Birthday Boys

Every year for the last 7 years, we have a double celebration on the 1st of October. On the first year we celebrated at the hospital, of course. Even though Taufik's birthday had always been low-key previously, in subsequent years we had had to have some sort of a party, big or small, for Ihsan's sake.

I havent been out shopping that much, so I didnt buy Ihsan or Taufik any gifts, so I'm just gonna do what I can: cook!
Yesterday I made some chocolate cupcakes and this morning Ihsan brought them to school for his classmates and teachers. He has been asking for strawberry shortcake, I'm gonna try my best to make it for iftar (but I haven't started on it yet!! *panic*).
I've asked Taufik to go buy some fish head and I'm going to cook fish head curry with some aubergines and okra for him. I'll fry up some salted fish with shallots and make a simple lettuce and cucumber salad to go with the curry and white rice. I think that'll be quite yummy. ;)

Okay a little note on the birthday boys' growth:

Ihsan has blossomed into a very social boy. He has made quite a lot of friends in school and in our compound. When I pick him up from school, I notice that there will always be kids who walk by and yell "Bye Ihsan!!" at us. Some afternoons I would get kids pressing my doorbell asking if Ihsan can come out and play. One day I even got a call from one of the mothers asking if Ihsan can come over and play! He is gone almost every afternoon at 4:30pm and he would be out till he hears the sound of the azan. He has been practicing to fast, but only lasts half the day (till around 11am). He is doing very well in his lessons, though he still needs to work on properly articulating the whole bunch of stuff in his head.

Taufik has blossomed into the star salesman at his workplace. His natural ability in making friends and maintaning relationships has proven to be his asset in his strive to be the best at what he does. I am really proud of his drive and his ability to work hard, yet still able to strike the balance with the family. The kids just look up to him and will jump out of the sofa and run down the stairs to greet him the moment they hear his voice at the door going "Assalamu-alaikum!", because they know that when he's home, he's home.
I think he's also starting to chill out and is more willing to enjoy the fruits of his labours now. He's more open to spending some money for stuff that we considered to be luxuries before, like shopping, eating out and travelling.

Happy Birthday Ihsan and Taufik!!