A little piece of me…Baby Girl is 8 years old today!

This year, S alias Baby Girl's Appa does the honour of writing to her....on her birthday!

…cramming the gaps between rare moments of silence (when she is out playing) are conversations with 8-year old Baby Girl, candid beyond imagination and, in this past year, turbo-charged by experiential learning of:

•      riots, protests, and tear gas thanks to the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong
•      face masks, disinfectant, and hand sanitiser thanks to the frightful pandemic
• ·    zoom, Alexa, google suite and peerless tech skills thanks to virtual schooling.

..and the questions she asks often leave us tongue-tied and Baby Girl solemnly advising "Just google it, Appa!"

Baby Girl’s 8^th year unleashed a potent combination of creativity, intelligence (full credit to genes from me) and a wild/ weird streak, no idea where that came from 😉. I love the resulting pretty and colourful artwork, innovative DIY homes for her “pets” and clever lego creations (picture water slides from the resident’s top-floor bedroom straight to her swimming pool). she even makes us cards for every occasion with special “emojis” and customised with our favourite colours…

the dainty package that we “handled with care” has grown into a 8-year old bundle of energy. she has now earned the freedom to venture out by herself in the immediate neighbourhood. an unexpected by-product of this are the multitude of cuts and bruises bumping into things, falling over, scraping through bushes and the like. she takes this sportingly and never fusses over her injuries, casually pointing out each mark/ scar and recalling how she got it…

her discerning diet of milk and mildness has slowly morphed into a diversified appetite embracing variety – from the ageless Tambram staple of Thayir Saadam + Urulaikazhangu roast (curd rice and potato roast, a family favourite which J and I also list in our top 3 favourite foods) to Garlic Naan + Paneer sabzi but remains faithful to the customary Generation Alpha favourite – Pizza!

we only managed a single holiday trip in the last year but Baby Girl loved KL and Langkawi. she said she would have preferred to fly in a “sleeping plane” (business class) but graciously accepted to fly with us in Economy! she was thrilled with our visit to the bird park but was quite concerned that the birds had to stay within the nets and could not fly free as God made them. most of our days in Langkawi were spent in Baby Girl’s favourite places – in the pool or on the beach but Baby Girl had the incredible experience of holding a huge snake in her hands during the resort’s animal interaction event. J and I were incredibly proud (and a bit amazed) that she was so fearless and actually smiling and enjoying herself…

the last year has been a landmark year for all the wrong reasons, particularly in Hong Kong but this has been a blessing in disguise for us. J and I have been at home much more than usual: extensively working from home during the pro-democracy protests and almost exclusively in 2020. with Baby Girl’s school adopting “home learning”, we’ve spent time in semi-isolation in each other’s company – hours, days, months working/schooling from home…so every day is Friday!

God bless you Baby Girl…we look forward to more crazy stories, squabbling over Dobble games and heated debates over who loves whom more, among the 3 of us!

Lots of love and blessings, 

Appa and Amma