Dubai, Jetlag, Sunshine

The jetlag is not over yet.  The kids have been out of sync and it has been sleep-deprivation hell.  Magnus asks us to go live in Toronto whenever he feels sad.  However, I am so, so happy because:

1. The kids are not sick
2. We have a housekeeper
3. It's sunny and warm every day
4. Magnus is pooping like clockwork
5. Magnus' school has accepted him for the last four weeks of the semester.  He starts in 2 days!!!

Maya has hit the ground crawling.  The very first night, when she was keeping me up all night, I passed the time by turning on the iPad and moving it all over the room. She patiently crawled to each location.  She sits at the table with us for all our meals now.  She loves eating what we eat.  I watched her pick up a grain of rice with her chubby little fingers and put it in her mouth.  We're finding more and more bits of food around the house that she hasn't quite chewed up: rice, small pieces of lettuce, toast, fish, cucumber, etc.  But I'm happy to report that she is quite the foodie and will tackle anything I put in front of her.  On the down side, I've had to fish a few things out of her mouth that don't belong there: a paper label, a sticker.  Maya is also enjoying ALL of Magnus' toys.  When we left in July, she could barely do anything.  Now, I can leave her next to a train track and she can destroy it in 5 minutes.  She picks up puzzle pieces and tears apart whatever she can.  Here she is with one of her favourite toys:

Magnus is also enjoying his old toys and his old haunts.  I took him to his school and signed him up for afternoon French classes twice a week.  He was very happy to go, and sent me off with a hug when I dropped him off at his first class.  When I came to pick him up, I asked him:
Gina: Magnus, did you like French class?
Magnus: Yeah!  But they have no french fries, Mommy!
This, coincidentally, happened on his birthday.  We also introduced him to PSY on his birthday.  Now he wants to watch the video all the time.  Sigh:

Another bright spot - I have my camera back.  Here are some sunny, happy shots I took in the past few days.

A secret birthday present.  He had a party in Florida and we agreed not to mention his real birthday.  But his Daddy couldn't resist some treats.  He also made sure Magnus got some french fries the very next morning!