Giveaway: Smurfs 2 movie tickets

*Giveaway close. Winner has been notified.

It has been a week since we got back from vacation and I'm slowly getting back to our usual routine.

We missed a lot of events here in Dubai while having a grand time back home, so happy though that we are back just in time for Smurfs 2 movie!

I'm giving away two movie tickets to watch Smurfs 2 from "Build-a-Bear Workshop"

Who is your favorite Smurf?
Leave a comment below to win the tickets!

Winner will be announced Saturday, August 2, 2013.

Skylanders Limited Edition for E3

LittleMan V requested that we put his collection on the blog, so here it is.

We give V rewards whenever he does good in school (he was perfect in all his dictation sheets in class and passed school entrance exam), and he would always ask for toys and on that particular toy store trip he was looking for the Trash Pack toys but it was not available.  Good thing it was not available!

Daddy came home one night with the Skylanders PS3 Starter Pack and from then on Vs collection has reached to 30 characters.  He's watching videos and reading about them. He made a video about them which I recorded using my iPhone.

We followed Skylander gamers on youtube and he learned about the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) and asked us to go the expo. He felt really bad when he learned that those who went to the expo got limited edition Skylander characters. I told him that one of Mama's friend was in the E3 expo, both V and Dad exclaimed that Mama has cool friends. I even became the coolest Mom when I told him that our twitter Dahlink Nick got a Limited E3 Skylander character. V asked if he can visit Uncle Nick and get to see his Skylanders Bronze Hot Dog E3 Release.

Before I got a chance to ask Nick if we can see his Skylanders E3 release I got a message inviting us to drop by his office for some E3 goodies. So we did right after Vs graduation, and we were in for a big surprise.

Uncle Nick handed him goodies from the expo and also gave V two Limited Skylanders E3 release - Silver Spyro (E3 2012) and Bronze Hot Dog (E3 2013). He was beaming with happiness and declared to his Dad that Uncle Nick gave him the best gift of his life.  THANK YOU Uncle Nick!

 

V's friends declared him the coolest!

2013 School Year Ends

My LittleMan V graduates from Kindergarten.

Yesterday, he bid farewell to his school friends and teachers. It was our first graduation ceremony and along with other parents we have each witnessed how our children grew from the teary eyed KG1 babies to confident KG2 students.

This September he will move up to big school as a Year 1 student in a new school.

A big THANK YOU to all his teachers, classmates, nanny, and school bus driver for making his kindergarten life a fun one.

V leads the boys as they sing "Glowing Inside" to say Thank You to Mom & Dad

 

Breastfeeding in Public

You are sitting in a cafe enjoying a cup of coffee when suddenly you overheard someone asking a mother to breastfeed her child somewhere else because that person thinks its inappropriate and disgusting.

What would you do?

Sian from our UAE breastfeeding group posted the following videos conducted by abcnews.com on how customers in a cafe reacted to the situation.

Breastfeeding an infant in public.



Breastfeeding a toddler in public.



I am very happy that UAE is a breastfeeding friendly country. I have breastfed Vierte when he was a toddler and now Chloe who is 11 months, in public with and without a cover and I haven't had a bad experience.

Some malls and establishments here have dedicated baby rooms where a mom can breastfeed her baby.

On the Breastfeeding Q&A UAE Facebook group, the most common question asked for new expat families is whether they can breastfeed in public.

Here's an excerpt from Sian's article on breastfeeding in public.

The great news is that both Islam and UAE society are in favor of breastfeeding (the Qur’an in fact teaches that babies have the right to breastfeed for two years), and it is common for mums and babies to breastfeed in public places wherever you are in the country. The Ministry of Health has publicly affirmed the right of a mother to feed her child wherever she is without being hassled, and the Department of Islamic Affairs confirms that this is perfectly acceptable, as long as the mother remains appropriately covered and follows normal dress etiquette if men are present -

See more at: http://brightbabyhood.com/breastfeeding-public/?wpmp_switcher=desktop#sthash.XIVqozNi.dpuf

Link to the complete article here

Just like any hungry adult, when a baby is hungry that baby needs to feed.

To be able to breastfeed a baby is a blessing. God blessed each mom that gift and power to nurture her child.

Next time you see a mother breastfeeding her child be thankful that you get to witness such blessing.

Don't ask her to move to the toilet to feed her child unless you're willing to enjoy your meal in the stall next to them!

 

 

Dubai Breastfeeding Group Meet-Up

Calling all Expectant Mums & Breastfeeding Families

BreastFeeding Q&A UAE Group will hold the next meet-up this June 15 (11:00 am – 1:30pm)

at Latifa Hospital (formerly known Al Wasl Hospital).

A great opportunity for parents to discuss advantages & difficulties on breastfeeding, weaning and to just have fun  with other families

More details on the event here.

Chloe Isabelle - 11 months

Entering her 11 month a tooth has popped out, and this week just before we say goodbye to May a new one is coming out.

She's no longer happy just sitting in one place, you will find her strolling around the house. We didn't buy her a walker and she still managed to find a way to walk :) with the help of chairs and tables.

She's still very much happy drinking from my breast milk station and I don't have any plans to stop. At 11 months she's still a happy EBF babe.

Hello pearly whites! A month before we celebrate her birthday we welcome 2 pearly whites.

Social House

After passing by the restaurant several times in each of our Dubai Mall visit we have finally dined at Social House.

For appetizer we had the restaurant's best seller-Dragon Roll (dhs 55)

[caption id="attachment_1900" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Social House - Dragon Roll[/caption]

I was craving for some noodle dish and ordered Chicken Ramen (dhs 58)

Daddy C ordered Seabass Fettuccine (dhs 59)

Kuya V and LittleMiss didn't get to try the kids menu since both were sleeping.

Daddy C and I enjoyed a quiet dinner while the kiddo's are eating and we surely did enjoy every bite.

Total bill: dhs 198 (includes 1 bottled water)