A toddlers letter to her father on his birthday

Dear Baba

Happy Birthday :)

I am not very sure what exactly that means but i remember all the shenanigans for my birthday last year, the balloons, the guests at home, the people at the party and that ugly pink dress that Ma made me wear, i felt swallowed in it !

However, Ma has been very excited for your Birthday, but on second thoughts, she is excited every day  ! I have been seeing her carry things around the house and sneak them under the bed, inside your cupboard. She tells me these are "Surprises" for you on your birthday. She has been teaching me to say "Happy Birthday" since a few days but i can manage to say "Hi"..she gets excited and claps everytime i say that..told you ! she gets excited every day..

Ma and I are planning a little party at home for you, she wants to put those huge round colorful balloons in the house. Talking of them, i seriously refuse to believe how can an adult be so happy about blowing your lungs out into them and stick them all over, only to have them poping in the middle of the night and freaking you out. Maybe as i grow older i will share your enthusiasm about those things, till  then i am pretty content with playing with the streamers and watching Ma stand on the chairs to put things on the wall.

We, Ma and I have decided that every year we will write you a letter, on your Birthday, well honestly it was my idea since i am a lady of few words, and writing works well for me..Ma and you can talk later but this letter business shall stay.

You are the first one with whom i start my mornings, though Ma sleeps next to my crib, my intention of wanting to get out of the crib, is just to be with you.Its a special Baba thing i have for you, those early moments in the morning, while Ma sleeps and we play. I love the way you swoop me up and make me see the crows and pigeons near the pool, the way you make me wear my sandals when i get off the bed. There are times when you comb my hair and try to put on a matching hair clip..umm usually the clips dont match, but I am ok with it.Then the days when you volunteer to help me brush my teeth, you fuss way too much on details, i just have 10 teeth, the brush is just a fashion accessory for me.Ma insists that i drink water when i wake up, but you pour out 2 spoons of water and then give up. Its time i tell you i am a Leo, you need to be more persistent with me or else i will always have my own way.

Its an unsigned code of conduct that your laptop will always be my playzone,so i dont want you to get worried on seeing the missing alphabets of the keyboard, or the traces of apple pulp on the screen..those are my silent ways of showing you i can also share my food with you.. Frankly you need to stay away from that laptop of yours, like Ma , i hate it when you lock the library door shut and work. Those are times when my puppy whimpering and door bangings work. As long as you are home i sit on that lap of yours, period !!

I especially feel privileged knowing that the cook has been instructed to make chilly free omelettes for you and Ma for breakfast, theres nothing more grown-up than  taking a bit of your food. its the latest fad among toddlers f my age, to eat what the parents eat. I love the way you swoop me up and make me fly, the way you chase me around the house, the way you pull out the chair and make me plop on it ,the way you wipe my tears when i pretend to be hurt, the way you remove the hair off my eyes , your fingers tickling my neck, your beard against my face and your breath on my neck when you put me to sleep.

I can not express this yet, but you are fun to be with.. The minute you walk into the house, i seem to go on a tizzy of jumping and clapping cuz thats how i excited i get (Something i inherit from Ma) i dont care how dirty your hands are, or soiled your clothes maybe, but i will always want to be the first one to hug you. I will always want you to be the first one who holds me every morning, the first one to dip me inside the swimming pool, the first one to help me hold the steering wheels of the car and teach me to drive, the first one to open the door when i come home late someday, the first one to teach me to work on a laptop, to use a calculator, to change a lightbulb, to plant a tree, the first one to wipe off my tears when my hurt is real.

Ma says you are worrying about how you turn a year older and have so many dreams to chase, lemme tell you something, you have made M and my lives into a beautiful dream with everything that you are !

On your Birthday, i wish i will always be your little girl, the one who grabs your pen , the one who knows all the passwords to your phone, the one who empties your wallet every morning, the one who shares her books with and the one who will always know that no man can ever love her like you do..

Happy Birthday Baba

Love and more googly wooglies

Keya