Autumn in Dubai Comes to a Close

We've had a wonderful autumn in Dubai.

Maya started daycare for the first time.  She was really not happy about it at first, but she settled normally and yesterday morning she ran into her classroom without even looking back at me!  Magnus and Maya enjoyed reuniting with all their Dubai friends and we all enjoyed the company of Popo for 2 months.  Magnus had his fourth birthday with a small party in his class as well as a tiny party at home with a pinata and an egg and spoon race.

Now the Christmas season is starting to wind up.  Magnus and Maya are excitedly awaiting the arrival of Grandma and Grandpa this weekend, and they will spend the holidays with us.  Magnus successfully petitioned his father to take him along to the airport to go get them.  His aunt and uncle will join us later in December!!

I won't promise to blog any more this year, just wanted to post some conversations I overheard in the past few months....

Gina: Let's see who's coming out of that car…
Magnus: Mommy it's a man, just like me!!

Magnus: A roundabout is a legal U-turn
Magnus: That's what grandpa says.

Magnus: Popo is a treat girl
Magnus: And daddy is a treat boy


Maya: Water!  Water!
Maya: Say please, Maya
Maya: Please!
Maya: Please who?
Maya: Please who!


Maya: Kokur!  Kokur!  Kokur!  (Yogurt)
Popo: Maya have some macaroni
Maya: PO PO!!!!!  <screaming, fists clenched, eyes flashing>

Kendrick: Maya say gold digger
Maya: Go bigga
Kendrick: Yeah!!!

Magnus: I want everybody to stop dancing
Gina: You can't stop the funk
Magnus: I want to stop the funk
Magnus: <pause>
Magnus: Ok, I'll dance.


Magnus: Oh I ate too much, but I didn't eat enough
Gina: Do you need to poo?
Magnus: No but I need some bacon so that I can make my poo go even faster


Gina: Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Maya: No singing!!!


Popo: Dian cong cong, cong cong…
Maya: No singing dian cong cong fei!!!


Magnus: What colour do you want to be, Daddy?
Kendrick: Green!!!
Magnus: Are you kidding, Daddy?
Kendrick: No, I want greeeeeeen
Magnus: No Daddy, you can't have green, I had green first!


Grandma: What's 10 plus 0?
Magnus: But if you hold your hands like this, it will make two circles, and you can look through them, see?


Magnus: It's full!
Gina: What's full?
Magnus: My weewee!
Gina: Do you have to go potty?  Or is it just hard?
Magnus: It's hard!
Gina: That's right, sometimes your weewee is hard, and sometimes..
Magnus: You wanna touch it??
Gina: Nooooo thank you


Magnus: Mommy, I was having a great day until the doctor used the stick <tongue depressor>


Kendrick: Maya, you want me to sing you a song?
Maya: Yeah!
Kendrick: Twinkle twinkle little star?
Maya: No
Kendrick: Up, up, up?
Maya: No
Maya: I wanna Daddy sing Ho-ho
Kendrick: <pause> <sings a few verses of Just Breathe>  Is that what you want?
Maya: Yeah!!!

Magnus: <pointing to crabs> I'm allergic to that!

Gina: Yes, you are

Magnus: <pointing to sauce> I'm also allergic to that!

Gina: No, that's just soy sauce, garlic, and some vinegar

Magnus: Vinegar?

Gina: Yes, vinegar

Magnus: Are you supposed to put that in your mouth?

Balmy Toronto Summer

The kids and I spent the entire summer in Toronto and vicinity (including Montreal/Ottawa/Burlington/London) and coming home to an evening of 37C this first week of September was a bit of a shock.  However, after a midnight drive with jet-lagged Magnus, taking in the sights of hustle and bustle by the beach, listening to Magnus shout out the names of all the passing cars and taxis while I worked the ATM, and carrying him back home through our sweltering garage while he slept, everything seems rather normal again.

Before too many memories of our summer in Toronto melt away, I just wanted to put down some of moments that stood out.  Goodness knows when I will get the chance to blog again, what with the start of school, rebooting the job, managing the move, and friends with new babies!

So back to the non-exhaustive list of delightful moments this past summer, in no particular order:
- Magnus' interest in nothing but the zoomobile on his many trips to the zoo.  His ideal zoo visit: get in, ride the zoomobile, leave the zoo and get a snack with gong gong, preferably costco.
- Magnus making sand ice cream cones and cakes, Maya destroying them
- Maya's vocabulary explosion, in particular: fruits, animals and animal sounds, and bugs
- Maya asking her aunts for "breet" as a midnight snack
- Maya gleefully copying Uncle Jenning's moves (no, not the running man) and telling us it's "Nenning"
- Maya falling in love with Thomas the train when we were focused on getting Magnus enthused about about the ride
- The family "roughing it" in Montreal
- Maya's bug obsession: butterflies, ants, ladybugs, spiders, and dragonflies - spotting a spider in the sandbox all by herself and then reporting it to us
- Magnus teaching Jessica/Amanda/Brianna how to sing 100 bottles of pop on the wall his way
- Magnus playing with Michael's trains in ottawa
- Magnus playing with Aunt Lisa's neighbour's trains in ottawa
- Magnus going to French Summer Camp
- Magnus driving Maya around in the trunk of his truck
- Magnus and Lucas horsing around in a tent
- Maya stealing Lucas' scooter and scaring Jada away
- Lucas picking up Magnus and carrying him a couple of steps (at my request) before they both came tumbling down
- Maya going bananas at the splash pad with her Aunts
- Maya vomiting on Auntie "Ninini"
- Magnus falling asleep on the way to ice cream, thereby denying his uncle Alex the pleasure of partaking
- Maya demanding sticky rice at dimsum
- Riding the double decker bus with Naomi
- Magnus and Maya playing hide and seek
- Magnus and Maya sharing the armchair to watch Treehouse
- Maya learning all the letters of the alphabet from the mats

Here are some things that were said and overheard:

Magnus: I have to go potty!

Gong gong: Can you hold it until we get home?

Magnus: No, It's coming out!
Magnus: Mommy look my truck is a garbage AND recycle truck!  Come look!!  <points to a recycling sign on the wheel>
Maya: Bee!  bee!
Gina: A bee?  Where?Maya: aaaaare you?
Magnus: Yes sir, mommy!  Shur!
Magnus: I am so not buying you dinner.
Magnus: But no buts!  butts on chair!  That's uncle Reginald's trick!

Gina: One, two, three..Maya: Eight nine ten!
Magnus: If you leave mangos outside in the rain, they will be wet mangos.  If you leave mangoes outside in the sun, they will be dried mangos.  
Magnus: This is a stair handle!

Gina: Actually it's called a bannister.

Magnus: Yeah, but I call it a stair handle.

Clem: Did you know that Auntie Clemmie has been on a search and rescue helicoptor?  In a very very cold place.

Magnus: Was it neptune?

Magnus: Auntie Goldie is that as high as you can push me?

Magnus: Mommy why can't I have a window seat?

Gina: Because we came too late to the airport.

Magnus: I wonder what caused that.

Magnus: My tummy hurts, I think I ate too much food. 

Yee Ma: Are you too full for cheesecake then?

Magnus: If I poo, then I will have more room for cheesecake!

Gina: Are you sure? 

Maya: Sure!

Maya: <whenever mad at Magnus> MANUS!!!!

What Magnus and Maya Said...

Magnus' first musical:
Gina: Magnus, did you like watching TV with Daddy?  What was it about?
Magnus: It was about poor people, and they had no shoes, and no money
Gina: Anything else?
Magnus: No
Gina: Did they sing?
Magnus: Yes
Gina: Did you like the songs?
Magnus: Yes

Magnus tries to delegate
Gina: OK Magnus, take off your shoes and put them away please
<Magnus takes off shoes and stands up, and sees Grandma bending over to pick up shoes>
Magnus: Put my shoes away Grandma
Gina: No Magnus, you take off your own shoes and you put away your own shoes!

After singing 'On Top of Spaghetti

Magnus: Mom what happened to the meatball? <repeat ad nauseum>

Magnus the fruit snob
Magnus: I don't want to eat those bananas!  They have holes!
Magnus: No I don't want to eat Auntie Goldie's plums, they're too bumpy

Risk taker:

Magnus: You see Mommy, I don't have to hold my weewee to pee!

It's about the rules:

Magnus: <whispering> Shhh.. Maya is Sleeping
Gina: <quietly, but not whispering> She's sleeping is she?
Magnus: <loudly> Mom!  You have to be quiet!
Gina: <whispering> Oh… you mean like this?
Magnus: <whispering> Yeah!

Geography vs pop culture
Gina: Popo is going to Hong Kong.
Magnus: Is it going to climb a lot buildings?
Gina: No... that's King Kong.  King Kong is a giant gorilla.  Hong Kong is a city, just like Dubai, or Toronto!

It's a deal

Magnus: Deal Mommy?  Deal Mommy?  Deal mommy?
Gina: Do I what Magnus?  
Magnus: Deal Mommy?  Deal Mommy?
Gina: Ohhhh, you mean deal?  What deal, sweetie?
Magnus: Deal Mommy?  It means that you understand!
Gina: Um.. OK, deal!

Anytime I speak firmly to Magnus:

Magnus: Moooommmyyyy… I don't like it when you say bad things

Control freak:
Magnus: What Mommy what?
Gina: Mommy is talking to grandma right now Magnus, It's not for little boys and girls to understand.  You can't know everything, Magnus
Magnus: But I want to know everything!!

Friendly correction
Kendrick: OK get off that thing
Magnus: It's a chair, ok?

Control freak 2:
Magnus: Mommy, I don't want to have dinner, I want to have lunch!
Gina: It's not lunch time, it's dinner time Magnus
Magnus: No!  I want to have lunch!

Maya has two cents: 
Gina: Magnus, 10 minutes is up, it's time for bed.
Magnus: Nnnno!
Maya: Nnnno!
Gina: C'mon, time to go up!
Maya: Up!

I get the strangest stories from school:
Gina: Magnus, what happened to your knees?
Magnus: I fell down.  All my friends did this to me.  Except S, he was my daddy.
Gina: He was your daddy?
Magnus: He was just pretending

Big brother: 
Magnus: Ope!!  Eeep!!!
Maya: <giggle>
Magnus: Oooooh, so you liiike my funny faces!

Magnus likes to find new snappy comebacks:

Gina: Magnus, why do you never sit properly?
Magnus: That's the problem…

Snappy comeback rut:

Thor: Want to play with McQueen Magnus?
Magnus: No…
Thor: Why?
Magnus: That's the problem…
Thor: Why not?
Magnus: That's the problem…
Thor: Why not?!
Magnus: That's the problem…

After catching Magnus climbing all over his chair
Magnus: Mommy why do you always say no thank you no thank you NO THANK YOU?
Gina: Magnus why do you always do things you're not supposed to?

A simple card game degenerates into messy messy play
Thor: Made a pancakes! <throws card>
Magnus: <giggle> Made a pancakes! <throws card>
Thor: <laugh> Made a pancakes! <throws card>
Magnus: <uncontrollable laughter>  Made a pancakes!  <cough> <cough> <vomit> <vomit> <vomit> <vomit>

But with positive reviews

Gina: Did you have fun with Thor yesterday?

Magnus: Yeah!  We were pancake chefs!

Career talk:

Kendrick: What do you want to be when you grow up, Magnus?
Magnus: <undecipherable>
Kendrick: What? A mechanic?
Gina: Instruction?
Magnus: Yeah! A <undecipherable>
Gina: A construction worker?  Really?  Why is that, sweetie?
Magnus: Because I want to build a house!

Magnus tries to apply a phrase he often hears from me: "are you kidding me?" 
Magnus: I have to use this spoon to eat my yogurt.  Am I kidding, mommy?

When Magnus wants to "come with":

Gina: I have to go upstairs and get Maya.
Magnus: I want to be the assistant!

or...

Gina: I just have to move the car a little

Magnus: Can I be the co-pilot?

His little friends have recently moved, so...

Magnus: This apartment sure is getting smaller
Gina: Haha it might seem that way
Magnus: We better move to a bigger house

Maya's first words:
Uh oh
No
Up

Appo (Apple)
Na-na (Banana)
Dar (Star)
Ball
A-mah
Daddy
An-mah
An-pa

Happy Birthday Maya!

One year ago, our little girl was born.  She still amazes us to this day. :)

Here is Maya munching on some appetizers as she waits for her party guests:

A hastily wrapped present from mom and dad:

A balloon for each child:

The guests arrive in time for lunch:

After a few (rigged) games… birthday hats and cupcakes!

Some nice collaborative play to round out the afternoon:

What Magnus Said

We've been pushing Magnus to share a lot this month, and he will often invoke the word "share" for his own devices:
Magnus: Maya, you have to share, or else you will lose friends!!
Magnus: Alexander, it's called sharing!  It's called SHARING!

With a little help, starting to spell
Gina: Magnus, how do you spell "soon"?
Magnus: <sounding out> s… uh… oo… oo… ss… o… ooo…
Magnus: 'S' 'O' 'O'
Magnus: <pause>
Magnus: Mom, what was the word again?
Gina: "Soon"
Magnus: 'N'!!!

Going to a new shopping mall:
Gina: We are going to the Gold and Diamond Park today
Magnus: Do they have gold coins?  Mom, do they have golden coins?
Gina: No they don't, sorry Magnus

Magnus: Do they have chocolate coins?

Teaching mum:
Magnus: Mom, I'm sighing, do you know what that means?

Gina: What does it mean Magnus?
Magnus: It means I'm tiiired.

Magnus loves sharing his phonics lessons from school:
Magnus: Ch says "ch!" as in January!
Magnus: TRAINS GO CHUGGING UP THE HILL!  CH-CH-CH!  CH-CH-CH!

Stubbornly anti-social

Magnus: I don't want <a> and <b> to come visit.  It's NEVER going to be fun.
Gina: You had fun with them in Toronto, it'll be fun when they come to Dubai!
Magnus: NO WAY!

Magnus has many sad moments
Magnus: That makes me sad
Gina: So many things make you sad
Magnus: Yes, all the things that you do

Reading a title from his Dad's bookshelf

Magnus: U-2 that spells youtube!!

Clueing in on the five minute rule:
Gina: Magnus, would you like to brush your teeth now or play for 5 more minutes?
Magnus: No, I want to play five 5 minutes!
Gina: How much is that?
Magnus: A long, long, time!
(in the end we agreed on two 5 minutes, which Magnus understood to be 10 minutes)

When we scold:
Gina: Magnus, don't ride your bicycle near Maya again!
Kendrick: Magnus, if you don't listen to Mommy, I will take your bike away!
Magnus: <scrunches up face, sits down dejectedly, talks in a low voice> Dad always takes things away
Gina: No, it's not just Daddy, I will take your bicycle away if you ride it near Maya  <long explanation ensues>

Cheerfully defiant:
Kendrick: You know what would be really nice, Magnus?  Some peace and quiet!
Magnus: No, peace and LOUD!

Your dad, actually:

Gina: <Housekeeper> is from the philippines, did you know that?
Magnus: Oh! who else is from two Ps mom?

Sad and grammatically stagnant
Magnus: You see, I always be sad when I cry mom.
Gina: "I am always sad when I cry"

Magnus: No, I don't want to say it that way!

If I am even slightly distracted:
Magnus: Mom, I don't like it when you say mm-hmm!

Bedtime story:
Gina: "… And a helicopter just for me!"
Magnus: No, "just for me!"
Gina: <pause>  That what I said, "just for me"
Magnus: No, "just for me!"
Gina: You mean, "just for you?"
Magnus: Yeah!

School Assessment 2

Hooray, Magnus was accepted at another school!!!  This school is our second choice, but a very good second choice, so we are quite happy.

I was actually very surprised about this acceptance because I was convinced the assessment did not go well.

I was not allowed to observe the assessment; all the children were corralled into a classroom to listen to a story, play with the toys, and to be observed interacting with other children.

I was left to try to piece together a picture of the assessment the best I could.  I quizzed Magnus after the assessment.  He insisted there was no story.  He said he did nothing, and that nobody talked to him.  He said he didn't like the school and he was cranky because it was late in the afternoon.  OK - bad picture.

Then, the next day when I went to pick up Magnus, I saw pictures of a wonderful boat the teacher had made in the playground.  In all the pictures, every single child was inside the boat, playing, laughing, and listening to the teacher.  Every child, that is, except for Magnus!!  I was so convinced of his anti-social ways that I thought for certain he would have done the same sort of thing at the assessment.

Now that we know he has been accepted, maybe I was wrong.  Or better yet, I was right and they simply understood that not wanting to participate can be a very normal thing for a 3 year old.  

Maya's Adventure

Depending on the angle and Maya's mood, she reminds me of one of her aunts; usually one of the two eldest aunts.  Today she did something that made me think of her youngest aunt.  

It was an unremarkable weekend evening.  As usual, I took the two kids up to Magnus' room to wash up for bed, and as usual, Kendrick was available to spirit Maya away so that I could give Magnus a bedtime story and tuck him in.  And so that I could keep him company until he fell asleep (sigh.)

In the darkness, I could hear Magnus tossing and turning, and I could Maya being entertained with a video downstairs.  After awhile, she tired of her show, and started complaining.  Her father let her leave the video and climb the stairs (we often follow her up the stairs to give her a little workout).  She climbed, complained, and climbed again.  At the top, her dad was not able to entertain her very long in front of the mirror as he usually does, and I heard her come closer and closer to Magnus' bedroom, all the while complaining.  In my mind, I tried to send Kendrick a telepathic message: "Don't let her in yet, just a few more minutes and Magnus will be fast asleep!!"

To no avail: I saw the bedroom door slowly swing open.  My little baby girl peeked inside and when she saw me coming to get her, she started to bawl.  I picked her up and opened the door all the way to talk to her daddy... who was nowhere to be seen.  In an instant, with the strains of the abandoned video in the background, I realized that she had crawled up the stairs all by herself.   She had passed the open doors of the office, the master bedroom, and the visitor room, and pushed her way into darkness - the last place she remembered seeing her mother and brother.

I cuddled her, nursed her, and watched Magnus toss about some more until I heard Kendrick (who was exhausted from a hard week and a full day of physical activity) wake up downstairs.  I called to him and he rushed up to give his little girl some apologetic hugs and kisses.  By the time that was all done, Magnus was finally asleep.  So we took our bright eyed daughter downstairs and spoiled her with attention and affection, until at last it was time for her to sleep too. 

Goodnight everybody, may you all find what you are looking for even in the face of a little adversity.

Video Roundup

I catch so many great moments on video by simply storing our camera in the living room on top of the bookshelf with the lens cap off.  This makes it easily to whip it out when the kids are being extra cute.

Enjoy!


One day I asked Magnus if he wanted to feed Maya.  He was more than happy to do so!

Daniel stayed at our place for a few nights.  In return we asked only for a performance.  At first, Magnus declared Daniel's playing to be "bad."  In the end, Daniel won him over:

Magnus loves substitution jokes.  This joke ran for a couple of weeks.

It's amazing to watch kids develop.

Maya likes to stow things under the TV stand so that she can skootch down and look at it.  I didn't quite capture this on video but it's pretty close:

Ditto for putting stuff into bags.  I lost my keys once this way.

Magnus' game amused Maya.  He was making a pig spin.

I let Magnus drive Maya around on the strict order that he was to be gentle and to report to me the second Maya would try to climb out.  This happened quite often.  Magnus was very diligent about reporting, too.

She does this all the time, but it's cuter with the dots. :)

What Magnus Said...

The art of explanation:

Gina: Did you like it when Daddy pretended to be asleep and you jumped on him?

Magnus: Yeah!  I jumped 3 times

Gina: 3 times!

Magnus: Yes, so I didn't vomit! <Kendrick asked him to stop jumping so that he would not get overexcited and vomit, which is what happened last time>

Driving at night:

Gina: When it's daytime, it's sunny outside

Magnus: Yeah, and when it's sunny I wear my sunglasses! <pause> It's moony outside now!

Too much pressure?

Magnus: Mommy, what's that?

Gina: The GPS said, "satellite connection lost".  Do you remember what satellite means?

Magnus: I can't remember what satellite means! <bursts into tears>

Putting the pressure on Grandpa instead:

Grandpa: Now we're in business!  Magnus, do you know what a business is?

Gina: Grandpa, why don't you explain to Magnus what a business is?

Grandpa: <tee hee>

Playing the opposite game with Tristany

Tristany: What's the opposite of high?

Magnus: Bye!

After this exchange, we hastily taught him the words; beard, mustache, and shave

Kendrick: Daddy has to go take a shower now, Magnus.

Magnus: Mommy, Daddy will have no hair!!

A conversation I have every time I do a rolling stop (often)

Magnus: Mom!  STOP at the stop sign!!

Gina: Oh did I not stop?  You're going to be a much better driver than Mommy.

Magnus: Yeah, when I get bigger and bigger, I will stop at the stop sign!

Cue world's smallest violin:

Magnus: No Dad, I'm still sad!

Kendrick: Would you like to go to the balloon store with me?  Would a balloon make you happy?

Magnus: No, a balloon will make me sadder.

Gina: Would you like to get a balloon, Magnus?

Magnus: <sigh> yeah

Every time I talk to visitors:

Magnus: Mom!  Mom!  Mom!!  I want you to pay attention to me!!!

Magnus is sharpening his arguing skills:

Gina: Magnus, Mommy has to take a shower now.

Magnus: No!!!

Gina: Magnus, I need to take a shower!  Look at my feet!  See how dirty they are? 

Magnus: Mom, you can just wash your feet.

A future in marketing?

Magnus: <reading the side of a bag> J B C!  Mom, how come they put J and not A?

A food request:

Magnus: Mom, some people like to eat meatballs

Gina: Would you like to eat meatballs?

Magnus: Yeeeah!!

A lesson in equality:

Magnus: Mom, blue and red make purple!

Gina: Yes!

Magnus: Mom, purple and blue make red!

Gina: No, purple and blue do not make red. 

Using "an" a little too often.  This is just one example:

Gina: That is a picture of...

Magnus: an strawberry!

Informing Maya cheerfully:

Magnus: Maya you are driving mommy crazy!

Kendrick was playing with Maya on the sofa:

Magnus: Maya loves her daddy

At Alexander's

Magnus and Maya had a wonderful playdate at Alexander and Izabella's place a couple of weeks ago.  Magnus had been looking forward to it the whole week, probably because of the promise of toy cars and trains.  Alexander, our gracious young host, was happy to have Magnus play with any and all of his toys.  The only catch was, he loved to prank Magnus by occasionally snatching and hiding whatever toy Magnus happened to be interested in.  This was funny for everybody except for Magnus, who eventually got over it when we went to play outside.  Maya was a little clingy, but got along well with Izabella.  She particularly liked the executive chair, and is planning to get one for her future office:

My next trick is going to mess up my hair, but it'll be good for employee morale:

Here is Magnus enjoying lunch:

And Izabella looking quizzical.  

The boys did really well when we were outside playing with the soccer ball.  Usually boys will be boys stuff:

Magnus was really testing his boundaries by the end.

I let him squish all the way home.  A fine end to a wonderful afternoon.  Tak for sidst!! :)

School Assessment 1

In Dubai, all children must be assessed prior to an offer of placement at a school.  It is such a foreign notion to us and our public school upbringing that I thought I would document part of this process.

Yesterday Magnus did his assessment at one of the three schools where we have him wait-listed.  This school is ranked "Good" by the education authority in the UAE.  A very quick overview:

Pros: Will allow Magnus to start KG1 in Sept 2013 (so he will be youngest in his class); We have several good friends with kids at this school
Cons: Most expensive school (tuition is almost double); Very far (20 minutes highway driving)

The assessment was the interesting part.  At the appointment time, they asked us to take our children to the library.  The library was set up with desks - 1 teacher per desk.  Magnus was appointed to a specific teacher, and he was seated across from her.  I sat next to Magnus.

I was not aware that I was supposed to leave him.  Nobody briefed me about this.  Halfway through the assessment the teacher whispered to me, "is there a reason why you are still here?  The assessment will be better if you are not here."  I was not very impressed with that, but it did give me the opportunity to watch the first half of the assessment.

- She asked Magnus his name, his age, and where he was from.
- She gave him a six-piece puzzle and asked him to construct it.  The puzzle pieces were all numbered.  She asked him what the numbers were randomly.
- She took out a toy with multicoloured pieces.  They were little camels that connected (the mouths would snap into the tail of the camel in front).  She asked him to connect the pieces, and in the process tested his knowledge of colours.

At this point she asked me to leave.  Magnus had aced everything up to this point.  I was a little nervous about the puzzle because he doesn't like doing puzzles at home, but he totally loved doing this elephant puzzle!

Before we left, Magnus wanted to show me what he "drawed" for me.  I used this as an excuse to go back to the assessment desk to pick up the paper he was drawing on.  I could see that the teacher had written some letters of the alphabet, mostly upper case.  But then I also saw that she had written two lower case letters.  I also saw an attempt by Magnus to write his own name.  I could see the M A and G, but the rest was not really there.  He had also scribbled some kind of drawing.  His usual mish mash of nothing in particular.

So I think he did pretty well as the assessment.  We will hear the results next week!

Afternoon At Jacob's

Magnus and Maya went to visit Jacob and Harry this afternoon.  Again I forgot my camera so I had to rely on my phone.  Here are the two big kids elbowing their way into the baby toy area.  Maya and Harry didn't seem to mind though.  Their attitudes were as casual as their dress: Harry - no pants; Maya - pardon my onesie.

The highlight for Magnus was running around with Jacob in his huge garden/backyard.  Here they are with an end-of-playdate obstacle course:

Magnus was getting really tired by the end (yes!!!):

Luckily, he didn't fall asleep in his mashed potatoes when we got home.

Now, what to do about my trampoline envy…..

Weekend Without Daddy

Kendrick took a long weekend away to a remote island in Yemen with his friends.  He is on his way back now, but it was quite a tiring period for us here in Dubai.  However, I consider this his belated Christmas present, since the only thing we got him for Christmas was a cantaloupe!

Ultimately the kids and I managed just fine, and I dragged along my playbook to record as much of the weekend as possible.  I covered three out of the four days.

Day 1:

After school I took Magnus to the skate park (see previous entry.)  Here is Magnus making a "sad" face.

Day 2:

After school, I took Magnus and Maya to the park next door to watch the sprinklers go off at three o clock.  We got early so that they could enjoy the playground for a little while.  

Magnus, who loves riding his scooter on the grass, was arguing with me about staying on the grass when the sprinklers suddenly turned on.  As Magnus ran away from the water, a little Spanish kid ran right toward the water and danced around in the spray for awhile.  

Since the afternoon was still young, Magnus, Maya and I headed over to the mall.  Maya fell asleep on the way over and missed the start of the Dubai Shopping Festival storytime.  Here is Magnus killing some time before the story:

Soon after this picture was taken, the security guard asked Magnus to stop riding his scooter.  So he lounged on the bean bag instead:




Day 3:

We spent the morning in Al Ittihad park.  Maya had a gooood nap and woke up happy.

You should be able to see her top left tooth in this shot:

After the park, we headed over to Virginie's place for lunch. Magnus wanted to watch the cars go over the speed bump first.  We decided to count twenty cars, and discovered that there are not a lot of early birds living in Virginie's apartment.

The apartments next door are very beautiful too:

Here we are having lunch at the restaurant downstairs....

And visiting her apartment for minute.  Magnus is helping Maya zip up her sweater:

That Christmas tree looks like a three hour job ;)

Then we all went to the Mall for another storytime session.   Except after a yogurt, a train ride, and a visit to the potty, we never made it for storytime.

Magnus and Maya enjoying next-gen astroturf:

I tried to stop her, but she licked it.

Merry Christmas Kendrick!!!!  We missed you!!!