Birthdays in Ramadhan.

Tues 27 April 2021 

We'd be having 6 birthdays this Ramadhan.  Grandsons no. 4 and  no 11 have already had theirs.  Jim-jim's(no.4) was on April 26, and Zayd's(no.11) on April 22. 

Granddaughter Wafa's is today. Because she's staying with us, we had a tiny  celebration of sorts, last night.  Squeezed with the iftar, a cake with 7 candles was produced, and a box of oil crayons with sketch-book and a large drawing board was presented. Wafa happily blew the candles and cut the cake, and smiling broadly accepted the art stuff. In fact she already knew about them.  She is keen on  drawing and pencil-colouring. I have a collection of her work already, and they show a sense of colour and perspective. Her grandmother also had a collection. But she'd removed them. From the walls of the house ! The crayons could open up her knowledge of various art material. The large board and the sketch-book would hopefully remain the target of her efforts, not the walls !

Wafa is 7. She weighs 22.1 kg, and is just shy of 4 feet tall. She was born premature, and weighed only 1.75 kg. Very tiny.  In 7 years, hers is now considered of normal weight and height. 

The other day the large man carrying the cooking gas came into the house.  He must have been 6' 4", a huge man by Malaysian standard. Out of the blue, on seeing Wafa, he asked her age, and  said she's going to be a tall girl. He must know what he was talking about, because he said he has children. And if they take after him, he should know about being tall. 

No. 3 Son will have his 39th birthday tomorrow. But I'd already wished him happy birthday. He said today's not his birthday. You don't have to wish happy birthday on the actual day, the smart-aleck.

Grandsons no 9 & 10, the twins, will have their birthdays on the 10th. of next month, 3 days before Eid.   I'll have to conjure up some sort of present for them, I suppose. Maybe I'll also get some crayons and sketch books to share their sister's drawing board. But unlike Wafa, so far they have shown no interest in drawing or colouring. Maybe the crayons might spur them.

The fasting month means no real birthday parties are possible. Otherwise we could have invited nearby cousins, like we normally do.

I had a look through some old photos, and there were some birthdays there. The cutting of the cake seems ingrained in our custom now, but it's not a bad idea. Over the years the cakes have gotten more expensive. Wafa's carrot cake, with the decorations and box and plastic knife, cost me RM 95. In the end 75% of it was carted to the surau by the grandmother. Otherwise it would remain uneaten. Dekna says for the twins maybe she'll just buy ice cream. No danger there anything would be left to take to the surau.

Zayd is in Cheras, and Jim-Jim in Subang Jaya. So a visit is out of the question, with PKP and whatever.  Hopefully the parents haven't forgotten about some kind of celebration. Zayd is 2. Jim-Jim 10.

Maybe Zayd could have shared his celebration with his dad, No.3 Son.  His is only 6 days later. They're in KL, so eating out is  out. Zayd is the 3rd of 3 boys in that house. Ali and Ucin are already in school.

Subang Jaya is also Red Zone, I think. Jim-Jim's dad, No. 2 Son, probably is thankful that eating out is out. He'll do anything to keep the wallet in.

Buka Puasa time is here. So I'm off.

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