Birthday Celebrations

As is the practice in this part of the world, irrespective of the day of the the birthday, it always gets celebrated on the weekend for the sake of convenience. Anirud's 5th Birthday was no exception and it was celebrated yesterday at an indoor soft play area with about a dozen of his friends. The brats had a gala time for about 1.5 hours climbing on the rope bridge, going on the swing and what not. It was a bit difficult to pull them away from the play area for cake cutting.


Long back when we were planning the party, Anirud wanted a 'Mickey Mouse' cake. Not an ordinary Mickey, but the one in a standing position. Bakers whom we talked to found that a bit challenging and he settled in for a pirate ship chocolate cake, which was very nicely made. One should have seen his face glow when the candles were lit up. The cake looked very impressive and he was very proud that he chose that one. He enjoyed catching up with his mates from the nursery that he went to earlier on and absolutely loved all the gifts he got that day.

Sleep Talk

At times, Anirud used to talk during his sleep. Sometimes it will be gibberish, sometimes very long sentences. We have even heard lines from stories and nursery rhymes few times. This morning it got intersting. This is what that came out of him.

Heyyyyyy, Here is IPL. Chennai Super Kings are winners.
Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Chennai Super Kings - IPL Winners.

Needless to say, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina are his heroes now. Seems that Obama has been forgotten long ago.

Health Update

Anirud is doing better now. Thanks much to all your support, wishes and kind enquiries.

He started suffering from chicken pox from Tuesday last week and he suffered a lot especially on Friday, when he had the strong urge to scratch at the blisters and rashes. We used neem leaves to comfort him on those places where he wanted to scratch. Thanks to the airport closures due to volcanic ash, there weren't any more stock of neem leaves in the Tamil shops and the ones we had were just enough until today. We were giving plenty of fluids all through the week and he being the one fond of butter milk helped a lot. We consulted the doctor once in between, when he had rashes and blisters very close to his eyes. As the scratching temptation was at its peak that time, the doc recommended an anti-viral to be on the safer side.

Today, he had his first bath after the chicken-pox, after which he felt extremely tired and drained out (Thanks to my mom, this was expected and hence we didn't get unduly worried). It is visibly very disturbing, as he had quite a lot of rashes than we had imagined. Being confined to bed most of the time, IPL came to our rescue as he enjoyed most of the matches. As doctors advised very minimal physical contact with him due to the risk of blisters getting open, he couldn't even be given a warm hug when he turned five couple of days back.

The past 40 days has been one hell of a ride for him health-wise. May the ummaachi whom Anirud prays every day, please ensure that this be the last of his troubles.

One of the lighter moments recently...

Me: "Anirud, you are a Vegetarian, right? Then, how did you get chicken-pox? You should have only got Vegetable-pox, isn't it?"

A: "Don't be silly pa. It is not a food. It is a disease."

Happy 5th Birthday Anirud!

You are FIVE today and in your own words a 'medium-big boy' now. As always, we are really proud of you, little bugger.

Now, it is...

Chicken-pox. We do hope that the month long poor health run ends with this.

Music Concert

We went to the Carnatic music concert at Milton Keynes yesterday. As we were a little concerned that Anirud might feel bored during the concert, we went there mentally prepared to make a quick exit, should the situation demand. Thankfully to Anirud's credit, he behaved really well - not only sitting through the concert, but also enjoying it at times.

There was a Violin performance by Dr. Jyotsana Srikanth followed by vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyam. Anirud probably thought each one is being given a turn to perform on the stage. The previous occasion when he has been to an auditorium was during the Diwali party last year, when he recited couple of nursery rhymes. He turned to me and asked 'Will it be my turn next appa? I am ready with my rhymes now'.

His next bouncer was when the main vocalist let the violinist to play for a while. Anirud went like, 'Why is this man not singing now? Has he forgotten the song?'.

Other than that, it appeared to us that he was happy listening at the concert. Encouraged by this, we have booked for the next one in few week's time.

Illness Month

Seems that the chest infection that Anirud had few weeks ago that led to his hospitalisation hasn't cleared off. He fell ill again - with cold, cough and was prescribed the next course of antibiotics. He responded well, but still having running nose. The past few weeks have been very tough on him and all we could do is to feel sorry for his plight. Thankfully, the school has been closed for two weeks on account of term holidays, so that he didn't have to take any more time off.

Quote

நான் சுறுப்பு சுறுப்பா இருக்க போறேன் (Naan suruppu suruppaa irukka poren) - meaning, I am going to be brisk.

Nothing great about this statement, but for the way Anirud pronounced the word 'சுறுசுறுப்பு' (surusuruppu ~ brisk). Thought that it must be noted down somewhere for a laugh at a future date and here it goes.

Sausage Sizzles

Today is the end of Winter term in Anirud's school. On the last day of every term and half-term, his school has got the custom of making sausages for lunch. They did it today and Anirud had his mouthful. Well, there will be left overs only on the lunch we prepare at home sweating out in the morning hurry. Everything else will be taken in happily. :)

Got another problem on hand. The school reopening is little more than two weeks agay and until them, he needs to be managed.