On Tuesday afternoon, Little A practiced being a 'good hostess' when her friend Arysha came over for a pool party (can it be a party if there are only two children...according to little A it can!). Little A is unpredictable when it comes to company, and so I coached her a lot on how to behave in a 'friendly' manner. It seemed to work, as she not only greeted our guests, but interacted with them in the pool and also gave them a big hug (without prompting) when they left. YEAH Little A!!
Yesterday (May 25) we had a fun-filled visit to the New Al Noor Hospital, where all three children were declared 'Perfectly Healthy' by Abu Dhabi's own Pediatrics God himself, Dr. Stiles. NB S was declared to be 'thriving' (despite all the milk she brings up and the 'prickly heat rash' on her face which is due to the harsh conditions here). Little A's skin discoloration on the back of her leg was minor and something that would likely disappear with age. Baby N was a very happy little fellow with beautiful teeth and a great smile, who was advised to start talking.
Baby N had a few 'firsts' this morning. For the first time, we noticed that he was balancing on one foot. He held onto Dr. Stiles desk with his hands, and tucked his right foot up behind his left ankle. Very cute!! He also had his first tantrum in the halls of the hospital, which I unfortunately (NOT!) missed as I was picking up the prescriptions for all the immunizations. Not so cute! Apparently his freedom was being restricted too much for his liking (he wanted to lie down and roll around on the hospital floor and thankfully, Malou would not allow it) and so he expressed his (extreme) displeasure by screaming and pushing her away with his stubby and pokey little fingers. In his defense, he was likely quite tired as he had missed his morning nap.
I guess Tinkerbell wasn't generating enough
dollars for the folks at Disney...
Though Little A had been melting down on and off all morning about the needles ("Mom--I don't WANT to have needle!"), she was completely calm, cool and collected when it came time to do the deed. She sat with me (a snuggle before, during and after is what she had been promised) and took a deep breath and looked at the (sad and peeling) dolphin wall stickers while Sonny (New Al Noor's own Nurse Focker--voted best needle jabber by all the nurses in his department) worked his magic. Instead of the boring hospital bandage, we brought along our own Fairy band-aid (little A LOVES fairies!), and the staff 'oohed' and 'aaaahed' at both little A and baby N, who didn't complain or shed a tear during the process. NB S, on the other hand, felt comfortable sharing her emotions with the anyone who cared to listen. She has a very good set of lungs.
All smiles and snuggles this morning
Fortunately, over 24 hours later (knock on wood), there have been no adverse reactions. I was especially worried about the rotavirus immunization, as this is the one which gave the most amount of grief for children in my original Bonnie Doon Mom's Group. I almost opted NOT to give it to her (you should have seen Sonny's face when I said "No--throw it away."). However, as Baby N had absolutely no reaction to it, and Little A will be going to school (well--sometime in the future) and bringing home different germs, I figured we might as well get it done. Plus, in this region, it's probably better to be safe than sorry.
Big brother's 'gentle' hand
Peter was at a conference in Dubai, and didn't get home until 11:30 (or so he tells me...I was sleeping). Little A was so very excited to share her war stories with him (briefly) this morning. She showed him her bandage, and also her 'prize' My Little Pony doll (with cookie and cupcake) from her mom for being SO brave.
Also, Phinn had a little Abu Dhabi education on Wednesday. I think he finally figured out why we keep him INSIDE during the long, hot days. My friend Hope dropped by to pick up a swim cap to go to the Officer's Club (there's a post somewhere here about the sexism involved in that). Phinn ran out, and I decided to just let him go. It was around 1:30 pm, and over 45 degrees and so I wanted to see just how far he might get. Sure enough, it took about a minute before he started lifting his paws in obvious discomfort--they must have been burning. So, I scooped him up and inside we went. Now THAT is what I call a teachable moment!
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