September 4/12
Dear Cadence,
Thank you so much for spending 7 hours with Deon and me. It was such a great time being with you which I am sure is because of the bonding we had during our Tofino and Kelowna weekend trips this summer.
I will forever keep in my heart the special moments we had together:
I fetched you from your dad’s home at noon after we (who is “we”?) had Pho together on Granville Street in Richmond. We then went to get Deon’s “eye braces” at the optometry office. I went in to get my eyes tested while Deon was being trained on how to wear his contact lens. I asked if you were OK with staying in the waiting area alone and guard my purse for me. You said “yes” and you sat perfectly still on the chair next to my purse for 15 minutes waiting patiently till I came back out. (Impressive for a 4-year old to sit still that long.)
Then,we went to Parker Place Food Court to meet up with Auntie San for snacks. I introduced you to the “papaya milk with coconut jelly” and to my surprise, you finished half of the cup. LOL. I then bought you some “little egg tarts” and you really liked it so I gave Deon money to go back and get you 3 more of the “Hello Kitty-shaped Egg Tarts.” You ate 1 of the 3 only because you said you wanna save 2 for mommy and daddy…. (awww… how sweet!)
Just before leaving Parker Place, we decided to go on the car ride (the one where we put in a loonie for it to work for a few minutes). You seemed to enjoy that very much too!
Next, we went grocery shopping because we decided to go home and make rice crispy square since I recalled you liked those the last time you were over at my house when I made some. I asked you how many pieces do you want then you said “2 but you want to take 5 pieces home for your mommy, daddy, Lucas and your 2 grandmas.” (How sweet and generous of you!)
We ended up going to 3 different grocery shops because seeing how bright your eyes glow when you got my OK to buy the snacks you picked just melted my heart. At the end of the grocery shopping, while we were in the car on our way home, you said “We had so much fun today, right little yee ma?” LOL. Then I said “Yeah, we sure did. So let’s do it again soon.” Then, you told me you want to come back on Thursday to do the same thing again and then to sleep over. I told you I want to take you travelling when you turn 10 and you said, “That will be so much fun.” LOL.
We got home at 4:30pm. I gave you your milk so you can start your afternoon nap. By 5:30pm, you got woken up by the itchiness on your body. You kept on scratching yourself till you bleed. It killed my heart to witness that. I held you tight and started massaging you with lotion but which seemed to help a only a little bit. Now I understand why your mom doesn’t think I can handle you sleeping over because your itchiness level is triple at night time and you would wake up every 2 to 3 hours throughout the night because of it…. ☹
We got to Auntie Pandora’s at 7pm and you seemed to have fun playing with the Happy (the dog). Your dad then came to pick you up at 7:15pm. Just as you heard the doorbell ring, you gave me a goodbye hug and told me you would come back on Thursday for a sleepover…. ☺
It is really my goal to take you travelling when you turn 10. I want to spend more alone time with you and to experience the world with you. I was thinking of you a lot during my 7 months of travelling with Deon last year and I am fantasizing how wonderful it would be if you and I can have a similar experience….
I have no doubt in my mind that you will grow up to be an amazing lady, Cadence. I am convinced that you will be the first among all of us to learn that true beauty comes from the inside. You are very independent as reflected by your behaviour all day. I heard you say things like “I am a big girl. I can do it myself” including getting in and out of the car or carrying your own snacks. You were so polite to say “please” and “thank you” all the time. You are so thoughtful to remember what my favorite snack was even though I only showed it to you once while we were grocery shopping in Tofino and that was two months ago. You told me “the round yellow cookies” then I told you it’s called “Ritz” then you said you will remember the name next time…
Time spent with you today is very precious to me and I look forward to spending more time with you whenever I am back in Vancouver…. ☺
With much love
Auntie Amy