Seven!!

My baby boy is 7! SEVEN!

Ok ok.....why am I exclaiming over this?! I knew he would have to eventually get there, but somehow it seems a little unreal. Every birthday does.

Nothing much has changed between 6 and 7. My boy is still thin, lanky, bright, sensitive, emotional, responsible, hardworking, imaginative, affectionate (very!), compliant and obedient. He's also become a bit more street-smart, a little less trusting and doormat-ish. His best friend is a kid a whole year older than him, a brash boy who can be just a little too aggressive at times. He ends up in scuffles with many of the other kids in the complex. He tried to intimidate Ads too but over the last few months I see how well Ads is holding his own. While the other kid tends to dominate, he never gets his way all the time and Ads seems to be pushing back at all the right moments. My boy is learning all the lessons I wanted him to learn.

I've asked him to do one thing for me this year. Now that he's a big boy and all. I've asked him to please please please stop throwing tantrums because he's too old for them and really, this mommy can't deal with them any more. I have no patience, no energy, nothing to deal with the one-a-day-average. He's promised. We'll see how this resolution pans out!

The one significant change that has taken place is the interest/obsession with wildlife. We started with the big cats, moved onto marine creatures and are now deep into dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. The fallout of this has been that he has stopped playing with his toys. No Lego, no cars or trucks, no board games, no beyblades and no ball games. He has tiny wild animal toys and I bought him a set of marine mammals for his birthday so he is generally to be found playing with those. Either that, or else reading and writing about them! (Ms Y apes her brother in most respects so she has stopped playing with her toys too!).

After last year's unconventional birthday celebration, we went the whole hog this year and invited about 10 kids to a simple birthday party at home. A lion-themed cake, pizza, cheesy garlic bread, juice, a few party games and lots of running around made for one fun evening. Y nearly got trampled several times as the boys rushed to the door whenever someone rang the bell and as they played hockey, badminton and footie inside the house! She asked me "Amma, why are they so loud?"

Happy birthday, my darling.

In his EVS class, the kids were asked to create a wishlist. Ads' top two wishes were Peace of Mind and Children! I was zapped at the first one. Didn't he have peace of mind now? Does he even know what peace of mind is? His response: Amma, our teacher said that was on the top of her wishlist so I just copied it!

And children? What if they are pesky naughty brats?

Its ok amma, I think they will be good like me!

Ending this post with some of his recent art and writing work.

Drawing of a Great White Shark and on the right, the teeth of a Megaladon

The first sheet of a booklet on dinosaurs

Inside sheet - fact file on dinos

A rough and incomplete sketch of a lion

A one-off sketch!

Killer whale skeleton

Latest interest - making tables of the largest/heaviest/fastest animals and birds, the ones with the biggest bite forces etc etc