Happy Birthday to my Little Girl

My little girl turned TWO on the 28th of March. We kept it simple this year. We cut a cake at my in-laws place. We got 2 candles, blew them in style and cut the cake. Her Ammachi, on special request made some great chicken biryani, which her mom ate to her hearts content. Her Appachi made some delicious beef fry. Again the mom shamelessly licked off till the fingers threatened to disappear. So what did the birthday gilr have, you ask? A handful of cakes and chocolates and a lot of prayers, hugs and kisses.

Dearest sweetheart,

2 years back I still remember Dr. Rao pulling you out of my tummy and hanging you upside down before handing you over to the nurse. I looked at the clock, thanked the lord and kept thinking if you were a girl or a boy never quite getting myself to ask, because it did not matter.

You know, looking at you, I reaffirm my faith in the good lord. My only prayer to the almighty is to give us the love, wisdom and patience to help us raise you into a happy, loving & a stable human being. You are my precious gift from him. Your Dada once in a mad fit did conclude that I married him just to have a baby and I accused him of the same with some more twsited logic... :).. sheesshh, this is the kind of eccentricity your Dad & Mom are capable of. Now don't say I didn't warn you.

Now we have the terrible twos or terrific twos ahead of us. I am asking for gallons of patience and wisdom on a daily basis to keep me going. No baby it’s not about you at all, aren't you my sweet little angel. It’s just to keep Mumma sane.

God Bless you my sweet precious child. In the last 2 years you have warmed my heart and brought a smile by doing the little things you do. By smiling and yapping constantly when we are back from work. Hugging & kissing unexpectedly. Using me like your hurdles stick and jumping around every time I lie around or using my legs like a tunnel when I am standing with my legs apart talking to the neighbor or on the phone. You make me happy the way you gel with all your cousins and other kids in the complex. You make me proud by doing nothing significant at all but by just smiling and being happy.

Most of last year is hard to describe you without the jelly bean. You have learnt to share well with the jellybean around. You do sometimes generously and sometimes not so very well and that is when I have to smack you into sharing. You are always asking about the jellybean when she is not around and sometimes even when she is. You are busy calling out to her even in your sleep. Whenever you hear brandy howling or you see a cat or something new, you go looking for the jellybean and drag her literally by pulling her to the terrace. You sometimes want to show her something in your book and you will never take the book to her, but will go hunting for her and get her to the book willingly or by force. And when you force her, if she cries(which she always does since she hates being bossed around by you) you even yell "chup chup" and yank her towards your word book. You sometimes invite her to dance with you by just calling out her name and showing her what you want her to do. If you find her uninterested in a dance when you are bursting with energy you go and hold both her hands and keep mumbling stuff in your baby language while stomping your feet to which she replies in kind in babbling and dance.

You have your moments of baby fights too. You do pull her hair, pinch her, or scratch the poor little one's face if she doesn’t heed to you or if she was just in the way of your tantrum. You are careful never to raise a hand in front of us, you always do it behind our backs but the jelly bean’s cries and your look give you away. You have been caught saying "Nooooooo noooo" to the jelly bean in the garden when she tried plucking Ammachy's orchids and then a minute latter did the honors yourself to get a earful from mumma and granny. You and the jelly bean love parading around in anybody and everybody's footware and sometimes because you cannot wear 2 pairs at a time, you both have been found exchanging one each so you have the best of 2 footwares. Who would have thought of such brilliant plans?

Right now, since the last 2-3 months, you totally need anything the jellybean has, even if it is identical. You were found comparing 2 lemons for almost 2 mins before deciding which one to hand over to the jelly bean. You create a ruckus everytime aunty and uncle leave while the jellybean kisses and waves tata-bye-byes peacefully. You absolutely have to go everywhere the jellybean goes. You will not stay back at home unless you are told she is being taken to the doctor. The last time when Mumma tried telling you I was taking the jelly bean to the doctor, I was surprised to see you stop your cries, take back your defenses and smile shyly and poke a finger at your bum. Yes darling, injection. WOW!! You surely know what I am talking.

I love watching you grow each day and I hope I am laying some good foundation for you and cementing it with enough love and prayers to last you a lifetime.

I want you to know, whenever you read this, you are my precious child and I love you like I did not know it was possible to love someone. I will quote these 4 lines from this song before signing off.

Ain't no mountain high enough
Ain't no valley low enough
Ain't no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you babe

Your’s forever
Mumma