Seven already...

Dear Chubbocks,

How time flies...I can't believe my little chubbu-bubbu is seven years old already. I still remember you as a baby, flashing that lovely eyes and heart open grin that captivated everybody - even strangers on the street would stop, ruffle your hair and smile back. I remember that diapered baby-butt shaking fiercely to Jee Jee Doh - the first sign of your musicality. I remember what a shy boy you used to be, and how slowly, gradually, Jimmy, manu and the other teachers at Julia Gabriel drew you out until you truly became a confident communicator. And how, at every class, the minute Manu pulled out the Casio, everyone knew you;d ask for the Monkey song. Your first ever complete sentence was so characteristic: "Abba, what are you doing my face!" And the first word you learnt the spelling of, from hearing Abba and me saying it in code, when you were merely two years old - M-I-L-K!

You have become such a wonderful little boy and I constantly marvel at you. I know, on a daily basis, we just get exasperated with your early morning dawdling and your teasing of your sister, forgetting little things and eating too slowly. But when we sit down to think about you, there are just so many things I love about you and that make me proud of you.

One of the most endearing things you do is the way you look after your pandas. Even Puddi's one that you adopted after she stopped caring for it. Every night, you make sure their heads rest comfortably on the little herbal cushion and that they are as well covered by your blanket as you are. Even on family sleep nights, you make sure they are made part of the family.

You also look after your siblings pretty well. While you love to tease Puddi and certainly have no dearth of tiny complaints against her almost every hour of the day, let anyone else scold her - even us - and you become her tender protector. Whenever Abba and I threaten to punish her, we have to forget it because you plead with us with your brown spaniel eyes. And you play with her very nicely when you want to, and help her so beautifully with her activities. I love to see the look of genuine pride in your eyes when she does an activity correctly. You're also very good with Bojjandi. You're very gentle with him, and on the rare occasions so far that I've yelled at him, as usual, you've dashed to his rescue. You look out for toys and books to give him and don't mind him trailing along behind you. You're so excited when he learns something new!

I love the way you concentrate on your work. On Republic Day when you played the Casio for the National Anthem and the National Song, what amazed everyone who watched you was the focus with which you did it, oblivious to the crowd staring at you. Even when you're reading you're the same.

And I love how passionate you are about everything you do, whether it's dinosaurs or ben 10, pokemon or cricket. Last year you were convinced that somewhere in America, I could buy you the real Ben 10 watch and you could turn into ten different aliens. This year it's all about Pokemon and how calvados evolved into rampados and who stole your 'legendary'. Your telephone conversations with your friends are very cute, because they are so innocent, to-the-point and so focussed on Pokemon.

Despite all your reading and your activities and exposure, by and large you are still a wide-eyed little boy. You still believe in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus and all manner of fairy folk. I'm sure you really hope that one day you'll find the magic Wishing Chair and the Magic Faraway Tree. You still snuggle up to us, even though you've become too big to be unselfconscious about kissing us anymore.

It makes me so proud of you when moms of your classmates come up to me and compliment me on your reading ability, or the facts you come up with in class, or say that you're one kid with whom they can have a proper conversation about anything, or that their child says you are his best friend. At the moment you have an aversion to girls which is mutual, so no girls are making a best pal of you yet...but I'm sure that'll change!

Chubbocks baby, on this and every other birthday, I have the same wishes. That you keep this enthusiasm for life. That you wake up each day feeling excited to start a new day. That the world does nothing to destroy your illusions and innocence.

I love you with all my heart.

TWMITU