Baby Girl turns 5!

...this phrase pretty much sums up how I feel exactly every single day! ...

I vividly remember dreaming of this child and she has turned five already? Life seems to move at lightning speed and you are left catching your breath, wanting to catch up yet not wanting to move ahead. I often tell her that I wish i could put her back into my belly and keep her all to myself. Just me and my Baby Girl.

We moved to Hong Kong last year. While S and I were a little hesitant about how the move would affect her - she took to the new place like a fish does to water! She loves it here, has made a lot of friends, does a lot of new things, activities and loves swimming. She would proudly declare that we have a huge swimming pool in our home! (Can you ever imagine that in HK, considering how people are left wanting for space in their homes? Our apartment has a view of the clubhouse swimming pool from our large french windows in the living room). A child's mind works so simply, doesn't it? Sigh!

I feel really proud of her confidence when she often walks up to some children playing in the park and asks " Can I play with you?" without any hesitation. I am glad she feels comfortable to be independent in a social setting like that. She will also do the same in a restaurant and will ask the waiter for water or anything she needs politely. Though we as parents, have encouraged her to be more independent and feel confident in a social gathering - I doubt it comes easily to a 4 year old. I was not that confident at that age, for sure!

She has just joined "Big School" and she was such a trooper. It's quite an arduous task to get admissions to good schools in Hong Kong easily. She had multiple rounds of interviews in almost all the schools we applied to. She did very well everywhere and we were so happy and blessed that we could pick and choose the best suited school for her in all aspects. She got into a routine seamlessly and she is pretty excited about going to her new school now. I can't believe she is in Primary school already! Another big Sigh! 

One aspect that we both have in common - we have large feet! Jokes apart, she is a lot like me by nature - very social, makes friends easily, wild and crazy sometimes, spontaneous, sensitive. She is also good at a lot of different things I was not very good at - very street smart, keen observation and an elephant's memory! She never forgets even the tiniest detail about a certain day! I am amazed at her memory. 
One moment, she is spouting wisdom like a 12-yr-old already and the next moment her face is filled with utter joy or glee or excitement just as she did as a baby or a little girl and I want to freeze these moments with all my heart! It warms my heart to see so much of myself in her - her spontaneity, her unrestricted crazy wild side, her happiness in the smallest of things - it's all me! She may look more like S but by nature and personality she is totally mini-me! ( S's words, mind you not mine!) :)

Baby Girl and I have this "romantic ritual" since we could understand what I say. I would take her down to play in the park and we would normally play till it would start getting dark. The moon would appear and i would always call her and show beautiful it is! Since then, she would often point it out to me and say "Amma...moonie...moonie". It's our thing. A couple of days back, even though she is a little girl now - she smiled at me and said "moonie"! It's our thing. :)
This year, after our month-long holiday in India - I started teaching Baby Girl the basics of Carnatic music. She sings pretty well but has no patience even for a 10-minute practice session or a class. I am at my wit's end but the plan is to find a good teacher and see how it goes. What I have learnt from this though is that I am not meant to be a teacher! :P Apart from music, she also began to speak more tamizh after we got back home. 

Many of my friends are intrigued/amused that I am so particular that she speaks her mother tongue and often chide or tease me for making such a fuss about speaking tamizh. I want her to feel proud of her roots just as I do and feel that it's very important that she can speak fluently in tamizh. I did not learn tamizh formally in school. Yet my mother made a lot of effort to teach us tamizh - we also learnt to read and write tamizh by reading commercials on T.V.  So it means a lot to me and makes me very happy to hear her tamizh though she sounds like a non-tamilian when she speaks ( as of now)! Her accent is so different but i guess i can accept this version than no tamizh at all, eh?

My dear 5 year old Baby Girl,

As you turn a year older, you are also a lot more taller, more talkative, more imaginative, as inquisitive as ever and can turn a dull gloomy day into a feisty, fun day and make it all come alive. We feel so blessed to have you in our lives, my darling girl.

Stay happy, stay blessed - spread loads of love, happiness and enjoy this wonderful journey of life. I love you to the moon and back!