at how ugly the small garden patch have become. I mean, so embarrassing that I wanted to run into the house, grab a bed sheet to cover it. Anyway I was determined to do something about it ... where were the compound the gardeners?

I found the trio of gardeners cleaning the tennis court. They also double up as the compound cleaners. I cornered one of them, and explained through mostly very exaggerated and comical hand (and body) gestures what I wanted to do with my garden patch. He, I think, got it and promised to return the next morning to repair the damage. He did return the next morning and together (ahem, I supervised), we cleared out the ugliness from the garden patch. Sera had a great time - lugging water in her little pail, pretending to rake the garden and talking to the still standing but very shrivelled cacti. As for the garden, most of the ugliness has been weeded out but it's now really 'naked'. Maybe I'll add some plants to it ... err, on second thoughts, maybe I'll just wait for my mom in law (who's endowed with the green thumb) to better the garden. So that was my little accomplishment ... ha ha.

Flashback two
We also tried to go to the local zoo one of the mornings but it was closed contrary to what the newspaper said. So, we, with four other parents and their two sons, ended up at Villagio, this strange looking themed-mall that has fake blue skies, a badly imitated Italian Venetian interior, complete with a meandering river canal, bridges and motorised gondolas. Oh there's also an ice skating ring within the madness. Despite the very strange setting, we managed to effortlessly spent about four hours in that mall.

Flashback three
Since last Friday, Sera can now imitate five animal sounds. Ha ha. No, I didn't record it on video (I still can't get that silly thing to work! Okay, okay, I'm the silly one). So just use your imagination a bit.

Me: "Sera, what does a horse say?"
Sera: "hmm ... mmm .... mmm ... mm" (from a descending high pitch)

Me: "Sera, what does a cat say?"
Sera: "M .... yeowwww" (this one she complements with a hand action that resembles a paw of a cat scratching)


Me: "Sera, what does a duck say?"
Sera: "C-ark, c-aark, c-aark." (for 'quack, quack' ... )


Me: "Sera, what does a cow say?"
Sera: "Moooo .... mmm ...mmm (it usually ends up sounding like her horse)


Me: "And Sera ... what does a dog say?"
Sera: "W-uurf, w-uuurf!" (this animal sound is spot on!)

Aside from this Q&A exercise we've been doing, she can also spot the animals from her animal book and even on the Animal Planet channel. Ok, I know, all kids go through this phase, it's cute, fascinating ... but it's our TURN and we're enjoying it!

So that were some highlights for the week. More to come ...

Sera playing at the water and sand table ...


She's had a really good week, playing outdoors in the mornings and the late afternoons, hanging out with the kids within the compound

A leisurely Friday

What's with the sunnies? In my defence, I didn't initiate or even insist she wear them. By chance, she saw her sunnies hanging near the door and pointed to them (meaning she wanted to wear them). She surprised me when she kept them on, like it was the most natural thing to do!

Sera and I started Friday morning early, about 6AM, despite it being a non-school day. Since we had Sera, we don't ever get a chance to sleep in on the weekends. Anyway, since we were up early, I was going to make it a good morning for the both of us. I thought an early dip in the pool, meaning the whole pool to ourselves, would be so nice and irresistible. Of late, we've avoided going to the pool. Sera's skin reaction to the chlorine water and the questionable cleanliness of the pool have kept us far away. But on this Friday morning, I thought 30 minutes would be all right.

So after a quick breakfast, I oiled Sera good with vaseline and then, sunscreen ... nothing was going through that double layer of oil. We took a leisurely stroll to the pool, enjoying the bright morning sun and trying to spot the birds perched on the trees and the roof gutters. The pool was, as expected, empty and so inviting. Sera and I had a really nice dip, albeit a short one. She struggled a little in the water, even though she had her arm bands on. I suspect she forgot that she needed to move her legs to stay afloat. When she was out of the water, she kept herself occupied walking around the pool, checking out the two palm trees and waving at the birds that flew over us.

Later in the afternoon, we went over to Gaston's house for his birthday celebration. Sera had a wonderful time playing with the other children and munching on a lot of snacks that aren't usually found in our house. Ha ha. The day ended with opa's Friday evening visits. Sera, as usual, was a good host, giving opa lots of attention and affection.

That was our Friday ...

At the pool. Sera has something in her mouth ... not sure what?

Resting by the stairs. She's looking a little upset because she wants the arm bands out but I refuse to take them out, until we're out of the pool area

Walking back to our house ...

At Gaston's birthday birthday, playing with kids many years older than her

Gaston and Sera can do one thing very well together, and that is to eat together. Here they're enjoying a vanilla cupcake.

A peek at Sera in her classroom

I had to quietly sneak and crouch behind a low-lying table just to get these two very bad shots of Sera in her classroom. The things I find myself doing nowadays! There's a little window on her classroom door where I always try to spot her just before I enter. I don't know ... I'm amused and at the same time, get this warm fuzzy feeling, seeing how she interacts with her classmates. To me, she has come such a long way ...

Anyway, you see that little girl beside her? That's Mia. She's a cute little one but is supposedly the class bully even though she is the tiniest of the lot! And today, I even saw her in action, pushing and taunting Sera, repeatedly, from behind. Sera, being taller and heavier, didn't fall over but she did let out a really loud cry that surely must have meant "Get off my back!". Ha ha. It was funny to watch.

Sera spotted me thus the very frantic "Mama is here!" look, followed by the little run towards me

Over the knee high patent boots, anyone?

I didn't buy her these boots, it was a gift from my lovely neighbour, whose daughter's feet have outgrown them. I didn't conjure a visual image of the boots when she said 'black patent boots', but I thought they were cute. Sera had a difficult time balancing it them, she tried a few steps but landed on her buttocks. This pair of boots hasn't won her over just yet. Yah, they look outrageous on her now simply because she's too small for them, and she doesn't understand the concept or the necessity for boots (and over the knee high ones to be specific). Next time, when her feet grows an inch or so, I'll put her in some decent clothes, together with the boots and we'll have a chat then.

These boots are definitely not for walking ... not just yet.

Sera was confused, even scared of this thing called boots

About our in-house pharmacy, among other things

Not sure how it happened, but I have over the time that we've been living in Doha, stocked up on a myriad of medication that I'm pretty sure, is on par with the pharmacy down the road. Cold? I have several kinds of anti-histamines, decongestants, nasal sprays and drops ... take your pick. A cough? No problem! I have many cough syrups, sedating and non-sedating, propolis based. Sore throats? Here, have some lozenges. Yipee ... I have different flavours, try them all. Not working? Here, try this throat gargle ... or maybe this one? And that is only the tip of the ice-berg ... or just one drawer, I have a cabinet upstairs that is stuffed, ready to spill out any time.

This is not to say, we ... this family of three, are a sick lot. In fact, aside from the three of us battling the end of a cold ( I hope), we're pretty healthy. Johan is simply dumbfounded by the amount of medicine we possess ..hey, me too! It's not like I go shopping for medicine on a regular basis but these are medicine that have been prescribed over the years by the doctors, vitamins and supplements given to me by my mother dearest, supplements left over from my pre, peri and post pregnancy days. And it doesn't help when pharmacies here are just bursting with their wide selection. I find myself going straight to the pharmacy instead of a doctor to self medicate. I know that's not such a good practise, but there's usually a chemist who seems to know what he's saying.

Until Johan met me, he didn't even take a panadol (aka common painkiller), a vitamin or a supplement. He was always raised to believe that everything he needed was from eating well and exercising ... basically having a balanced lifestyle. Wow, how wonderful is that? I have to say, we can all learn from that mentality and I try consciously to practise that too.

So before the weekend came, I was supposed to clear out the medicine drawer and the cabinet and do some organising, while Johan went through the drawer of tools (hammer, screw driver, nails ... and yes, those are essentially the only three things he has in his tool drawer. I'm NOT kidding!) I don't fault him for being un-handy ... but it's just funny because I remember how my dad always had his tool box, and was very, very proud and even possessive of it. Anyway, that was the little 'To Do' over the weekend but hey, the weekend is over and nothing was done. A pity! Well, next weekend ... we'll do it,we'll try ... we'll think about it.

By the way, remember what the school nurse advised me to get? A HUMIDIFIER? I actually bought it. Talk about eating my own words, literally. Honestly, we only got it because Sera has been sleeping so badly, waking up many times during the night because of her very congested nasal passage that we resorted to buying it. I mean, our sleep has been bad these few weeks, so much so that even Johan didn't put up a fight when I suggested buying one. He even chose the one we currently own. So you see, I do not exaggerate the situation ... we needed some solution and thus the purchase of a hideous-looking contraption called a humidifier. It has not worked miracles, Sera woke up twice instead of five but she's breathing better these past two nights.

Ha ha, I can't believe I've dragged you all into my little boring world of medicine and humidifiers ... oh, not forgetting Johan's little tool box. Anywhere, have a great week ahead. Keep healthy!

I was contemplating taking a photo of my medicine drawer and cabinet but I thought that went a bit too far, yah? So here is Sera having her teeth brushed. She doesn't do it herself yet. I usually try in vain to brush her teeth in the morning and Johan is more successful at night.

See how Sera clamps her mouth shut. I get that all the time from her! But see how Johan squeezes her cheek? Ha ha. A little brute force is necessary sometimes.

Sera's kleine klompen

Until I met Johan, I've always (as ignorant as I'm coming across at the moment) assumed that the wooden clogs Holland is famous for, are extremely uncomfortable and could really only be good for decoration? I later understood that Johan, as a kid, used to wear them and walked in them very comfortably too. And this morning, while I was clicking away at my computer, Sera was keeping herself busy with the wooden clogs, a gift from Oma. She was making a racket with them, trying to stuff her chubby feet into them. I even casually commented over my shoulders that her nearly size 20 shoe-size were too big for the size 19 pair of clogs. No answer, but a continuous 'clog, clang, clug, clack' from her. I decided to go over to check out the commotion. I had to laugh ... my girl was having a 'cinderella' shoe moment with her chunky clogs.

But after many attempts and a few frustrated sighs, she succeeded. Way to go Sera! And after that there was no stopping her from clogging all over the house. And I stand corrected about the clogs, because Sera was so comfortable in them, standing tall and not tripping even once. I'm sure it's got something to do with the Dutch in her!

Here's Sera holding the railing with one hand and trying to stuff her foot in the clog

Checking herself out in the mirror ... (check out those legs!)

Taking a rest, and flipping Johan's Sudoku book

Taking her very vintage 53-year old doll ( a gift from Opoe) for a stroll