Day 12: 3 April - Health Card Renewal, Vaccination, and Dinner

Sophie had a vaccination appointment at the health centre in the evening, and it was a good thing I checked her health card the night before otherwise I wouldn’t have known it had already expired last January! Yikes! Fortunately, one of our company drivers was available on Thursday morning, so with my manager’s permission, he took me to Dubai Hospital. As Caila was also due for vaccination this year, I thought to renew her card as well. However, I couldn’t find her card anywhere so I just hoped her records were in their system and the renewal could easily be done. I forgot to bring their original passports with me, but I did bring the copies, a photograph of each, and their Emirates IDs.

Sophie’s card renewal took less than a minute. However, Caila’s took some time. In the beginning, the lady tried entering Hubby’s and my mobile numbers. No record. Using the passport and visa copy, she tried Caila’s visa number; but since it was new (it was cancelled, then I sponsored her, then we cancelled it again, then Hubby sponsored her again), her record didn’t show. Then she entered her first name. Still nothing. Finally, she tried her middle name (my maiden name) and surname…and, success! Turns out one of the digits on the mobile number was wrong, and Caila’s first names were spelled incorrectly. It was a good thing the staff was in a good mood, otherwise I might have been told that I needed to look for the old card or return with her old passport with her old visa. After paying the charges for the renewals (Dhs110 each), I showed the receipts to the lady and she gave me the cards with a smile. Hurray!

Sophie was ready and waiting for Hubby and me when we arrived home that night. Traffic was a bit heavy so we were a few minutes late for our appointment, and we had to wait a while because there were other patients as well. But because the health centre had a toy, rocker, Little Tikes playhouse and little see-saw, these helped keep our little girl preoccupied. Soon we were called in to the room for the assessment, and then it was time for her to take the oral drops and shots on both thighs. From being all bubbly and smiling, Sophie immediately let out cries when she was given the vaccinations. But to our amazement, unlike the babies before her, she didn’t cry that long at all…less than a minute, I think. She even waved goodbye to the nurse as we left, and by the time we were out the door of the health centre, there were no more tears and she was pointing to her thighs and looking at me and saying “Ow?!” Whew!

After Hubby and I had a quick dinner at home, we headed to Deira with Caila for the KFC practice. As soon as Caila saw the rest of the kids, she left our side and ran to them excitedly. It’s really nice to see how much she’s changed from being a really shy girl who would hardly let go of my leg or hand during gatherings to a more confident one who has several friends. Our practice ended at 10pm, and just as soon as we had got into our cars, the rain poured down. Thank goodness we were able to practice and finished just in the nick of time. As most of our friends hadn’t had dinner yet, we all agreed to meet up at Chowking, Al Ghurair where we occupied 2 long tables (one for the adults and another for the kids). The night ended on a happy note because we had finalized the steps, finished practicing, our tummies were filled, and as usual, the meal was accompanied with jokes and laughter from everyone.