Celebrating growing up and moving on

A week back, my first born turned four. Its been four years since we have been parents to this wonderful person. Does not seem long that this fragile being was handed to us in the brightly lit operation theatre and we embarked on our journey. We had no parents or elders around and had up cruise through the initial days with help from colleagues. Somehow we managed to keep our sanity through the early trials of feeding, sleepless nights and innumerable more household chores. She was a very cooperative baby. She had her struggles and health issues and it felt like she was our partner through our struggles. 

That little baby grew into a rebellious toddler who was just as much fun. She loved an active life and loved the life outdoors. She was never an impediment to anything. We were out and  about a lot with her. She was always game for a good round of rough -housing. As a pre-schoooler I have seen her personality evolve. She is a little lady, much into princesses (thanks to Disney 's Frozen!) She has a few best friends ;) Her intellect, her care,her mischievous self, her shyness, her confidence - the diverse aspects of her still evolving personality shine through and amaze me. I sometimes feel scared that think if I might spoil something so valuable handed over to me by my impatience, my ignorance,my nonchalance. 

Since this is her last year in nursery, we decided to throw a party for her friends. It was really fun searching the venue, deciding the menu,getting the return gifts and hosting the party. It was a wonderful kids only party. We had some light snacks for the adults as the kids went crazy in the soft play area. Everybody had a wonderful time. We were sceptical that the venue was  bit small, but the place  was  commended by the adults as being the right size to have an eye on the kids without having to intervene too much. Since the place was a bit on the smaller side, I personally felt all the parents interacted with each other during play time. I have been to parties where the venue is very large and there are  isolated groups of parents. Because this place was small and compact every body mingled very well. I ensured that Chiyaa welcomed her friends and thanked them for the gifts. Whenever I called upon her, she would obediently come and say 'will you come and play on the slide with me?' I was so impressed by this. She literally had a customised welcome message without anyone having taught her! 

She gives Oh so many moments  when I am uber proud of her and wonder how did I get so lucky? When she drives me to my wits end with her shenanigans, I think of her good  bits, the times I have felt proud of her, the times I have felt like taking her in my arms and saving her  from the vagaries of the world. In some months she will go to  school, and I already see her mature so much with the advent of a baby sister. She will soon leave her nursery friends, she will never even remember the carers with whom she has spent close to 2 years of her life. Wish there was some sort of social networking  site to keep in touch and keep posted, but then I think how long would one be interested in keeping in touch. Don't we all promise our teachers with glowing sentimentality that we will keep in touch forever and ever. But we all move on, the teachers to new students, the pupils to new teachers. Many years hence I am sure I will forget how proud I was of the little birdie on her fourth birthday, this post is for my record keeping as well. So that I can come back to this page in the world wide web and always relive it. I am ever so proud of you my dear and I hope I don't disappoint you.