Today is Daivik's birthday !
He went to bed last night with this thought in mind and got up very early in the morning. "Appa, amma, wake up, today is my birthday. Yahooo, I'm the first to get up". So, we got up too and wished him.
The cliche - how fast time flies - cannot be more true. Five years is a long time, but it can also warp us and appear to whiz past in a few seconds, sometimes selectively, sometimes excruciatingly slowly. How can time fly past slowly ?! It seems almost outside of the grasp of perception. Of course there are changes. How dramatic, yet how subtle ! Viewed on an everyday timescale, we hardly notice any difference in kids growing up. They don't change a lot from one day to another. But when somebody who meets them after awhile says (invariably!), "oh, how much you've grown", it never fails to surprise (or amuse !).
Five years is long enough for a 1.6 kg premature infant to cross the wonderlands of infanthood and mature into a ever-smiling charming young boy, but seems like yesterday when we were celebrating every single gram of weight he was gaining. It is long enough for sounds to acquire meanings, morph into words and resolve into distinct languages. It is long enough to acquire proficiency in communicating effectively in four of them, but, it is also long enough for us to wonder : what, exactly, were his first words, and in which of the those languages ? But the single most important aspect of the five year mark is the list of the firsts. No other five year period in life is going to beat that in numbers, or rapidity, or abruptness, or the charms and innocence associated. That first poop (!), that first cry,that first smile (we were so thrilled when he smiled at us directly...until he was also smiling equally charmingly at that stupid toy), that first step (in Daivik's case, it was propelled by a desire to reach out to his dad :)), that first word (what was that again, Dad?)...
There is another first too. It is also the birthday where he was very much aware of its coming, and participated actively in its organization ("I want a pirate cake") and decided which of his friends gets a share (and who not!). (An aside : Right now, he now has three 'levels' of friendships, indicated by the thumbs of an outstretched hand : if the thumb is down, you are a not-friend, if it is level, you are a half-friend, if it is up, you are a best-friend. So, whoever is lucky to be thumbs-up today gets a share of that cake ! For the record, I keep shuttling between the three levels depending on the context and circumstance ('appa, can I have another chocolate', 'no', thumbs down)).
It is still charming, there is still no demand ("I want a two night stay in Disneyland as my birthday 'gift' "), but these might probably be the first firsts of the next five year program !
Happy birthday Daivik.
He went to bed last night with this thought in mind and got up very early in the morning. "Appa, amma, wake up, today is my birthday. Yahooo, I'm the first to get up". So, we got up too and wished him.
The cliche - how fast time flies - cannot be more true. Five years is a long time, but it can also warp us and appear to whiz past in a few seconds, sometimes selectively, sometimes excruciatingly slowly. How can time fly past slowly ?! It seems almost outside of the grasp of perception. Of course there are changes. How dramatic, yet how subtle ! Viewed on an everyday timescale, we hardly notice any difference in kids growing up. They don't change a lot from one day to another. But when somebody who meets them after awhile says (invariably!), "oh, how much you've grown", it never fails to surprise (or amuse !).
Five years is long enough for a 1.6 kg premature infant to cross the wonderlands of infanthood and mature into a ever-smiling charming young boy, but seems like yesterday when we were celebrating every single gram of weight he was gaining. It is long enough for sounds to acquire meanings, morph into words and resolve into distinct languages. It is long enough to acquire proficiency in communicating effectively in four of them, but, it is also long enough for us to wonder : what, exactly, were his first words, and in which of the those languages ? But the single most important aspect of the five year mark is the list of the firsts. No other five year period in life is going to beat that in numbers, or rapidity, or abruptness, or the charms and innocence associated. That first poop (!), that first cry,that first smile (we were so thrilled when he smiled at us directly...until he was also smiling equally charmingly at that stupid toy), that first step (in Daivik's case, it was propelled by a desire to reach out to his dad :)), that first word (what was that again, Dad?)...
There is another first too. It is also the birthday where he was very much aware of its coming, and participated actively in its organization ("I want a pirate cake") and decided which of his friends gets a share (and who not!). (An aside : Right now, he now has three 'levels' of friendships, indicated by the thumbs of an outstretched hand : if the thumb is down, you are a not-friend, if it is level, you are a half-friend, if it is up, you are a best-friend. So, whoever is lucky to be thumbs-up today gets a share of that cake ! For the record, I keep shuttling between the three levels depending on the context and circumstance ('appa, can I have another chocolate', 'no', thumbs down)).
It is still charming, there is still no demand ("I want a two night stay in Disneyland as my birthday 'gift' "), but these might probably be the first firsts of the next five year program !
Happy birthday Daivik.
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