Your birthday ...

Guddams:

Let us start from the very beginning - mamma and pappa wanted to organise a nice party - with friends (campus, college, office) ... but then mamma had a good point - we were doing that party for us and not for you. So mamma had a brainwave to get people whom you would love to play with - kiddies of your age !!!
So that was it - we decided we would invite only bachchaas in the 6 m - 18 m range + Arsh (ur, hmmm, first , hmmm, crush ... well well well). The party would be nothing but a play session at home for 1 - 2 hours with party grub for the elders and apple / marie biscuits for you and your gang.
We decided the following:
a. party at 5:00 pm, after all the guests would have woken up from their seistas, and ending by 6:30, before dark
b. the dining area (actually,drying area) would be the venue - one gadda would be put on the floor with the bedsheet containing sun, moon etc. motifs.
c. guests would have all the house ke toys at their disposal on the gadda
d. guests would be encouraged to crawl around the house and explore
e. cake in the front room - which would have all the party decor
f. kiddie and cartoon posters in our middle bedroom which is where we nowadays sleep after your gravity-challenging feats from the bed

Then we got down to the task.
Mamma made a lovely invite which read very nice - pappa, as usual, does not recollect the full text
Mamma pappa ordered a Bugs Bunny cake from Birdy's. The snacks were to come from Andheri West Mewan's.
Mamma tried making the "Happy Birthday" dangler at 12 in the night two nights before your bday - but it was so tough we packed the idea
On the night before the BDay, Mamma and Pappa hung up the decor - the Happy Birthday Danglers on the front room window and the kitchen door, the shiny balls on the walls and the curtains, face masks of Mickey, Tweety and a clown on the walls and the curtains, lots of general shiny danglers and paper festoons.
Then came the D Day - balloons were missing !!! pappa could not blow them nor could mamma, so pappa got balloons blown at the tyre repair shop. lesson for pappa: get ready blown balloons, and big ones - these were cute but very small ...
Finally at 5 pm the cake came and all was set - and in walked the first guest ...

Utsa came in first, all of 6 - 7 months. She and you fraternised very little and you went inside ... then came the next set - Shreeya and Mukund. Then the fun began.
Shreeya, Mukund and Utsa occupied the gadda and you sat at the fringe - lording over them as they were anyway younger to you.
And, of course , before pappa forgets you wore a pretty pink and white frock which Nanu nani had got from udaipur. You also wore your gold ring that they had gifted you.
Then, we had the three of them playing on the mat, and then came Vriddhi (18 months old). She was very happy playing with herself and alone with some balls and toys. She was very cute and peaceful.
Meanwhile, Shreeya had assaulted Mukund and made him cry, then she attacked you and took your clip and pulled your hair and made you cry. Mukund had to be escorted to the front room window for boosting his spirits, while mamma picked you up and calmed you down.
Arnav and Aarohi came in the last just around 5:45 or so - they hung around with one another and their mom.
Pooja and Arsh did not come by 6:00 so we got the cake cutting at 6:00 in the front room - and it was then that mamma discovered your ring was missing !! Damn painful, na ...
Anyway, the party went on - cake and snacks for the parents / grandparents / junta - the guests had mashed stewed apple, cheese cubes and marie biscuits. Then they all filed out one by one. Mamma and pappa had bought books as return gifts for the kids (except the twins who got a bucket and a book) which we handed over to them.
The kids enjoyed the party - you had an ok time ...

And then came Arsh ... He came in with his naani and maid. He first came in and saw you. Mamma had just put on some tapes and he swayed to it.
Then the fun began - you went inside and got your cycle along. And our man pushed you along in it. He pushed the buttons and played the music. He danced, he did namaste to you, then kissed you (pappa was looking helplessly !!! - kidding ...)
Then you and he had a gala time, playing with one another - you in your cycle, he standing around.
Then his naana and mom came, we all kept eating and chatting. Then around 7:45 or so, the party came to an end - they left ...

Ok, before I forget - your thathaa paati, periya paati and raju mama were there, and so was the mythili paati from chennai and karthik chaachaa from dombivili - from the family side ... At 8:30, except your paati, everyone else left ...

And we concluded the day .

I think it was a wonderful idea - pappa and mamma could have done better in terms of making it grand. But, you enjoyed yourself quite well - and did not feel pained. 100/100 to mamma for the idea !!!

The ring, by the way, was found at 6:30 itself, it was just under the gaddha.

Mamma pappa enjoyed putting up the party - and we want to do more parties like this for you. What pappa enjoyed the most was that everything was done by mamma pappa - themselves, no event managing, no outsourcing - that just made it all the more personal for us.

We love you guddu, and we will celebrate all your bdays in real style and with lots of fun for you and us

Pappa