Dearest Aryan,
We can’t even believe we are here. Almost NINE!
That’s only one year away from double digits.
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This is such a special birthday. Your favourites Koka & Aita are here
to celebrate the special day with you.
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It seems like just yesterday we were praying for a little baby, and
now here you are, a full-on kid.
The days are long, but the years are short!!
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You’re growing tall and strong; you have a smile which really lights up the room.
You’re utterly charming and chatty, but most of all you are kind and thoughtful.
Bright, bold, courageous, funny and kind. That’s you.
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You love your family with all your heart, and we are awestruck how much you enjoy the family times –Mama Mami, Koka Aita and more. Your constant talks with Krish Bhaiya about your latest Fortnite finds.. how much you love Muchu.. your little sister far far away!!
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Moving to UK has been a blessing.. we are closer to family like never before… almost all weekends we are together… You are now growing up with Mama and Mami and they are certainly your best buddies. The Linkin Parks, the Iron Maidens... the Bon Jovis are such a splendid time you spend with them. Not to forget Miles Morales!!
We can’t even keep up with all the songs you know and haven’t even heard of half of them! When we are travelling together, there is never a doubt that you choose to be in their car. Chumki Mami has the captains duty to keep things in order, else you both go out of control…
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We cherish the time we spend as family… the outdoors, our cricket matches, badminton, carroms, happy board game times when it is raining outside. You being a little man enjoy the most in the English Pubs … Sausages are good, but not the unhealthy Cola... you know that right??
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You are our amazing little man… You light up a room when you enter. You go out of your way to make sure that everyone feels welcome and can’t stand to see anyone hurt. When you have the quizzes with us.. you make sure we all can win… you can't see anyone loosing or being sad !!
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Your sensitivity is extremely high, and it is certainly very brave. We know we don’t hear much about boys being sensitive…in fact, they are often told to ‘toughen up’. You won’t hear that from your Mama & Papa. It is brave of you to be sensitive to the feelings of the people around you, to have the heart you do, to worry about others and to be willing to show that type of emotion. Don’t let anyone tell you that your heart is anything less than brave.
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In many ways you’ve not changed all that much in the last 12 months. You’re still all about the Lego, never too far away from Gravitrax, you love drawing, the acrylic mess we create together, the baking we do together. You are curious about the world around you, and that’s such a lovely thing to experience with you.
Fortnite, Hello Neighbor and Star Wars are the new interest as you grow up.
Be grateful. Your family, your friends, your home, your school and talents…they are all gifts. Treasure them and protect them. It is wise to remember to be thankful and to pass on whatever type of goodness you can. You have a kind heart. we trust you will continue to use that.
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We love the fact how you stand up for your friends. The older you are getting, the more you will understand the value of true friends and the importance of loyalty. You are reaching an age that can test the boundaries of those friendships. When we moved from Germany to UK you left behind your close buddies… it's amazing to see how you still keep in touch with them... The regular Monday evening video calls with Moritz shows how much you treasure him as a friend..
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In a new country you made so many friends. All we see is the vibe you have with your friends.. so happy, so positive!! Treasure the friendships… We are so proud when Mr Colborne tells us you are the most popular kid in the school. No wonder, you got all the votes to represent the kids in the School Council. Your detailed talks with your teachers, your high-fives with Mrs Bryden..
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You’re trying hard at school; You are brilliant at science and maths… you love history and geography! We still have some way to go with your English, but you are on it… Starting 4th year has been an adventure so far. You’ve entered the world of multiplication and division and are starting to venture into complex thinking and evaluating things from different perspectives. You pop out so many questions for which we don’t have answers to. Thanks to Papa and Google! We are happily surprised of your knowledge about parallel worlds…Keep trying though, because if nothing else, we never give up.
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The right thing is not always easy. Admitting when you are wrong or when you have hurt a friend …..it is clearly not an easy thing to do, but we know it is the RIGHT thing to do. The good news is that you DO know the difference. Keep doing the right thing. Listen to your gut and your heart and follow them. We trust you to know what works for you, what the right path might be…
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We probably wrote this in every Birthday letter, but we have to mention here again that you’re still a night owl: sleeping has never come easily... so many questions pop out from your head at this hour.. and once again, the good night snuggle time is still our favourite part.. we talk about everything and fall asleep after hours.. We keep thinking that’ this is going to end soon, but you reassure us that you’ll be the same forever.
Your room in mostly in mess and the frequent sessions we have about putting things in order. But none of us are perfect and there’s little point in trying to be..
You have good and bad habits, what we love most that you know the difference. You are working hard to get the bad corrected… but then again! no one is perfect! You are also imperfect and all the more interesting and wonderful for those imperfections.
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You won’t always win. It is within a loss that you grow, learn and improve. We won’t prevent you from making mistakes as you learn best from making these as well, but we’ll ALWAYS be here to cheer you on, help you to pick up the pieces and love you through everything. Take the steps that scare you, travel the path that leads to the unknown and be willing to fail. We’ll be here to celebrate or pick you up. Work hard, play hard and have fun. All three are very important in life.
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We look at you, our tall and gorgeous 9-year-old boy and we see the man we think you will grow into. We know you will be one of the nicest and the kindest person & you will have lots of friends.
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When you were born, everyone said enjoy the baby years, they slip away all too quickly. Every year with you has been a joy. we’ve loved watching you grow and learn, and in turn we have grown and learned a lot about ourselves too. You’ve taught us so much about life and love and you’ve made us strong in ways we never thought we could be.
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We are proud that you are our Munu Munu. We hope we tell you that often enough. Being your parents has been the best thing. Watching you grow into the brilliant boy you are, has been nothing short of a privilege. This is your last year in single digits, you’re really going to start changing in all kinds of ways over the next few years. Keep being kind and caring, carry on being funny and silly. We love you the most and there’s nothing you could do that will stop us from being your biggest fan.
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Happy 9th birthday our darling boy, blow out those candles, floss along to the birthday singing, have a brilliant time at your party, celebrate with the people who love you best, enjoy life.
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We are excited to see what this year holds for you. You have so much potential and we know you’re going to do great things. Whatever you want to be, we will try hard to help make that come true for you - Work hard. Be kind.
You’re OUR bright ray of sunshine.
​ To us, you are perfect.
To us, you are everything… our BIG-SMALL world.
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Love you to bits & pieces..
Keep Rocking our little Rockstar,
Love you more than you can ever imagine,
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Mama Papa
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