- Just arrived in the UK and walking around outside LHR Terminal 3
- Splashing in London puddles
- Christmas with Leila, Alice, Fabia and Jess the cat
- Sorting the empty water box
- Plastic box go-kart
Saturday, 15 March 2014
Video catch-up
Now that the internet is back, I've uploaded a few videos from the past couple of months:
Thursday, 13 March 2014
This week we have been mainly....understanding
Leila really understands a lot of what we say now, and we're starting to understand her too as she mimics the sounds of words after we say them.
For example (most of the time) she can show us all her body parts when we ask; head, ears, eyes, mouth, nose, tongue, toes, belly button, hands. And yesterday she was looking for a book that I knew was in her room, so I said 'Leila, the Englebert the Elephant book is in your room. Leila go and get it' and after looking at me slightly quizically she went off to fetch it!
She's also getting really good at the actions in nursery rhymes as today she even was pointing to the window/door in Wind the Bobbin Up.
We've known for some time that she understands 'shoes' as meaning we're about to go out, but now she tries to say the word back to us, and tries to say 'socks', and 'slippers' too!
One of her first words might end up being 'Bikya' as she always hears the Bikya Man as he comes down the street. She has started trying to say 'Fuul' and 'Lemon' which are the other calls she can hear from the street sellers each day.
When Scott is out at work, everything is 'daa' when she sees something that belongs to him; his razor, slippers etc. Any time I pick up my phone she thinks I am calling him (and most of the time she is right), but the moment I give the phone to her with him on the line she clams up!
For example (most of the time) she can show us all her body parts when we ask; head, ears, eyes, mouth, nose, tongue, toes, belly button, hands. And yesterday she was looking for a book that I knew was in her room, so I said 'Leila, the Englebert the Elephant book is in your room. Leila go and get it' and after looking at me slightly quizically she went off to fetch it!
She's also getting really good at the actions in nursery rhymes as today she even was pointing to the window/door in Wind the Bobbin Up.
We've known for some time that she understands 'shoes' as meaning we're about to go out, but now she tries to say the word back to us, and tries to say 'socks', and 'slippers' too!
One of her first words might end up being 'Bikya' as she always hears the Bikya Man as he comes down the street. She has started trying to say 'Fuul' and 'Lemon' which are the other calls she can hear from the street sellers each day.
When Scott is out at work, everything is 'daa' when she sees something that belongs to him; his razor, slippers etc. Any time I pick up my phone she thinks I am calling him (and most of the time she is right), but the moment I give the phone to her with him on the line she clams up!
Internet relief
So our internet problems started a week after we got back from our Christmas break, and now, two months on, have finally been resolved! It's silly but we feel so relieved to know that our internet is back to normal. Scott had come up with a 'work around' (that I blogged about here) that allowed us to browse, email and do some video skype, but it wasn't the same as we felt constantly constrained. In the end, it took about 48-hours of intense hassling of TE Data and things were finally sorted.
The ridiculous thing was that 3 days after the problem started an engineer visited and identified the problem as being with the cable to the house, not internally in the house or at the exchange, and that this could only be fixed by Telecom Egypt. This was then followed by 4 weeks of phonecalls to TE Data to request that they put pressure on Telecom Egypt, but was met by 'we have no estimated time for the job to be completed'. We finally were told that we could follow up directly with Telecom Egypt, but had no luck with this route either, nor the 'official complaint' that was made and promised to be resolved within 14 days.
On Monday we decided that we'd had enough and we'd try and get our money back from TE Data so I visited the office and saw Technical Support to say that after two months we'd had enough of no internet. They were surprisingly helpful (unlike anyone on the phone) and said that they would try and fix the problem one more time from the exchange and then send round an engineer again if not. Worth a try, I guess.
So the engineer called that night and then visited on Tuesday afternoon and within 5 minutes diagnosed no problem on the line, but said our lack of internet was because of our router. Erm... so how has this happened in two months of not using the router? That afternoon I take the router in to Technical Support and they say that yes there is a problem with it, but as it is out of warranty I need to buy a new one. Of course buying one then and there isn't allowed because it is Scott's name on the account and so as I don't have his ID they won't let me purchase one!
That evening we try two different routers we have sitting around the house and neither work on the line, but we've come this far and so we decide to fork out for their official router if they really think the problem is solved. So I go back with Scott's passport ready to buy one and sit forever in the queue to pay; only to then find out that I need my ID as well (and a driving licence won't do). The thought of catching a cab home and then back again and joining the queue again on a busy evening is beyond me and so I scrabble around and remember that I have a picture of my passport saved onto my phone. The girl agrees this will be sufficient, but only if she can print the photo. So I then need to log in to their wifi and email her the photo. The photo is terrible and printed A4 size looks nothing like a passport, but she lets me give her my money in the end (we later find out that by buying the router in my name, the account has changed name too!)
Over an hour later I get home with the new router and we plug it in. The lights flash and then turn off and on again rather randomly and after about 15 minutes of flashing they are suddenly stable and it appears that we have internet. Yey!
Then we had a power cut for an hour.
The saga doesn't quite end there though as the following morning no lights will appear on the router and the automated response from TE Data's Helpline is that our account has been suspended. We finally speak to someone and they won't put us through to Technical Support (about the lack of flashing lights indicating a problem on the line again) until we've paid our outstanding bill (even though they have agreed that our account should be credits for the 6 weeks we paid for but received no service). We're torn between calling it quits and paying the money just to see if it will work when Scott gives in and points out we've come too far to leave it now. He pays the bill and by the time he walks home from the office we're online again. Phew!
The ridiculous thing was that 3 days after the problem started an engineer visited and identified the problem as being with the cable to the house, not internally in the house or at the exchange, and that this could only be fixed by Telecom Egypt. This was then followed by 4 weeks of phonecalls to TE Data to request that they put pressure on Telecom Egypt, but was met by 'we have no estimated time for the job to be completed'. We finally were told that we could follow up directly with Telecom Egypt, but had no luck with this route either, nor the 'official complaint' that was made and promised to be resolved within 14 days.
On Monday we decided that we'd had enough and we'd try and get our money back from TE Data so I visited the office and saw Technical Support to say that after two months we'd had enough of no internet. They were surprisingly helpful (unlike anyone on the phone) and said that they would try and fix the problem one more time from the exchange and then send round an engineer again if not. Worth a try, I guess.
So the engineer called that night and then visited on Tuesday afternoon and within 5 minutes diagnosed no problem on the line, but said our lack of internet was because of our router. Erm... so how has this happened in two months of not using the router? That afternoon I take the router in to Technical Support and they say that yes there is a problem with it, but as it is out of warranty I need to buy a new one. Of course buying one then and there isn't allowed because it is Scott's name on the account and so as I don't have his ID they won't let me purchase one!
That evening we try two different routers we have sitting around the house and neither work on the line, but we've come this far and so we decide to fork out for their official router if they really think the problem is solved. So I go back with Scott's passport ready to buy one and sit forever in the queue to pay; only to then find out that I need my ID as well (and a driving licence won't do). The thought of catching a cab home and then back again and joining the queue again on a busy evening is beyond me and so I scrabble around and remember that I have a picture of my passport saved onto my phone. The girl agrees this will be sufficient, but only if she can print the photo. So I then need to log in to their wifi and email her the photo. The photo is terrible and printed A4 size looks nothing like a passport, but she lets me give her my money in the end (we later find out that by buying the router in my name, the account has changed name too!)
Over an hour later I get home with the new router and we plug it in. The lights flash and then turn off and on again rather randomly and after about 15 minutes of flashing they are suddenly stable and it appears that we have internet. Yey!
Then we had a power cut for an hour.
The saga doesn't quite end there though as the following morning no lights will appear on the router and the automated response from TE Data's Helpline is that our account has been suspended. We finally speak to someone and they won't put us through to Technical Support (about the lack of flashing lights indicating a problem on the line again) until we've paid our outstanding bill (even though they have agreed that our account should be credits for the 6 weeks we paid for but received no service). We're torn between calling it quits and paying the money just to see if it will work when Scott gives in and points out we've come too far to leave it now. He pays the bill and by the time he walks home from the office we're online again. Phew!
Friday, 7 March 2014
This week we have been mainly....differentiating
It's amazing; Leila has developed three distinctly different sounds for each of her grandfathers following last week's trip to the UK. Before the trip Scott was "da" and old men (!) were a lower "daaaa", but now; Gramps aka DaddyP is a low growl "grrrrr", Grandpa aka DaddyB is "ba" (like the "pa" in his name), and Granddad aka Graham remains a low "daaa".
Both Nanny and Granny are "nananana" and Fabia and Sam don't yet have a unique sound but that will come soon. Leila is able to recognise voices (video Skype with Granny wasn't working today so we did a voice skype), and photos (including our large group shot at th wedding). At Grandpa's house there are lots of pics of Scott growing up and after I pointed to one and saud "dad" Leila was able to identify him in them all!
Today we have been mainly doing nursery rhymes and actions. I took Leila to the bookshop yesterday and bought her a new book of nursery rhymes with actions for World Book Day which she is enjoying as she can do the Dingle Dangle Scarecrow and Wheels on the Bus. But Leila has realised that I have all the song sheets for Bounce and Rhyme at home (as I now 'lead' the singing each week) and wants to do these all the time. She can do (her version of) the actions to Pop a Pancake, Wind the Bobbin Up, Three Little Monkeys and Little Peter Rabbit and she is trying to jump now too!
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
This week we have been mainly....tired
We're all so tired!
Poor Leila's teeth started troubling her a good few weeks ago as her four molars started coming through. We were giving her calpol at night and then bongela and teething granules through the day as needed. At times though the poor thing was still grabbing her mouth in pain :-( We're not sure if it was teeth-related but she hasn't been resettling in the mornings so well, and as we're already onto a single nap in the afternoon she has been struggling to get through the mornings till lunch. So she's been tired - and so have we!
But then this week we flew to the UK for a quick visit and on top of teeth trouble she has been super gringy and poorly. There was one morning when she just would start crying for no reason at all every 5 minutes :-( we could not figure out what was up, so tried calpol and then baby neurofen as well to help her out. At this point through she decided that she no longer wanted to take anything from the 'spilly spoon' we have for medicine, or the syringe. We tried and tried, but she suddenly would not take anything. By the evening she had a fever and we tried everything to help her sleep when she woke up at 9pm, but ended up at midnight forcing calpol in. A horrible night for us all.
Her fever is now down, but she's just snotty and tired (as usual when travelling she's struggling to get a decent nap during the day or sleep through in the morning)
Our tiredness? Well as well as being up with her all night and on the go all day, our days and evening thoughts have been filled with job hunting. Hopefully we'll all be able to rest easy soon.
Poor Leila's teeth started troubling her a good few weeks ago as her four molars started coming through. We were giving her calpol at night and then bongela and teething granules through the day as needed. At times though the poor thing was still grabbing her mouth in pain :-( We're not sure if it was teeth-related but she hasn't been resettling in the mornings so well, and as we're already onto a single nap in the afternoon she has been struggling to get through the mornings till lunch. So she's been tired - and so have we!
But then this week we flew to the UK for a quick visit and on top of teeth trouble she has been super gringy and poorly. There was one morning when she just would start crying for no reason at all every 5 minutes :-( we could not figure out what was up, so tried calpol and then baby neurofen as well to help her out. At this point through she decided that she no longer wanted to take anything from the 'spilly spoon' we have for medicine, or the syringe. We tried and tried, but she suddenly would not take anything. By the evening she had a fever and we tried everything to help her sleep when she woke up at 9pm, but ended up at midnight forcing calpol in. A horrible night for us all.
Her fever is now down, but she's just snotty and tired (as usual when travelling she's struggling to get a decent nap during the day or sleep through in the morning)
Our tiredness? Well as well as being up with her all night and on the go all day, our days and evening thoughts have been filled with job hunting. Hopefully we'll all be able to rest easy soon.
Saturday, 8 February 2014
Plastic box go-kart
We've recently bottle the final beer we'll be brewing in Cairo, and so have dismantles our brew room. Inside our home-made cooler we had a large plastic box around which we packed insulation. Tonight we took the plastic box out, gave it a wash, and realised it had wheels on the bottom...so we decided to turn it into an impromptu go-kart for Leila.
Unfortunately she's a bit heavy now and her weight on the wheels has led to the plastic buckling, so sadly no more go-kart for the time being :(
Unfortunately she's a bit heavy now and her weight on the wheels has led to the plastic buckling, so sadly no more go-kart for the time being :(
Pickle: The first trimester
I’m not sure who laughed first, but it wasn’t long before all three of us were just looking at each other and giggling. Scotty was holding Leila on his hip and I was holding the test stick when we found out that we were going to have an addition to our little family. It was a slightly nervous laugher, but a happy one :-)
I was nearly two months gone when we returned to Cairo and made the
appointment to see Dr Cherif. For the
next two weeks I was definitely feeling more tired than usual and often had a
general queasiness feeling about me. I
just made sure that I got my head down whenever I could during the day. Despite the queasiness I found myself always
feeling hungry. Maybe it was the combination of still breast feeding on top of
the pregnancy (eating for three?!). My
cravings tended to be savoury and carb-based or dairy-based, but not for the
piles of chocolate that we brought back from the UK with us!
I was just over two months when my body started to ‘change
shape’. It’s not that my jeans or tops
were becoming tighter, but a feeling of filling out as I notice that my belly
button has already flattened out ready for the bulge!
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