Nana has been rehired

Nana has been reappointed to grandparenting duties.  At bathtime tonight Nikau asked for a shower with Nana instead of having a bath. Nana was very happy to oblige.

Grandad has Arrived in the Sandpit.

Grandad arrived at 6 o'clock yesterday morning and Nikau has had eyes for only Grandad since his arrival. Nana has been well and truly fired from grandparenting duties (temporarily I hope!)

After one very unsettled night Kaeden is beginning to settle into a routine. He is very alert and loves having eye contact with the person who is holding him. Nikau has been really good with Kaeden, today he pointed to him and said "brother" then pointed to himself and said "brother". We are looking forward to getting a photo of Nikau holding Kaeden, however Nikau hasn't wanted to do this yet.

Nana and Grandad have been enjoying going down to the nursery to pick up Nikau. We were supposed to go to a parent teacher interview last Wednesday but Kaeden's arrival on that day meant that we missed that. Tanya is going to schedule another one. Nikau has a nursery book which is filled in daily, saying what he's been doing, his mood etc. Each term he gets a four page report!!!!!!!

Talking of education, Tanya's friend has a little boy who has special learning needs. To get teacher aide help the family has to pay $6000 dirhams a month, which is nearly NZ$2500!!! 

Today we have booked a short trip over to Sweden to see Craig (and escape the heat!) We fly out next Thursday morning and return the following Wednesday in time to celebrate Nikau's birthday on the 18th June.

 Kaeden chilling in his new little brother chair

 Grandad and Nikau playing and sitting on the big brother chairs

 The front page of Nikau's 4 page termly nursery report

Grandad's first cuddle with Kaeden

At Home with the Pikaris

Nikau and I had a lovely 24 hours together. I must admit I was a little apprehensive about having sole responsibility for a very active nearly two year old, especially during the day when it is too hot to go outside to play. I slept in Nikau's room with him on Thursday night and he woke up at the relatively civilised (by toddler standards) time of 5.45am. We had breakfast together and before it got too hot we walked to the local supermarket to get a few supplies then stopped in at the playground at Nikau's nursery so he could have a run around...and run around he did! Nikau raced around the perimeter of the playground at a rate of knots, expending a lot of pent up energy I think. By 10.30am it was getting too hot to play outside so we came upstairs for a snack and playtime inside. Nikau made a special card for his little brother the we did "rolling, rolling" which translated means played with play dough. (the first time Nikau and I played with the dough I said "rolling, rolling" as I made a ball and the name has now stuck!) After lunch Nikau climbed into his bed and slept for a little over two hours. We didn't have too much more time to fill in before Mummy, Daddy and Kaeden arrived home from the hospital at 4.00pm. 

Last night I slept in Nikau's room again and our day started at the rather uncivilised (by anyone's standards) time of 4.45am. (Might be an early night for Nana tonight!)

Nikau is beginning to take a real interest in his little brother and is learning to to use his gentle hands and his quiet voice. I am sure he is going to adapt to being a big brother really well.

 Kaeden asleep in his own bed at home

 Nikau and Nana having breakfast together

 Daytime rest time for Nikau

Woohoo, I'm going home!

Welcome Kaeden Tamati Craig Pikari

At last we have welcomed our second grandson, Kaeden(means companion in Arabic) Tamati (Name of Joel's grandfather and great grandfather) Craig (after Kaeden's Uncle Craig) Pikari, born 25 May at 5.21am weighing 4.01kg (8lb 13oz). Kaeden made a very speedy arrival yesterday morning, however he was unable to be delivered naturally and Tanya had a caesarian (again).

On Tuesday morning Tanya and I visited her doctor who told us the baby would be quite big, she guessed close to 4kg, and we made an appointment to see her next Monday. On Tuesday evening we all went down the pool to take Nikau for a swim. Tanya said she felt a bit of tightening in her tummy but she had felt that on Sunday after the last time she went to the doctor. 

For the rest of the evening Tanya monitored her contractions without saying anything to us then at 2.50 Wednesday morning she woke us up and told us it was "go time". Her labour had progressed very quickly and as we drove into the hospital in Abu Dhabi at 140km hour her contractions were only a minute apart. I honestly was worried that we wouldn't get to the hospital in time. We arrived at the hospital at 3.31am and at 5,21am Kaeden made his appearance. He looks a lot like Nikau looked when he was born.

Joel went and got Nikau yesterday afternoon and brought him to meet his little brother. Nikau was more interested in eating a yummy muffin than holding his little brother. Joel and Nikau came home last night and I stayed in hospital with Tanya and Kaeden. Kaeden obviously wasn't used to being out in the big wide world and had a very, very sleepless night. Because Tanya was unable to hold him Kaeden spent a lot of the night having cuddles with Nana.

Tonight I am on Nikau babysitting duties and have had a lovely evening having Nikau to myself. Tanya is coming home tomorrow, which is very exciting.

 Proud and happy family

 Middle of the night cuddles

The Pikari boys

Still Waiting in the Sandpit

In the weekends families in Abu Dhabi make the most of the opportunity to get out of the house (and the heat). It's taking me a bit of time to get used to the Friday/Saturday weekend here, but I'm getting there. On Friday we left the apartment at 9.30am and didn't get back until 5.30pm. We went to Central Market in Abu Dhabi where Nikau got some new shoes and a haircut. Most (if not all) malls here have indoor play areas where kids can play out of the heat. The play area that we went to with Nikau also incorporated a children's hair cutting salon, as you will see in the picture below. After lunch Nikau had a playdate with his friend Makani. Makani has a little brother who is three weeks old so I was able to get a little taster of what its like to hold a newborn (scary stuff).

Yesterday, after a morning swim, we had a lunchtime BBQ at a friends villa. It was great to see Nikau playing with all his little friends.

Nikau loves to mimic what others are doing. This morning Joel was standing on the balcony with one foot on a ledge running his hand through his hair. Nikau was standing next to him doing exactly the same thing. 

Tanya has a checkup with the doctor this morning, so soon we will be going into the city again.

 Helping Daddy with the BBQ

Haircut time.

Nana and Nikau

Still no sign of baby but while we wait  I am enjoying having lots of  special nana time with Nikau. We have been swimming at the pool, read lots of stories, played with play dough, sung songs and danced and had lots of fun with Nikau's sticker book. We have been trying to think of fun indoor activities for Nikau as it is too hot to take him to play outside.

I have been starting each day with a half hour swim at 8am. This is a good time to swim because the water is still cool enough to be refreshing and not many people are at the pool.

It was Joels' birthday yesterday so on Tuesday night we went to a lovely restaurant called Shangrila, where we celebrated Joels' birthday and his friend's 40th with Tanya and Joel's friends. Last night we had a family tea out with Nikau at the Texas Roadhouse, where Nikau was able to help his daddy blow out the candles on his birthday cake

 Kiss for Nana

 Saying goodbye to Mummy, Daddy and Nana before they went to Daddy's special birthday buffet.

Lunchtime!

Registering the car

Tanya and I set off at 7.30am to head to Abu Dhabi to register Joel's car. The traffic on the highway was a nightmare, the traffic jam caused by a truck that had broken down. Once we passed the broken down truck traffic was flowing smoothly and we arrived at the car registration place a little later than we had hoped. Below is a set of instructions on how to register a car in the UAE;

You will need a car, your car registration card, your Emirates ID card, money or your credit card and TRUCKLOADS OF PATIENCE!!

Step 1: WAIT in very long queue in front of the testing station.

Step 2: Decide when will be the best time to leave your car and go into the building to pay for the test.

Step 3:Leave car and pay for test to get receipt to give to tester man.

Step 4: WAIT

Step 5: When you finally get to the front of the queue get out of your car and give the receipt to the tester man.

Step 6: Go into building and WAIT.

Step 7: While waiting go to newly installed machine to pay any traffic fines you have got during the year online, because they are half price if you pay them online!

Step 8: WAIT

Step 9: The jolly round man at the end of the room will give you your test result, in doing so will pretend that your car has failed the test because he thinks that's a funny joke.

Step 10: Take the car has passed form to the insurance office.

Step 11:Take your number from the machine inside the door.

Step 12: WAIT

Step 13: Fill out and sign several forest loads of paper work, which the man will staple together for you.

Step 14: Take the paper work to the cashier,  who will take out the staples, take your money, and return half of the paperwork to you.

Step 15:Walk to the ladies only counter at the registration office and take another number.

Step 16: WAIT

Step 17: The kind lady will direct you to a fancy new machine on which you can register your car using your credit card.

Step 18: Go back to the kind lady because the fancy new machine does not print out all the necessary documents.

Step 19. Get all the necessary documents from the kind lady at the counter.

Step 20: Heave giant sigh of relief because this registration process has been quicker than in previous years!

The queue in front of us for step one of registering the car

Day 3 in the Sandpit

Tanya had a checkup with the doctor this morning and everything is going well, no sign of bump making his appearance yet. On the way to the doctors I saw a bus with a sign in the window saying "No students on this bus". I commented to Tanya that I thought this was a strange sign to have on a bus. She told me that all school buses who have dropped their students off at school must display this sign because in the last year two children from the same school died as a result of being left on the bus in the heat. Every school bus now has a driver and an assistant whose job it is to check that all the children have got off the bus.

This afternoon Tanya, Nikau and I went to a mall where I was very quickly reminded how quick two year olds are. Nikau is a very active wee man and it is hard for him to be inside in the apartment when it is too hot to go outside. The malls over here are enormous and Nikau relishes the opportunity to have a run around in a wide open space, testing Nana's reaction time as he sprints off!

I am sure we are going to be finding lots of indoor activities to keep Nikau stimulated during the heat of summer!

Safely in the Sandpit

 Nana and Nikau at the airport.

 Story time

Nana, Mummy and Bump

I have been in Abu Dhabi for a little over 24 hours now. I arrived here at 6am yesterday and was met by Tanya, Joel and Nikau. Nikau didn't seem too puzzled by having a real live Nana instead of a Nana in the box. After freshening up we were at an outdoor play area by 9am. Unfortunately even at that early hour it was far too hot to be outside so we headed to a mall to find an indoor play area, where the temperature was far more comfortable. By yesterday afternoon the temperature outside had reached 43 degrees!!!!! Needless to say no outdoor activities were planned.

This morning Tanya had a few things she needed to buy so we went to Yas Mall, the second biggest mall in the UAE and the closest mall to Tanya and Joel's apartment. In Yas Mall we grabbed a takeaway coffee from Tim Horton's and took our coffees and  Nikau to a ballpit to have a play; both the cafe and the ballpit were inside a shoe shop in the mall. Only in the UAE!!!

It has been so much fun getting to know Nikau and having special Nana time with him, he has grown up so much since we last saw him.

Tanya has quite a large "bump" and we are all looking forward to the arrival of Nikau's little brother, hopefully in the not too distant future.

Well Mr Happy Chappy and I are finally on our way to the sandpit. The first leg of our journey to Brisbane is complete and the next leg is a fourteen hour flight to Abu Dhabi. Hope all is well in Room 16.