Zayd’s new skills

First of all, apologies for not posting more recent pictures of the boys. Flickr has been blocked by all UAE internet providers and I have to find a way around it.

Now back to my post…

Zayd is now 3 years and 8 months and seems to grow so fast with all the new things he’s learnt:

- He can recognize 90% of the letters in the English alphabet and all numbers (0 to 9).
- He is learning all kind of interesting facts about wildlife (e.g. ‘camels live in the desert and don’t need to drink water for days and days…They are so strong’)
- He can trace over doted letter so can ‘write’ his name or anything really
- He knows douzens of country names
- He can roll over without anybody helping him (not sure if this is the right term, I mean you roll over like you would do in gumnastics)
- He can say the coulours, number up to 5, name of some farm animals in French
- He makes sentences in Arabic. Still not perfect but getting there
- He is taking swimming lessons and finally managed to put his head under water
- He can name almost any type of sport.
- and much more…

We are very proud of our big boy! Yesterday, he received an achievement certificate from his school which says:

Zayd has a great knowledge and understanding of the World which he is eager to show

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Post updated by Abu Zayd:

I guess the only thing I would like to add is Zayd’s knowledge of cars. He loves both Sports cars and Big cars. He can recognize the following cars almost all the time:

- Ferrari
- Lamborghini
- Hummer (confuses it with FJ Cruiser sometimes)
- Nissan Altima (mommy’s rental car)
- Nissan Tiida (daddy’s old rental car)
- Corvette
- Porsche

He also knows three different kinds of motorcycles:

- Kawasaki
- Harley Davidson
- Pizza Motorcycle (Delivery)

Kais

Baby Kais has made it to our World and we just adore him!

Happy New Year 2009

Al Bastakiya

Since our arrival to Dubai, we have been a number of times to Al Batakiya, the historic district of Dubai. This area is by no means as extensive, as old, or as animated as the Medinas of North Africa; however it is a really pretty corner of the city.

It is really worth visiting and I personally much prefer being there than visiting the new Dubai landmarks, malls, towers…etc.

Al Bastakiya is one of the rare places with a ’soul’ if you see what I mean.

Some photos of our visits:

Baby Name Vote - Continued

Chers amis et membres de la famille,

Mille mercis pour votre participation au vote. Les résultats sont assez intéressants et les commentaires super agréables. Cette expérience a été vraiment intéressante!

Beaucoup d’entre vous se demande sur notre choix final. Et bien: on ne le saura que le jour-j . En attendant l’arrivée du bébé, vers le 8 Février!

Merci a tous

FB Tribe
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Dear friends and family,

Many thanks to all of you who participated in the vote. The results are quite interesting and the comments are much appreciated and very very nice. The experience is so much fun!

Many of you asked me/Abu Zayd about our final name choice. Well: I am afraid this will only be decided on d-day . So stay tuned, the baby is expected around February 8th!

All the best from the FB Tribe.

Vote for your favorite name / Votez pour votre prénom favori

Friends and family,

Baby #2 (BOY) is arriving soon and we now need to have a serious think of name. It will have to be of Arabic origin, be short and sound somewhat ‘international’. We are currently thinking of 5 possible names. Please cast your vote to let us know your favorite.

Thanks!

________

Amis et membres de la famille,

Bébé No 2 (GARCON) arrive bientôt et nous devons penser sérieusement à un prénom. Nous préférons les prénoms courts, d’origine Arabe et à sonorité ‘internationale’. En ce moment, nous pensons à 5 prénoms en particulier. Nous aimerons connaitre votre favori via ce sondage.

Merci!

Paki & other names

Zayd is fascinated with names.

When we watch a movie such as ‘Madagascar’ or ‘Cars’, he keeps on asking about the names of each and every character. And from time to time, he would come up with questions like

What is the blue car’s name again? You know Lightening McQueen’s friend?

Thank God for Wikipedia where we find all the correct answers !

He also like coming up with names, and the ones he inventes sound really nice (my favourite being Talaka). One of the most important ones he kept bringing up in the last couple of months is Paki, his imaginary brother’s name. In his eyes, Paki is the most ’successful’ person on the planet. Paki can do things that Zayd will only be able to do when he is much older. Paki can drive, has a car, can ride a two-wheeled bike, has a horse, can pronounce complicated words…etc.

Zayd is also helping us choose a name for his little brother who is due next February. The latest choice being ‘Jacky Kais’

Next Stop: Dubai

The Karavan has moved again! This time, we are heading East and our next stop is Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

A month or so later, we are now more or less settled in with work, nursery, accomodation.

My first impressions: lovely weather, out of scale development, frustrating traffic, malls everywhere, people from all over the World, very little access to emirati culture, bigger home with pool (Zayd makes him think he is on holidays), need to drive anywhere between massive SUVs, a crazy place!

Some initial pictures in Madianat Theatre (watching Elmer), water taxi, near Ski Dubai.

Visit to Berne

Zayd and I paid a short visit to Berne, Switzerland this WE. The main purpose was to check on the lovely grand-mother who has recently been appointed safira, as well as Bahria who seems to really enjoy the European experience. We went to the little farm animal zoo, visited the city, took the funiculaire up the mountain to capture a magnificient view of the city, and wandered around the surrounding villages. Switzerland is by all means a beautiful place. We shall come back again for a longer visit. Next time with Abu Zayd and another little one!

Enjoy some photos for now:

More fun with Lily at Gulliver’s

After a fun afternoon with my friend Lily at Battersea Zoo, we got to go to Gulliver’s Land in Milton Keynes, and that was fantastic! Riding horses was the best!: