A serial cuddler

Although you might not guess it from Kirin's facial expression, he is a very keen cuddler (or as we would say in North America, hugger). One of my great joys is coming home from work, poking my head round the door, and seeing Kirin run over to me with his arms stretch ready for a hug. Recently, he has even starting patting my back in a reassuring way, much like I have always done to him since he was born.

In this picture, Kirin is cuddling his little cousin Olivia, who is the daughter of one of my Sidhu cousins, Gurbukshaw (but goes by the nickname of Kaka, meaning little one) and Lee. They came to visit us a few weeks ago when Pooaji (she's in the background) and Uncle Paul came to visit from Sarajevo.

The other day, however, Kirin's cuddling got the better of him. From Monday to Wednesday, when he is with nanny Tracy and the other two boys (four-year-old Charlie and his little brother two-year-old Ollie), one of his favourite activities is chasing Charlie and hugging or jumping on him. Charlie is usually pretty sweet with Kirin, but after one long day, he couldn't take it any more and, in the desperate voice of a sweet and exhausted child, pleaded to Tracy: "I can't cuddle him any more. I'm tired and I just gave him a cuddle. Please let me have a break."

Suffocating by love.