Dear Kate

Dear Kate,

It’s been a while since Mommy wrote to you and I’ve been wanting to, but just not had the time to do so. You are such a joy nowadays! I mean, you’ve always been our lovely princess but with your rapid developments, it’s such a joy to be with you. You are sooo chatty (I’ve always known that your strength is in your speech) and it’s amusing and amazing to hear some things that you spout! When we play masak masak, we get berated when we eat with our hands “NO NO NO cannot use hands!”, you ask us “Mummy, what you want?” and decide what you wish to prepare for us “I cooking porridge ok? OK!”. You imitate the things we say and you also string together words on your own so that they make sense and it’s truly fun that we’re able to talk to each other.

You are terribly stubborn (!!) and that is a pain to deal with. You’ll whine and cry to get your way, refuse to do things when we tell you to if you do not wish to and you’ll rather suffer some smacks than give in! Such stubborn-ness in a tiny 2-year-old is just too much! You’re definitely a character and I can only hope that over time, we’ll keep teaching you the right thing to do and some day, you’ll learn that being stubborn does not always pay off; that there are ways to get about it so that life is smoother and better for you and others.

While it’s true that you never had to share with anyone most of your life, I believe it’s part of development that you are possessive. But having said that, you do need to learn how to share. It really annoys me to see you snatch toys, or take everything that another child touches. This mostly happens at home when cousin Lukas comes over, and I can only imagine how much more touché you may be with your little brother. However, you do understand the concept of waiting your turn – when we go to the playground, you know that you have to share the swing/slide and if it’s occupied, you’ll say “must wait!”

What really impresses me is that you have this sweet, understanding, empathetic side that really melts my heart. You know it when you’re being told off and you astutely feign ignorance and attempt to distract us. When we tell you that we’re sad, you tell us “don’t be sad, be happy”. The other night, I cried and you looked at me and said “you cry? Why you cry? Don’t cry!” And darling you then gave me a tight hug and said “Kate hug Mummy you happy?” You don’t like to see others sad/cry and it affects you. When you know that Nainai is unwell and unable to carry you, you tell her “No, Nainai cannot carry me” when Nainai asked if you wanted to be carried. Such an understanding girl – this sort of behaviour just melts my heart, goes to show what a sweetheart you are. Generally, I think you’re quite a ‘people-person’ and I like to think that you inherited those genes from me!

In line with the sweet girl that you are, you have been great with baby Jake. From very early on, you’d reacted pretty fine when we asked if you wanted a baby brother/sister. You don’t seem to grasp the concept of a baby boy/girl yet but you aways respond with a “yes” each time. Over the months, you seem to have adjusted well to the idea of my growing belly. You join me in my nightly ritual of “sayang-ing didi” (when I put on my anti-stretch mark cream) “I also want to sayang didi”; though you get confused and say “I sayang baby” when we put moisturizer on you! (hah) You are a doll and agree whenever we ask you to “talk to didi”. You speak to my tummy and by now, you know that didi is called “Jake”. I try to involve you further, by asking you if you will help me: “if didi cries next time, help me sayang him ok?” and you always respond positively. It really makes me very happy that you’re so loving and welcoming of our little addition to the family.

You’ve grown so independent and I know that you’re ready for school. We have enrolled you and December will be your last month of carefree life, before you begin school (for the next 20 years!) starting January 2012. You can eat on your own, put on your socks and shoes on your own, you can walk and run and play on your own and you're also pretty much toilet-trained! (Safe for some minor accidents)… you’re truly what they call in Mandarin a “small big person” (mini adult).

Our next few months ahead will be terribly exciting – first up is our Hanoi holiday over Christmas, and we’ll be moving into our new home in the next two months too; you’ll begin school in January and we’ll celebrate Chinese New Year; in Feb we ought to be more settled in our new home and routine and we then welcome Jake in March. Exciting times ahead!

The other night, we went through some old videos of you off Facebook and it's amazing to see how much you have developed through these months. You really bring so much joy to our lives, dear Kate and I truly love you with all my heart. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have you as my princess, and I cannot imagine life without you.

Love, Mommy