Celebrating his ONEness!

Shabd's birthday started with hugs and kisses. We still can't believe he's ONE. We had a packed agenda for the little one-year old. Breakfast, bath, presents, walk in the garden, play with the doggies, presents, back in for a nap, out for lunch with nounou, presents, back home for more play and doo-doo before a nice long nap, presents, then the big party with even more presents and guests!

Going to let the pictures tell you about Shabd's day.

Just woke up and still getting lots of hugs!



Time for a bath! I have a feeling, that tonight's going to be a good night!




Do I look like my Papa?




My first Horsie...and he's a little scary!




Another present...i love it!




Thanks Mom...now i have my own chair for the beach




I'd rather be playing...do we have to cut this cake? Seriously guys?!




Chacha is the funniest guy i know. He's so much fun!




Even more pictures with my cousins and Dadi Ambi

















































"So the pictures with nounou Lysie are not here...because mom is allowed to forget her camera sometimes. My First birthday is not the ideal time for her to start doing that, but it's okay. We had fun! We took nounou to Flying Dodo in Bagatelle and ate a lovely lunch. I particularly liked playing outside in the white gravel...fun, fun, fun!" says Shabd.

And that was Shabd's FIRST birthday. It was a simple celebration, okay simple chic. But a celebration none-the-less. We've learnt that in life, our moments are counted, so we should ensure we spend our moments with those that count. Those invited see Shabd on an almost daily basis. They come play with him, they feed him, they have bathed him, they invite him into their homes, they make him sleep, they help us out, give us advice but most of all they really and truly love Shabd.

I missed my family.

Birthday Jitters

Where do I even begin to tell you about Shabd’s great big FIRST birthday? The anxiety prior, what do we do? Who do we invite? What will we serve? Who will cook? Do we outsource?

Between you and I, if i had to be absolutely honest, the stressing and planning began months ago!

So how do i tell you about Shabd's big day?

Let's begin at the beginning, as most beginnings begin - the days leading up to the big FIRST BIRTHDAY. Stay tuned, this blog comes in editions!

Let me begin my alleviating your and my fear; turning the big 1 was a blast for Shabd! (Us included).

I promise...Shabd enjoyed his party!

 To bake or not to bake was the Shakespearian sonnet being sung dolefully in our home for many a night. There are positives associated with homemade; let’s face it, it’s made with love, it shows dedication, patience and belief in one’s talents with a piping bag. And then there is the other side; it’s so much easier to order a cake, it saves time and avoids anxiety on the part of the ‘would have been’ baker, "professional" trumps "homemade" in terms of appearance and presentation of the cake hands down!

Yours truly, always up for a challenge opted “Homemade”. And then meekly called her sister for help! Who, as Dipika always does, came galloping to the rescue!

We would bake a cake…Check!

We would cut it out in the shape of the number 1….Check!

We would ice it in green and blue….What?! With a piping bag? Alone? Is it too late to call the bakery and order one? Apparently yes, too late!



Whoever said icing was hard?

Then we would print animal decals on edible paper and place on the cake…Where on Earth, or should I rather say "Where on planet Mauritius" was I going to find edible paper!

This plan was starting to get complicated and I was starting to feel like McGyver, ek moet nou 'n plan maak. Luckily, i sourced a little cake supply store close by…and they print on edible paper! Yay…’n boer maak ‘n plan!

Even Papa gets busy with Project Koek!

Would you believe that I took a days leave to bake the cake?! And indeed, it took me a whole day to prepare. But I won’t bore you with the details, aside from a panicked call to Superhero Dipika (the 1 didn’t look like a 1!) and plenty of excitement as layer by layer of icing was gently smoothed onto the cake, it took form!



TA DA!



Cake done - check!

Now to set up the venue.

By now, Akash had understood the "Naran" way of doing things and had gotten into the swing of it. He'd set up the "venue" already...streamers and lights and all! Didn't he do a fantastic job?

Papa set up the 'venue' - he felt all Naran...The son my father didn't meet!

Oh! I was so caught up in the cake that i forgot to mention Akash's contribution. Yes, not only is he handy at draping and lights, but he's artistic too!

The Family Tree

Everyone that attended the party were invited to make their mark on the family tree.

Like life, our family tree is work in progress, one leaf at a time

Please come visit soon, we'd love for you to add your fingerprint to Shabd's family tree.

We would like to Thank Dipika masi for her HUGE involvement in Project "Shabd turns 1" and acknowledge her amazing design talents. Invitation card, welcome sign, streamers, cake design...all Dipika masi!

I was sad that my family would not be around to help me plan this milestone in Shabd's life. And amazingly, Master works in mysterious ways. He ensures we get what we need exactly when we need it. Even if that need is a guiding note from Chandrika masi, or a call from Mummy during a particularly stressful day, or a message from Trish, or advice from Kamal or a virtual Dipika by my side. Varshabd & Akashabd are blessed that you are in our family tree!

In Ons Veld

Our green space is more a veld then a garden. Not in terms of huge open space, but rather because our little veld is so wild and untamed. To mummy, this is cause for concern, there could be all sorts of creepy crawly's lurking in the long grass. To this over protective lioness, our wild veld represents a danger to my little cub!

 Unfortunately (or is it fortunately?), to Mustafa and Simba the veld might as well be a theme park...with bright "ADVENTURE HERE" signs flashing everywhere. Our veld is filled with interesting critters to poke and prod at. Rocks to clamber over. Stones to taste and sand to eat. Not to mention uncharted territory yet to be mapped.

Every afternoon, Shabd and I catch the last few rays of sunshine exploring our little veld. The anticipation begins as soon as he pushes his little hand through the arm of his jacket, his excitement rising, he knows in a few minutes he'll be on an adventure!

Some days, Shabd likes me to hold his band while he stomps up and down the yard. Stopping every now and then to kick up some sand or shove an errant stone out of his way.

Other times, Shabd wants his space. He likes to go crawling on all fours to those wild uncharted parts of the veld, stopping here and there to closely examine an interesting leaf, offering it to me when he's done with his examination. Bravo Shabd! Thanks for not eating that leaf!

Shabd has a preference for twigs. These are prize acquisitions. His eyes widen with excitement when he spots one. And he can sit still for a full five minutes examining his precious twig. A twig will only be discarded in favour of a stone, which must be licked as part of his examination process, much to the alarm of his mother!

We mark the passing of time in our veld by the lengthening of our shadows. With the last few rays of sunshine, God bathes Shabd in His golden light and i know we are blessed.

What's In a Birthday?

I have struggled with deciding what we would do for Shabd's 1st birthday. Do we go all out and have a huge party...but there are no petting Zoe's to be hired on the island (or so I think).

Who needs a petting zoo, like seriously...he's going to be ONE! We can figure out the petting zoo for another birthday.

Okay...so no petting zoo....hum dee dum...what to do?

Well, I presume as is the custom with the Beekharry family, a big Havana will be planned, with a party thereafter! Oh gosh! Will Shabd survive this? Will I survive it? No! The house is upside down with the renovations...I won't be able to take the stress...neither will Akash cope with me as ek uit gestress is! Hhmmm...back to square one!

If only Dipika was here...she'd have a solution...and the detailed project plan to go along with it!

Replace the words "petting zoo" with any other party idea and the outcome is always the same...not feasible! All the while, the clock keeps ticking away.

So here we are, 9 days away from the big ONE and I'm still not fixed in what we will do to celebrate this momentous day. We've decided to do away with any notions of a big bash...on account of a dire lack of siblings and close friends and family on the island...from my side that is!

We'll ask the dada's and  dadi's of the yard over for dinner on Shabd's birthday...Dipika masi kindly  designed an invitation for us. And we'll take Shabd with his cousin Nayshad to an "animal park" in the weekend.

Is this enough to mark his First Birthday?

I'm working hard at making these two events a success for Shabd...and I'm not sure he'll even remember the great day. Oh well, sometimes it's about the baby and sometimes it's about the mummy!