A lesson for me

We signed Sera up for swim lessons. Thirty minutes, once a week. I strongly felt she would learn better with other kids, and listen better with a 'teacher'. I also admit, I lack the patience and actually, technically, I'm just not a strong swimmer.

Her first swim lesson was disappointing. She was all excited about going for the lesson but when she approached the pool of children, she froze. And I, groaned inwardly. I urged her to join the other kids, the swim instructor was calling for her, but she started to cry, clung to my legs and just refused. So many emotions went through me - confusion, frustration and even irritation. Yes, I am human after all. The other parents were standing behind the railing, pretending not to notice. Some were chatting amongst themselves, others were cheering their children on, and one was even recording his little boy's first swim lesson. Why couldn't I be one of the those parents?

I pleaded her to enter the pool, just to sit on the steps, at least, but she simply wouldn't. I told myself to calm down, take deep, deep breaths. What to do? Ten minutes passed, and 20 more to go. I hear the children in the pool laughing and splashing about ... having fun. Sera looked at them but just couldn't will herself to join them. Ok, give her options. I asked her if she wanted to join them or maybe just go back home? She said she wanted to stay, but she didn't want to go in the pool. Oma finally says, just put her in. I knew what would happen if I did just that and without thinking (all motherly rationale had somehow fizzled with the heat) I carried her and plonked her in. She SCREAMED! And she made sure it was so loud and long that everyone couldn't help but look at her. I was stricken with guilt and thought I definitely failed as a parent. 'gulp'

The swim instructor gave her a rubber squid toy and Sera immediately grabbed it, held it tight ... and stayed on that same step for the rest of the class. The instructor went back to her several more times but Sera just stayed on that step with her squid. I stood behind the railing just wanting the lesson to end. It finally ended and we headed home, quiet and lost in our thoughts, tiredness and disappointment.

Call me dramatic but all that disappointment, I finally have to admit, was not so much about Sera but more about me. I had expected Sera to 'dive' into the pool, as enthusiastically as the other kids had. I should have known my daughter better. She is not like that at all. Sera hates crowds, she gets intimidated by it. She turns shy with new faces, or any new environment for that matter. She has always been an observer, a very keen one. She'll watch to her heart's content and when she's ready, she'll move in ... or sometimes not.

There is a good ending to this long story.

We went for our second lesson today. It has been two weeks since, as swim lessons stopped for the Eid holiday. In that two weeks, I have given her a few pep talks, read a story about a little mouse who was afraid of swimming (though Sera is not actually afraid of swimming but it was a cute story nevertheless), and ok ... I did promise her a nice snack at the playground after her swim. After all that conscientious preparation for her swim lesson, in the end, the trick was simply to arrive 15 minutes before lessons started.

Sera happily jumped into the pool. She swam under water, swirled and hopped around. She was warming up, all by herself. By the time the other kids arrived, she was relaxed and so ready for the lesson. I was filled with so much relief and I inched myself away from the pool, played with Yasmin and went back to Sera 30 minutes later. Sera ran to me, beaming and looking very proud of herself. We hugged and then she whispered into my ears, "Let's go to the playground!"

Now, Sera is learning to swim and as a mother, I'm also learning to 'swim and not sink' whenever I'm thrown into the deep end of parenthood.

Outdoors again

Today we were so determined to go to the beach, the park ... anywhere outside. So we ended up at the park and the beach. Why not? We were the only ones at the park (at about 3.30pm) so it was actually very nice. Sera knew of of our plans early in the day so she was asking for the park every 15 minutes from the time we left home, and we left home at 10am. Once at the park, she wasted no time in kicking of her sandals and enjoying the grass and the space. We played at the park for about an hour before we crossed the road to the beach. Ahhh, we like this kind of convenience! We were not very prepared for the beach but the girls didn't care. They splashed by the shoreline and played in the sand. We're already excited about next weekend when we'll spend the day at the beach ...

Photo courtesy of Sera

"Ring 'O' ring of roses ... "

When it comes to football, he does not give in ... even to his 3 year old daughter!

The waves were out today thus there were many surfers too. Sera went straight for the water!

Yasmin just did a wide-leg straddle and stayed there long enough for me to run to my bag, fish out my camera and get the shot. Nice!

Ha ha, cute shot of her with her two pig tails (and her bikini top or the un-tanned part)

And finally, we got Yasmin her own Rocking Moose. You will understand why when you see the girls fight over the rocking chair.

All in a week

So the week started off on a high note when Sera came running into the kitchen, screaming that her flowers were growing! Yes, after only two days, there were seedlings (hmm, that's what you call them yah?) She was ecstatic and she has been keeping up the routine of watering them everyday. Good on her!

We've been staying indoors and on the balcony quite a bit because Yasmin was down with a cold so was badly congested most days. Sera also had a stomach bug that made her 'violently' sick one afternoon. But, we've managed to keep ourselves occupied with baking ginger bread cookies, making a wonderful wet mess out on the balcony (a few days in a row) and just goofing around in the house.

Her little flower garden

Hungry after their dip in their tiny inflatable pool

Ginger bread cookies

Ahem ... Spinach ricotta quiche ... a winner with everyone

Meal times are a pleasure these days

Yasmin is a comic ... she loves this helmet (a gift from auntie Bonnie) and insisted on wearing it while brushing her teeth

One week later ...

Changes

Today it felt like summer was ending, well kind of. The weather felt less warm, less piercing. It actually felt pleasant walking outside in the morning. I looked around and neighbours, who have gardens, are starting to clear and 'pretty' up their gardens for the cooler months. The birds are also returning or coming out to enjoy the nicer weather.

It is also the first day of Eid Al Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month for all Muslims. Ramadan here, is more tangible (compared to back home) and as guests in this Muslim country, we show respect by carrying out little considerations like not eating or drinking in public (not even in your car) until after Iftar. So during this Ramadan, we stayed indoors a lot, and on hindsight it became more economical because we had a lot of meals at home, together. So today, while out with the girls, we stopped at a cafe to have coffee and cake. It felt almost strange to be able to do that after one month of abstinence. It felt almost humbling.

So since a week ago, Sera started a new semester at school. And as we welcome the new season ahead, I discussed the idea of starting a flower garden with Sera. She loved it! Over the weekend, we got some seeds, a rectangular pot and soil. Johan helped plant the seedlings though he was none too happy about his hands getting all dirty. Sera was very enthusiastic about the little project but was a little disappointed when nothing emerged above the soil when she watered them. Ha ha. If anything, this flower garden is going to teach her patience.

From left to right - Lavender, Camomile and Zinnia

Yas stayed far away from the pots after getting a scolding from Johan for digging and making a wonderful mess when she sank her hands in the soil.

She's starting to feed herself now. Although it took her about 20 minutes to finish that bowl of yoghurt, she sat on her chair, full of concentration, and did it on her own.

An inflatable boat-like thing and the girls were kept occupied the entire day!

Tschuss oma!

The girls had a wonderful time with oma for the past 4 weeks. Nothing like having oma around for big hugs, endless storytelling and singing. For all of oma's perseverance, Sera is singing more Dutch nursery songs and we shared one proud moment, one afternoon after school, when Sera uttered her first German word, 'schmetterling', and oma was able to translate it for us. Sera was even more delighted that it meant butterfly. Ha ha.

Bis bald oma!

Our elfin

Where do I even begin? Yasmin, like most 1 year olds, is genuinely excited about life and just raring to go the second her eyes peel open in the early morning. We thought we had some experience with Sera, to prepare us for Yasmin but she is a different 'creature' all together! She has double, even triple, the amount of energy and determination. And this one has absolutely no fear!

Nothing is impossible when it comes to Yas. Nothing is un-touched, un-climbed, un-jumped un-opened, un-dug or in many instances, un-broken in this house. NOTHING! As I write this post, my kitchen looks like a typical Yasmin 'war zone', and all done within seconds. But she does it all with much glee, enthusiasm and she always exclaims 'OHH-ooh', without fail, in an almost mocking 'did I do that?' expression. Yes, very cute?

We pretend to be angry or fierce so that she can start to understand discipline but we have to quickly turn our faces so that we don't reveal our big grins. Ahh, Yasmin you are a handful for sure, but we love you still ... much more than a lot!

She looks forward to some play at Sera's school playground.

If I had to photograph her every act of mischief , I would be behind the camera all day long! An incident that happened last week, which left me speechless, was when Sera discovered her smearing my thick body lotion on the floor, on my standing lamp and of course all over her body, face and hair. It was a complete mess!

Of course, she had to do it 5 minutes before we were about to set off to Sera's school. Just check out her oily, glistening body courtesy of my (expensive) body lotion. As you can tell, I haven't gotten over it.

On top of the table, that's where she likes to be. Check out the 'fierce' expression from oma and Johan. Does it work? Not one tiny bit!

Oh Yasmin ...

Aquaventure

We finally indulged ourselves today, we went to Aquaventure. Believe me, Johan and I have mulled over this for a while. It isn't cheap especially when the whole family goes, and Sera's entrance fee is almost the same as the adult fee. But we found learned about some special coupons and we decided to go for it, take the plunge!

Well, Johan did go for The Plunge, Shark Attack and surprise, surprise ... he also went for the Leap of Faith, a 27.5 metre near-vertical drop that catapulted him through a shark infested lagoon, via an acrylic tunnel. The last catapult literally sent him staggering towards Sera and I. We were waiting for him at the viewing lagoon then and I thought he was looking a bit pale. Ha ha.

The kids also had their share of fun at Splashers, a water playground with all very interesting and fun rides, climbs and of course, the big bucket that topples over when it's filled to the brim. Yas was pretty easy. She let us carry her around and through the water park. Sera, on the other hand, wasn't very keen about the water spraying her in every direction. Typically Sera. If she wants to get wet, she must do it with intention. And I also had a feeling that the water park structure looked a little intimidating for her. However, she enjoyed the river ride through the rainforest and was so thrilled when we rode the water rapids. So much so, that she and Johan, oma in tow, went for another round.

I have to say, it was lots of fun and I suspect, today won't be our last visit!

Ok this is the Leap of Faith that Johan went on. I didn't even think he was going to attempt this so he sure surprised me.

Girls looking tired, hot and tanned!

Behind Sera is the viewing lagoon where we could see visitors coming down some of the rides. Check out the person on the inflatable ring. She's going through an acrylic tunnel.

Splashers! A kids' paradise

Sera went on this slide which allowed her to keep dry. 'wink'

Tired but happy kid #1

Tired, with ketchup on her face, but happy kid #2


Wheat and gluten-free pretzel-ed sabre tooth

Friends from Doha

Our friends from Doha came for a visit. It has been more than a year since we last saw Sylvie, Gerard and Kelyan so we were looking forward to it. And of course, we were eager to see the new addition to their family, little Aaliyah. Well, not so little any more. Aaliyah is already 8 months and crawling! I was mostly curious to see how Sera was going to react when she saw Kelyan. I remember how dramatic and uninhibited her reunion with Gaston was, last December.

Before we met them, she was excitedly telling me how she was going to run to Kelyan and give him a big hug. She kept on repeating this 'scene' she had in her mind. But alas, as Mr Mark Twain used to say 'action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often'. Ha ha. Just had to throw that one in. Sera kind of froze when she saw Kelyan. She even did a little 'moonwalk'. Shyness took over and she got tongue tied (that's a FIRST!). I think I can safely say Kelyan was a little shy too. However, we knew it would take them a few minutes, and they would be like old friends playing together. And we were right. It was nostalgia for us parents to see them rekindle their friendship so easily and just bounce off each other in their play and laughter.

We got to spend some good time together and though it took more than a year to see other again, it was such a pleasure!

Their shyness was over in 5 minutes and they were like old friends playing together

Aaliyah has got to be the most chilled out baby ...

Swimming together at the Westin

Looking for treasure in their cave with a waterfall. Well, Sera actually did find two dirhams

Sera practising on the slide before we go to Wild Wadi this weekend

Popcorn and Madagascar 2

Happy Birthday Sylvie ... we were lucky to celebrate her birthday together

Chilling (and rolling on the carpet) out after a satisfying dinner ...

Our movie date

Sera and I had a movie date today. While oma and Yasmin kept each other company, Sera and I went to catch Ice Age 3. Sera, as you can imagine, was just so thrilled to go for a movie. She didn't even ask what movie we were watching, it didn't matter.

When the movie started, she was ... ecstatic. She was sitting at the edge of her seat, eyes wide open, mouth too. ha ha. She laughed, she screamed, she squealed and even jumped unto the seat. Oh gosh ... she was unstoppable and could not be contained. But no worries, the cinema was practically empty. It was just the two of us and another couple. Phew!

So that was our little girls' afternoon out. It was a lot of fun!

Her look of contentment

Goofing around after the movie

Sera liked 'Sid the Sloth'. Somehow, she was convinced that he was a human dressed in a costume.