Dear Azmu,
One of my many favourite days of the year has arrived; your birthday. You’ve turned seven years old and this year you’ve excitedly been counting down the days to this special occasion. You’ve asked for a dragon themed birthday, thanks to your love for the series ‘How to Train a Dragon’ on Netflix. Along with birthday gifts filled with Lego and a rainbow cake!
You’ve grown more confident now, continue to be a chatter box and love showing your kind nature towards all animals. Your relationship with your younger brother Azu continues to grow beautifully, and I love watching you two bond together. You are the protective older sister not only to your brother but your cousin/ ‘biker bro’ as well. You’ve got a sweet tooth for lollipops, candies, M&Ms, and candy floss. You also know dad is the best person to go to the candy store with, as he will almost never deny buying you all the sweet treats. Also, the raspberry fruit tart from PAUL is your ultimate dessert weakness 🙂
Social Butterfly
You are kind to your peers, and this year I’ve seen you interact with your school friends too. Be it at your friends birthday parties or playing with your school friend who lives in the same apartment as ours. You are not shy, love to have conversations with other grownups, and yet are polite and respectful.
During December ’21 you travelled to England to meet your nana-nani, mama and were surprised at the amount of family members we have there. You couldn’t believe they were all my cousins! (Specially at the gathering on New Year’s Eve) You got to ‘celebrate’ Christmas, decorate the Christmas tree and have ‘Santa’ drop by a couple of gifts too!
You also travelled to India in July and equally had just as much fun with all the attention you received from dadi and family members there. The coconut water, the motorcycle rides, the bhel-puri, you enjoyed it all.
Your Interests
You may not be very girly, know everything about Disney princesses or love wearing pink everyday. Ofcourse, you do love putting mehendi, having your nails done and putting on perfume. However, I love everything you do have an interest in: space travel, dinosaurs, lego, wild cats, fast cars, pirates, unicorns and of course dragons. You continue to be creative and analytical, whether it be through your arts and crafts, or coding and basic robotic engineering. Dad has given you one of the old iPhones (sim card-less) and you’ve been enjoying making video clips on it. Do we have a future YouTuber in the making?
This year we’ve been lucky to have the Dubai Expo 2020 at our door step, and you’ve made the most of it. Your curiosity and eagerness to learn has allowed you to experience so many different cultures, watch stage performances and have so much fun collecting stamps on the Expo Passport. Yep, you also got the white passport for collecting 100 stamps from 100 pavillions. You even visited the Expo with your school friends on a school trip and came back with many stories to share.
Your interest in pop culture has meant we almost always only listen to music that and your little brother ‘allow’ us to put on in the car. You continue to love watching Marvel movies and series, such as ‘Ms Marvel’.
Our little Marvel
And to be honest, you are OUR little Marvel. Azmu, continue to be the superhero you are. The strong, brave and kind person you are. Love and trust yourself first and value the important relationships in your life. Be honest, and continue to challenge yourself even if you think things are getting difficult. Especially then. Choose friends who will let your strengths and unique qualities shine bright. As for family, we’ll always be there for you, being your biggest supporters and loudest to cheer you on.
Happy Birthday Azmu.
Love Mummy and Papa.
If you enjoyed reading this post, you may enjoy reading the previous open letters I have written to Azmu, as well as the ones I’ve written to my son Azu. For more on our journey, be sure to follow us on Instagram.