Birthday -a year later

This post is from October.

As I have said umpteen times, birthdays in our house cannot be anything but special. Most of my readers would probably remember how my birthday was an event last year. This time,  While Sugarbun had been singing, "happy birthday to mamma" for a week before and a week after my birthday, Chinipie kept giving me notes, greeting cards, drawings that day. She also made sure that everyone, I met, that day wishes me "a very happy birthday" which included her teachers, karate masters, friends, friends' moms. Which I would say was a little embarassing and a bit solace, in a way,  as the phone ane internet were down that very day! Chinipie had complained about it, " why is the phone not ringing today? why is nobody calling to wish you ?"
 I had tried to soothe her down, " this means I get to spend more time, without any disturbance, with you and sugar".  
She had seemed to digest it well and later, in the night, The girls and the dad decorated the cake baked by yours truly.

We sang the birthday song again and only later, when I was tucking her in bed, Chinipie says, "you know you look the same" 
"when did i look different?" 
" I mean you look exactly the same like last year. You haven't grown older or anything." 
"well thanks, i guess." Now that was a huge compliment, don't you think?
" God really listens to me, you know." 
"He must be dear. You are his child too" 
" no really. I prayed to him not to let anyone of us grow because I do not want to grow up and go away from you." 

Awww my baby... I wish so too..

Updated: see the four corners of the cake? My curious angels couldn't wait for the cake to be cut!!

A Seussian Birthday

So, March 2nd was Dr. Seuss's Birthday. Whole week, momma was being reminded of it, who lazily doped all day long and grunted her yes and no. It had been two weeks that she had stuck herself to the bed, and the kids were now getting restless. In an attempt to keep them busy, books were ordered from the library, and a couple of activity sheets from Dr. Seuss's website were printed out and presented to them. She had to be reminded by the pint-sized people though that they need some instructions on how to proceed with them. That's when it dawned on her that, may be, she is required to be involved with them. Her eyes, heavy with the effect of the relaxants and pain-killers, could hardly keep themselves open. Dopily, she gave them the minimal of instructions and lay down on the couch, next to them, for the sole purpose of morale boosting.

The rhyming exercise was fun for both, whereas the hat matching proved to be a little tricky. Sugarbun chose to help her elder sis by providing her the hats to match, who did fairly well till she could concentrate i.e. 60% Afterwards, chinipie found herself getting distracted by the singing and dancing of sugarbun and hurried to finish the activity. That's when she got them wrong. She did fairly well, for her age, I would say. I would attempt to have her do this particular activity again - when I am better and am able to assist her with it.

Celebrating A Birthday

Becomes merrier with both of my oh so pinkalicious daughters!

It all started a week before when I told them that dad's birthday is coming up.
Where shll we have his birthday party?
What will we gift him?
Quick, we have to think and do so much!
And no, this wasn't me, but chinipie thinking out aloud. When I told her that we will celebrate together, as a family, at home, just as papa would love it, she didn' like the idea. Home is boring, she said. Home is boring, sugarbun echoed.

Her moods lifted when we shopped for all the necessary supplies: cake, pumpkin bread, dahi vada, chole-bhature was the menu. I told her that this is to Be a surprise for him, so we have to keep a hush-hush about it. And she did! As soon as dad came back that evening,
"Papa, we are planning a surprise for your birthday but I won't tell you because it is a surprise. "
It's a prize for ur birthday, papa, sugar Dutifully joined in the excitement.
And this took me tWo years back, when on dad's birthday chini had excitedly gone to the just-entered-in-the-home dad and had chirped, Surprise! It's a birthday cake!

An evening before, the dad had his wisdom tooth removed and declared that he would be working from home the next day. A frantic mom very rudely told him to leave for work the first thing in the morning, for it disrupts the kids' routine?!? To which, he meekly replied tht he had to go for two hours for a meeting anyways. Trying to patch up, (though hoping he doesn't give in) I suggested that he could do a telecon, which (thankfully) he couldn't. For a while I thought that he was just playing his part in the whole surprise act, to which he later clarified that he indeed had a very genuine meeting.

Anyways, as soon as the dad left the house, out came all the ingredients for the cake and girls had the whisks ready as we cracked, read hatched, the eggs. While chinipie very Honestly helped me, sugar had fun dipping her hands in the batter and licking it off. Temptation caught on and soon both my girls were anointed from head to toe.
Ummmm yummy, sugar exclaimed every time she put those tiny sticky mix-coated fingers in her mouth.
The pumpkin batter turned out to be a little spicy for them and their little tummies were full too, so this time we sticked to just hatching the eggs together. The cake was done and as I had to hide the cake when the dad arrived, Chinipie rushed to delay him at the door.
"You don't smell the cake, do you?" :-)
To my rescue, the pumpkin bread was still in the oven and worked as a cover. Sneaking again, chini and momma finished decorating the cake. Chini added the sprinkles as momma caligraphed on it.

In the morning, as soon as she opened her eyes, chini rushed to wish her dad a very happy birthday, and my manager added
I have to go downstairs and check if momma is finished decorating the house. You come with sugar a little later, okay?
Not only was the decoration approved but gained a very high remarks! The cake was cut and my head chef, sugar, taking a bite affirmed,
Ummmmmm, it tastes like cake!


Two birthdays in the family being over and done with, no points in guessing whose is coming next.
"I will celebrate my birthday in disney world. And will invite all my friends there." A few days later, she added,
"Me and sugar both will have our birthday celebations at disneyworld with all the princesses.... For one hundred and twenty five days. You and papa are invited, too."


Need Invitations, anyone?



Edited to add: The post is published ten days later than it was originally intended to.. And I forgot to add that poor dad couldn't relish his own birthday cake as his mouth was still sore.

Also, chini's current favourite number is 125 .. A progress after my birthday.

The first snow

The first snow.. I would have loved it,  i would have enjoyed the snow.. Only if it was a matter of vacationing for a couple of days..

The snow is turning into sleet as soon as it hits the car now. The wiper is just nominal as it is smudging way more than its cleaning.

And it's snowing.... And raining... Hard. And we are on the road I76 enrojte to NJ. Visibility is poor owing to the deadly combo of the mist, the rain and the snow. "How can it rain and snow at the same time?", the dad asks. The passing eight wheelers splash huge amount of water on the windscreen reducing the visibility furthermore and the heart almost skips a beAt as the minivan, we are in, skids a little on the narrow trail of snow. The dad is a careful driver though and balances well.. We are already driving at 35mph on a freeway where until last week 80mph was the minimum. But, not today. We already crossed 3 very gruesome accident sites on our way. Good that the kids are distracted with their dora dvd, or else chini would have worried to sickness about everything. Anyways, the 3 ladies of the house are alreAdy down with cough and cold. I cant even believe we are out of the house in this condition(of health and the weather), leave alone travelling. Normally, snow would have sent me back under my bed covers. "Why are we going this far again?" the dad asks. I just smile. It's one of our very close friend's son's birthday and the plans to meet up has been made almost 2 months back. We could have cancelled. But decided otherwise. For two reaons - the kids fall sick so often that our social life had almost come to zero at a certain point (Which was proving to be unhealthy for all of us). That's when we had decided, we would try to be as good a sport as possible, in sickness and in health. Not on the cost of your lives, you fools!! Yeah! Cmon hit me now! Only fools like us would venture out of the house in this storm! Circular storms, that too, coming from colorado. The second reason, we had checked the weather this morning and though it suggested snow by the afternoon, we didn't think it would be this gross. Afterall, it's still autumn. The trees are still in the midst of changing colours and are not even half-way close to have shed them. The positive - the roads are not too bad - yet. This is the first snow, remember? And they are not entirely deserted either! I draw a solace in the fact that there are bunch of others out like us!.. And the snowy rainstorm or is it rainy snowstorm.. Has worsened as i type. We cannot see beyond two cars at the max.

Chini is getting restless in the car now. She has already asked 5 times if we have reached anywhere closer to the destination. "are we there yet?" is her favourite question. Normally, we would have said,"do you want me to pull over?" (from her fav silly joe's song) but today, we are not in moods of any jest. The eyes glued to thetr road ahead. Yeah mine too.. Am the co-driver after all. " please put snow princess dora on." she demands ." it's a perfect watch for todays weather". I stretch and fibble and fumble complying to her request and trying not to disturb( read irritate ) the one in the driver's seat. The Minute the dvd starts, he says,"i wonder how can that backpack hold so much froma pail to umbrellas to the life jacket." it takes me a while to realise hes talking about the purple big eyed backpack dora carries. "on top of it the poor girl carries it all the time without any complains or visible signs of tiredness. We used to be crushed under the dead weghts of our school bags." i just smile, thinking to myself" oh so its okay to talk today." normally, on trips like these, even smaller than these, any attempt to make a noise results in , let's say, facing his music(wrath). May be the snow has cooled him down, i mumble, in my mind though, as we enter a very very snowy patch again ( yeah for a while, the rain and the snow have been alternating). And we cannot see beyond the tail lights of the car must ahead of us, though that car is almost at a distance of 3 cars. "Benny should be given a couple of vicks tablets" he adds. " uh-oh" i reply as we pass another accident struck car that has lost its fender. " sometimes i feel that i can earn billions dubbing all those funny voices of these characters", the dad muses again. Now the chill has frozen his head for sure! I think as our vehicle splurges in a pool of snow.

"i love snow,momma" chini declAres. "i want to make snowman" sugar chips in....
And that makes me the mean witch who hates snow... I can even picture myself on that broom trying to destroy the magic snowy forest!!

A birthday...

...would have been like any other day, if not made special by the wonderful kids!

And it all started 3 days before the b-day, when chinipie Realized that it's just around the corner. She said, "momma, I have to go to your birthday party." I guess, either she linked in her imaginative mind that birthdays means parties or she remembered that we, unfailingly, went out for dinner with our couple-a-friends every year. Sometimes, they would be the surprise ones arranged by the dad(yes! He is still very romantic at heart!). But, this year, my birthday came in the midst of the navratris when I fast. So, any such thing was out of question. So I say, "I will turn 31. We don't have parties at that age". I expected her to come out with her usual why's and how's series followed by a huge tantrum, and I started to think of all the possible answers for the upcoming rapid-fires plus preparing myself to face the melodrama. Instead, she stopped(we were walking to the car after picking her up from school) and gave me a surprised look,
"you will be 31?"
Yes
"wow! That's a big number!"
Errrrr. thanks for reminding that am fast aging honey

Later in the evening, when dad returns from work,
"papa, did you know momma's birthday is coming up. She is going to be 31."
Sugar adds, "she is going to be a big girl".
Thanks my lovely darlings

The next morning, " papa, it's momma's birthday tomorrow. We have to do something special."
What do you want to do, beta?
"I don't know"
Awwwwww

The evening before the b-day, she comes running to my room, "momma, here are some coins for you. I got them from my own piggy bank. Now you can buy that thing from the mall that aunty did to your nails!"
I just went speechless with the flow of her words. That was almost two weeks back. It was raining constantly since past few days and our routine evening walks had come to an halt. Me and the girls had taken a trip to the mall, where they had enjoyed playing at the slide. On our way back, a girl at one of the stalls stopped me and had demonstrated the nail polisher cum cuticle remover thing. Now my chinipie, being so pinkalicious had loved my nail instantly and wanted me to buy it. When I said I couldn't, her curious mind could only be satisfied by the answer that it was expensive. She had somehow remembered that episode and had opened her piggy bank to be able to buy that for me!
Just then, sugar comes running, "momma, a coin for you!"
And they kept trotting back and forth between their room and ours, bringing me coins with each return; until their profoundly touched momma caught hold of them and showered two wriggly and squirmy gals with hugs and kisses.

That very night, chinipie developed very bad ear infection and couldn't sleep well coz of her aching ear. Still, she was the first one to wake up in the morning, and the first thing she said as soon as she opened her eyes was, happy birthday, momma!" and her momma, with her sleepy eyes, mumbled a thank you and tried to snuggle with her, on the pretext of giving her a hug. But she managed to wiggle free and brought a page she had colored earlier as a gift. And the whole day, both the sisters kept bringing me some pictures they had colored. Though, originally they were painted with some other intention, but it's the thought that counted. My little girls thought that they had to give something to their momma and they kept bringing more and more!

And then whenever they remembered, they wished me or sang the birthday song for me, either alone or together.. Isn't it amazing how fast the time flies! Last year all my sugar could sing was " aaeee yayay u uu" in tune and this year she sings so flawlessly! Until last year, chini used to get upset that wad not her birthday, so as a rule, each birthday in the house were everyone's birthday. And she used to be so happy, that it was momma's, papa's, hers and her baby's(she still believes that sugar is her baby!) birthday. Chini has always loved playing pretend birthdays.. Ever since she was around 18 months, many a times we used to make pretend cakes out of handkerchiefs, napkins and blow the pretend candles out with her or me singing the birthday song! We, then, moved on to the drawings on the paper, cut outs, play dough and blocks! Invariably, those cakes are made for me. Oh, how I remember that teeny tiny chinipie, swaying side to side, shifting her weight from one foot to another, singing the birthday song, and pointing at me with a smile, every she would say happy birthday to momma! And she passed on this passion to sugar too, who just couldn't stop singing it fo me whole day!

How many more such birthdays do I want? Well, chini's current favorite number, 100!
Why? Coz just before going to bed tonight, she started crying," I do not want my momma to grow old and die!"
And only when I said I will live upto 100 years of age, did she go back to bed.
The dad muttered under his breath, "and then we will keep her in museum."
"nooooooo. I do not want her in a museum. I want her to live till 100 age and stay with us."
Yeah my sweet baby! Until you grow tired of your over-protective, old-fashioned and loud mom!