Bond Between Brothers

It's not always hugs and kisses between Jack and Ayden so it was a surprise when I took the camera out to take some pics of the two playing together when Jack gave Ayden a big kiss. Poor Ayden is often pushed and pinced by his "big brother" but it won't be too long before Ayden uses his weight to his advantage. And even more bad news for Iman and Jack, Ayden's front teeth appeared a few days ago and already he has been keen to try them out!

Think It's All Over

It has been exactly two weeks since Jack had his last feed from me. After four years and ten months of breastfeeding I think I can finally conclude that this chapter of motherhood in my life is over.

I am very proud to say that I successfully breastfed all three children. Iman and Jack were breastfed during my last two pregnancies and subsequently all three children were breastfed together; Iman with Jack and then Jack with Ayden. Iman and Jack loved feeding together often holding hands even when Jack was very young but Ayden did not enjoy feeding with Jack and usually took the opportunity to have a swipe at Jack so I did not prolong tandem feeding the two boys.

Iman was a keen feeder - she did not have any solids until 8 months - and eventually weaned at 2 years 11 months. Ayden weaned himself at 11 months preferring the bottle. And as for Jack he would still be on my breast today if I had encouraged it.

I loved feeding the babies. There was the parctical side of not having to wash and stearilise bottles especially in the first few months but there was also the satisfaction of nourishing them from your own body. But saying all that I can't say that I will miss it. I enjoyed it but am also relieved that I've done my part and its over. It's now great to reach for a diet coke or coffee and not be racked with guilt. Plus it's nice to elbow Donncha at night when he's around and get him to make a bottle - he's had it easy for too long !

Chef for Hire

Maria really enjoys cook books and as she mentioned before, sometimes we even get a meal or two cooked from our library (it's getting that big !). Our next door neighbor, a published chef in her own right has finally got around to starting her own blog to share recipes for her adoring public. I will be taking bets on how long it will take her to publish her second recipe. Please click on the link to the right to access Jasmine's blog

Ayden's Moving

In the past few days Ayden has started taking more than a few steps at a time and making real attempts at walking. It's wondeful to watch him get excited with what he can do. Of course with walking his curiousty is extended to a new level and our Ayden loves to explore. When he first started to crawl he discovered his sock drawer and would constantly pull out his socks and throw them on the floor or the drawer next to it. Our Sitty initially took time to match the socks again but after a few weeks even she saw that there was no point.


And here he is attacking the keyboard which is a must when he comes into the study.

My Surprises

Donncha when he get's a chance on his trips will always bring back small surprises for Iman and Jack. Jack is now starting to say "Where surprise?". And of course Iman is our Queen of Surprises. Poor Ayden is left out for now but he will catch on to it soon.

Unfortunately on his last trip to London poor Donncha did not have much time to shop and did not get the kids anything except for some white M&S school socks for Iman. She had such a long face! - (But Donncha you will be happy to know that every morning since she has started wearing them she has said how much she loves her new socks!)

Not usually the norm I was the one to be most surprised from the London trip with three new cookery books. I love my cookery books. I'm not the world's best cook and I don't cook everyday but I do cook - maybe not much from the books themselves but I do refer to them. Though I have been reminded that the Lebanese book is not a coffee table book. Donncha's home tomorrow and staying put for the rest of the week so I guess one evening will be Lebanese - will be posting pics.

The Power of a Munster Shirt

All good plans come to nothing when you set out to arrive in a country for meetings immediately after landing but are transferring in Mumbai and travelling Air Mauritius. So, Sunday evening and night was spent sitting in Mumbai airport while a late plane and complete power failures in the airport combined to leave me landing in Mauritius 7 hours later than expected.

So straight to the bank and directly into a meeting with the GM and senior chaps convincing them that the unshaven chap, in jeans and a rugby top could be trusted and they should agree to work with us.

A first for me then - I was able to shower in the bank before presenting to their wider management team - I was probably beginning to show signs of wear at that stage....

As for my continuing review of the underbelly of the world's hotel offerings..... I'm glad I'm not spending a lot of money to come to stay in this resort - you know the type... all the boxes are ticked but yet, the place has no athmosphere. As usual with the resorts outside of Asia, the cover band was terrible..... if I hear 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' once more.......

Football Funday

Donncha and I went to a friends' house for dinner Saturday night. We only met this couple recently and really enjoy their company and conversation. Too much cos we did not get home till very late. I'm not used to staying out late anymore and felt terrible on Sunday morning. And it wasn't like we could take it easy. Donncha had to pack for his brief trip to Mauritius and we had promised Iman that we would take her to the JIS Football Funday especially as her cousins Hazim and Hariz were participating.

Unfortunately we were late and missed Haris in action and by the time we got there I had to drop off Donncha to the airport leaving Iman and Jack at JIS. I had all intentions of picking up the kids and heading home immediately but in reality I never get my way anymore. They wanted to play, eat ice cream, face painting, henna, watch more football - the lot really. Jack was not keen on the face painting at all - there was one guy there who was really good and I wanted Jack to have a tiger or monster done but he wasn't interested. Iman wasn't keen either and settled for hairbraiding and henna on her hand which turned out quite well on her.

Trick Or Treat!

We had our first ever Trick Or Treat in the compound yesterday. Obviously Halloween is not celebrated in Brunei but it is now thanks to our friends Dora The Explorer, Higgleytown Heroes and many more. But no complaints, it's fun to dress up the kids and they love being in "scary" costumes.

Iman wore a pirates' dress that Donncha brought back from Ireland and Hanna bought her the eye mask. Jack chose not to dress up for the occasion saying that his costume was ida bagus meaning not good.

He would have looked great in his Count Dracula outfit but we shall have to wait another year to see him (or Ayden) wearing it.

The kids made their way up to my parents house for their treats. Zahra made a great witch especially with the purple handbag. Ika looked the part all in white as a pontianak and Fatin was simply Fatin - wacky!

Ayden's Party

We had a small birthday party for Ayden last weekend attended by all in the compound. We were also joined by my cousin Ernie and her five kids. Poor Ayden was carried though it all by Jack, Iman and the cousins.

Hanna and Fanily gave Ayden a small push car. He immediately took to it and has become one of his prized posessions.

Jasmine and Amin made and decorated a massive chocolate cake. It was real yummy. All the M&Ms on it helped speed up the afternoon for all the kids.

Iman and Jack flanking Ayden for the highlight of the afternoon. Jack blew the candle and I think Ayden helped to cut the cake!

Digital Kids

My niece Zahra brought home a piece of homework a few weeks ago which had her drawing what her grandmother played with when she was little, what her mother played with and what she plays with today. I think my mum's and my sister's were on the lines of kites and hopscotch. Of course they are games that kids play as well today but has been well over taken by the likes of PSP and Nintendo which Zahra had as her game.

It made me think, my kids will never know life without an iPod and will never experience having to rewind a tape over and over again to hear a favourite song. We have played Jack's favourite "Umbrella" in the car so many times that if it was on tape I don't think it will be well by now. The same goes for the old VHS tapes - always send them back to the video shop rewound to the beginning!

As for the digital camera, (and this is really the reason for all this) my kids are forever picking up my camera and snapping away either taking pics of themselves or anything they can see - in Jack's case it is always himself as he hasn't figured out which way round the camera should be. This would have been unthinkable when I was growing up - wasting exposures on the camera was a big no-no.

So here we have it two decent self-taken pics out of a dozen or more blurred ones.

Ayden is 1

Happy Birthday to our baby Ayden on his first birthday. We will have a little party on Saturday when Donncha get's back. Thanks to Aunty Mairead, Granny & Grandad and Aunty Savita for calling to wish him a happy birthday. Ayden loves being on the phone so he was all smiles. I've been trying to teach him to blow for Saturday - he's got some tough competition out there for the one candle. Iman says she'll blow and Ayden can make the wish! I'll be posting pics.

Iman's School Trip

I joined Iman's Reception year yesterday on their first school trip. I had several errands to do so I missed the first stop which was to the Jame Asr' Mosque. The second part of the trip was to the Royal Regalia building. When I was little it was called the Churcill Building with a statue of Churcill in the original courtyard and the attraction in the building was an aquarium which was a bit dark and scary for me as a four year old. Really I think it was just a collection of glass tanks but I was made to believe that they had a collection of piranhas!

I was late and missed the group photograph (which was in the BB today - Iman looked great). And I also missed all the instructions with regards to the questionnaire that I was handed along with my own group including Iman. And the fact that we had to lock away all handbags with camera and mobile phone. I did manage three pics before I was told to put everything away - just as well really as I had forgotten to recharge it and had no battery power left.

I can't really talk much about the exhibits or what everything is called (should have paid more attention to that questionnaire). It's an impressive exhibition and I was impressed yesterday as I was seven years ago when I first went there with Donncha. So the tv monitors don't work when you press the buttons but who ever watches those screens in museums anyway. It was an enjoyable morning with Iman and her friends. The girls were really good for me - each only disappearing a couple of times - but the staff there were excellent, very friendly and helped out with the kids.

Jack & Friends

Jack made new friends during Jasmine's open house on sunday. Here he is with Hasnah's sons (an old friend of Jasmine's from school). You can't see the younger boy's sinjang but both boys were wearing the real mccoys with the older boy being able to fold it by himself without any help. Impressive because I know grown men that stuggle to put them on!


Here's Jack with my cousin Ernie's son. Adam is four months younger than Jack.

Swiss Hotels

Well, another night, another city, another hotel but this one takes some beating. Reminds me of when I was 7 and used to spend my summer holiday's with my grandparents. The only difference in the room is the TV plus I guess the ensuite although it does match the decor of the bathroom in my grandparents house in Tipperary.

Met with with Swiss Mama and her expanding family last night - had almost given up on them as their GPS system doesn't seem to work well without manual intervention and of course, my hotel is not in a well travelled part of Geneva.

Looking forward to Friday morning when the plane starts to head east again altough it's a short trip home before heading to Chennai next week.

PopPop

If there was one thing that this Hari Raya has made it for Jack is the fireworks. I grew up with fireworks, Hari Raya would not be the same for me without them. They were not legal when I was growing up but everyone still had them. My sisters and I used to divide our stash into three equal piles that we would play on the first three nights of Raya. The smell of the white smoke, the excitement from lighting a rocket and running away quickly....it's all happy memories for me.

Wanting my own to experience the joy of fireworks during this time of year, I decided to introduce them gently by buying a small selection of tame ones. Iman have always enjoyed them but Jack naturally was not keen on them, initially running away screaming and then only watching from faraway. But one thing that he did take to immediately are the little "pop...pops" or "magic rocks" which are tiny parcels that give off a small bang if thrown to the ground or stamped on. Three or four weeks on, it has now become a daily habit for Jack and with Hari Raya now fading away I will have to start weaning him off his mini bangs. Even Ayden can sit forever just watching him throw them to the ground and then stamping on the ones unexploded.





As for actual fireworks, Jack no longer looks away with fright but jumps about with excitement a safe distance away. Even Ayden protests when he's taken indoors, he wants to watch everything firsthand. Luckily our neighbourhood shop is still selling the stuff but once that runs out we will have to raid my nephew Amin's stock when he's not looking!

Back to Cork

Donncha flies back to Cork today for the weekend so I thought I would use the opportunity to post pictures from our holiday. We wish we could be there this weekend especially Jack who always talks of Grandad, Grannie, Aunty Mairead, Aunty Eilis, Uncle Sean and forever looking for Aunty Emma!

Ayden and Kittens

This picture of Ayden is for Donncha who is away all this week and next week in London, Cork and Geneva. Ayden loves the camera and each time I get down to his level to take a picture he crawls over at speed with his tongue hanging out and laughing madly.


And today my sister Hanna found a new litter of kittens behind her kitchen and being the cat lover that she is, sent the mummy and kittens to Jasmine's house. I rehoused them in a new box this evening (and we have plenty of all shapes and sizes) so they are now happy and cosy in their new home. Amin my nephew is certain that the mummy is one of ours but I don't remember seeing a pregnant cat around the place. Anyway she'll be hanging around for a while.

Open House

Hari Raya is the time to take family photos. Go into any Bruneian household and you will always find a family portrait taken during Hari Raya usually in matching outfits. The last time my family attempted this impossible task was three years ago and it was not a success. We did not attempt it this year but we did manage to get all ten grandchildren together which in itself is a miracle! Not a masterpiece but considering the age range, having them all smiling and looking at the camera qualifies.
Jack was very proud to be wearing his new hat especially with matching outfits. Donncha did well for the day considering he hadn't eaten properly in 48 hours while travelling from India. Ayden as usual was all smiles throughout the day.

Iman made a trip to the hairdressers with cousin Zahra and came back with beautiful curls and sparkles in her hair. It helped to lighten her mood after a bad start to the day. Visitors wise, Iman had more friends come round than us and that's something we're going to have to get used to.

Selamat Hari Raya...

...to all our friends celebrating Eid.

The oil lamps are in the driveway are lit and looks fantastic. A couple of years ago my family gave up on the normal coloured bulbs that decorate houses at this time of year and instead going back to the traditional oil lamps - it's much simpler no need to replace bulbs and it's handy for the fireworks. Don't know what it is this year but the fireworks seem to be bigger and louder. Donncha a.k.a Mr. Meldrew was not impressed when we tried to put the little ones to bed.

We've got two big days ahead of us, welcoming, greeting and of course feeding. The usual menu....saffron rice, chicken curry, beef rendang, pineapple patchree and lots of nibbles and sweets to go with it. Look forward to having a decent lunch but even more to my first breakfast in 30 days....a big pot of tea and a big bowl of porridge!

Now I have to insert the $$$ into the green envelopes which is a bit like leaving the wrapping for Christmas Eve!

Hari Raya (Eid) only around the corner

Well, 3 weeks down and one to go. Brunei is getting ready for Hari Raya (almost like the build up to Christmas except without the parties). As usual this year, we are greeting guests for the first couple of days - something we look forward to, enjoy the experience (meeting old and new friends) and then get a chance to relax once it's all over.

This year, Iman will have a few friends from school visiting so it will be interesting to see her in action. Jack will have a ball this year no doubt, hopefully no repeat of last year's escape attempt when he befriended an ambassador's wife and decided that he was going with her in the car.

I've had my wings clipped when I attempted to negotiate a game of golf on the second morning .... no success there.

Meanwhile, I'm off to India for the week - back on Friday. The moon sighting happens on Thursday but everyone is confident that they won't see the moon and Hari Raya will be on Saturday. If somehow my religious friends manage to sight the moon on Thursday, I think I will have to walk home from the airport on Friday for missing the first day.....

Ramadhan and all it involves

Immediately on returning to Brunei, we headed straight into Ramadhan - fasting month, which means that Maria and I are loosing a little bit of weight (not eating, drinking or anything else during daylight hours). We are already in week 2 and looking forward to the end. The Pineapple Tarts have already started to make an appearance so you know that Hari Raya (Eid) is coming soon.

Each year, Maria's parents open their house for visitors which is a great time to meet up with people (almost like Christmas). It's likely to be a slightly less eventful this year, as last year on the second day of Hari Raya, we had a new arrival (Ayden).

A Trip back in Time

While having a late lunch in Cobh after a visit to Fota, we were lucky to catch a glimpse of the "Jeannie Johnston", a replica famine ship as it sailed (well, motored) up into Cork Harbour. With the photo in black and white along with the old Naval buildings in the background, you could almost imagine the scene from another era.

Carrots and Parsnip

Our children enjoyed the food in Ireland especially the potatoes and Grannie's gravy. Ayden tucked into the carrots and parsnip one evening even insisting on feeding himself!

Out In the Garden

What Iman and Jack enjoyed most about being in Ireland was playing out in the garden for hours and hours. The weather was lovely for the two weeks so most afternoons they sat out playing, running, skipping or just hanging out. Pictures above look like there was a serious discussion going on! Aunty Mairead bought them the little chairs complete with little table and umbrella.

Bunratty day out

The furthest we wandered from Cork with the children was probably Co Clare to visit our friends Claire and Rob who were down from Dublin. It was fantastic to meet them again after two years and meeting their children Luke and Elsa. As the pictures tell, the children got on great.

Bunratty Castle and Folk Park is a must stop on the tourist map. Lunch at the Creamery was a bit chaotic with five children under 5 but we managed to get everyone watered and fed. It had stopped raining (only day it rained on us in the two weeks) so we headed into the park for a walk. Unfortunately thanks to a tour group that trooped ahead of us we never managed to get into the restored castle so I can't say what's in it but the folk park was great fun. It's made up reconstructed farmhouses, cottages and shops showing what everyday life was like in rural Ireland about 100 years ago. There was a lady making pie in one house, a teacher in the schoolhouse (who scared Donncha) and real sweets in the post office! There was even a storyteller in one house and she just talked and talked about the old days and what life was like. You could spend hours listening to her if you had the time. It was fascinating and such talent to just talk and talk - must be the water around there!

We finished the day with a trip back to the Liddy farm for tea and rhubarb crumble - Claire we're still thinking about it! It was lovely to meet Claire's parents again who we haven't met since Claire and Rob's wedding in 2003. Unfortunetly the cows decided to stay away but the tractor and the explanation of where the cows get milked etc made up for that.

It was late by the time we got back at Cork with a quick stop in Mallow for McD's. Everyone was on strike so we had to get them out of the car. An excellent day out and great to catch up with the ever expanding Micallef Clan (!)