Yesterday Nikau and Tanya had to go to the hospital for check ups. One appointment was at 9am and the other at 10.15am. I learnt very quickly that appointment times mean nothing in this part of the world. We arrived at the hospital at 9.00am,  went to the reception desk, where we were given a number and were directed to a waiting area. After waiting for a while our number was called and Tanya and Nikau were entered into the system. We then went and waited in another waiting area for Nikau to have his test for jaundice. After that we went to yet another waiting area to await Tanya's appointment. When that was finished we had to wait again for the doctor to give us the results of Nikau's blood test. The silly thing was the nurse who Tanya had been seeing told us they were ok because the results were already logged into the system. After waiting for ages the doctor took less than a minute to give us the results and tell Tanya to make an appointment for Nikau for next Wednesday. Just when I thought all the waiting was over the doctor gave us a number and directed us to yet another waiting area until one of the  receptionists called our number to make an appointment. The whole procedure took nearly 3 hours. I will never moan again if the doctor is running half an hour late!

Today Nikau went for a photo shoot. There is a lady here in Abu Dhabi who is setting up a baby photography business and she asked for volunteers she could photograph free of charge to put in her portfolio. She was absolutely amazing, a real baby whisperer. Nikau is usually a very active wee chap but she was able to soothe him and manipulate him gently into the poses she wanted. I've attached a photo that Tanya took on her phone during the session. It took two and a quarter hours, the photographer was incredibly patient.

As I write both Tanya and Nikau are sleeping. The temperature outside is 41 degrees so I might take this opportunity to go down  to the pool. Only problem is that because the air temperature is getting higher so is the water temperature in the pool, so it's a bit like trying to cool off in a warm bath!