Kayla Dearest

She came. She conquered. My wife, my son Leslie and I easily surrender to her irresistible charm and fall hopelessly in love with her. I am talking about you, our dearest Kayla.

Your daddy, your mummy and you visited us in Miri on May 7 and stayed with us till May 19. A couple of months earlier, your daddy informed us about the planned trip to Miri and we had been looking forward very eagerly to it. When you emerged from the arrival hall at Miri Airport on May 7, my heart swelled with joy. I finally saw you in person, a long-awaited yearning finally realised!

But the twelve days went by far too soon. It was a true heartache to see you leaving us on May 19 on your way back to Sydney. When you were entering the departure hall at Miri Airport, you turned around with such a sad look on your face and said “grandpa.” Tears just welled up in my eyes.

On your flight from Miri to Singapore on May 19, you told your dad that you wanted to go home. You said you wanted mummy, daddy, grandma, grandpa and Uncle Leslie. We know how you feel, Kayla. We were also very sad to see you leaving us.

When I held you for the first time on May 7, it was an instantaneous love.  I didn’t know my heart could be so full of love. When you smiled at me for the first time, you owned me forever. From the first moment I held you in my hands, I realize that my life was about to change. You will make my world bigger and my life better by being in it.

During your 12-day stay in Miri, in addition to saying the words, “I love you,” we went all out  to make you feel cherished, adored, and loved. We spent  time with you, giving you undivided attention and focus. Often when you did something right, we said to you either “good girl Kayla” or  “good job Kayla.”  

The highlight of your stay in Miri was the Party With Kayla event hosted by your daddy and mummy at Pullman Hotel on May 13 from 4.30pm to 8.30 pm.  You got to meet your great grandmother, your great uncles and great aunties, your uncles and aunties and your cousins. Your mummy and daddy had planned well for the party from Australia. There was a sumptuous buffet dinner witlh a wide variety of food, local kuehs, free flow of coffee, tea, ice creams  and soft drinks. You and the other kids love the plastic air-blown slide.  You were still asking for the slide the next day.

Your great uncle and great aunties treated you to sumptuous dinners over 4 different nights. A big thank you to all of them!

It was a pity that during the period you were in Miri, the weather was scorchingly hot so we did not bring you out to the various parks and beaches in Miri. We brought you for a short visit to Miri Waterfront and Coco Cabana on May 14 which was also Mother’s Day. You were fascinated by the giant seahorse at Miri Waterfront. Sometimes on our way home, we purposely used the Lutong Beach route so that you could see the Lutong Beach. You would point at the sea and said “ocean.”

You love it when we get down to your level and play your games and toys with you. Your delightful and high-spirited nature can bring out the child in me. In your presence, I become  an antique little boy to play with you. All you have to do is get your toys out, and it’s game on. I love your squeals of hysterical laughters when we played our “hiccup” and “achoo” games. Before your arrival in Miri, your uncle Leslie had bought many toys from online stores for you but your favourites were the wooden fruits and vegetables toy set, a small kiddy piano, the Peppa watch, the kiddy handphone and the ball dart game set.  I adore your cuteness when we played your “cut cut” game with wooden knives and wooden pieces of fruits and vegetables held together by small magnets. You would pretend to eat the cut fruits and vegetables and say “sweet”, “smelly”, “sour”, or ”delicious” depending on what fruits or vegetables you were holding in your hand. When you wanted to play the ball dart game, you would approach me and say “ball ball.” I love your contagious laughter as we played the dart game.  As you played your kiddy piano, I wonder whether you would take up piano when you grow up.

You love to have us playing balloons with you. Our house, which is always very quiet, became very noisy as your laughters permeated the house. How I miss your laughters now!

You  enjoy watching baby shark videos and you would often sing the baby shark songs as you  watch the videos.  When you are  in a good mood, you love to sing. You often alter the words to suit the situation. One of your favourite songs is “Rain Rain Go Away.”

Rain, rain, go away
Come again some other day
We want to go outside and play
Come again some other day.

You would change the word “we” to “Kayla”, “mummy”, “daddy”, “grandma”, “grandpa’ or “uncle Leslie” on a rotational basis.

Reading together is a great way to bond with you. You seem to have inherited Grandpa’s love for reading. You love to say out loud the names of fruits, vegetables and animals when we point at pictures of these things in some of your books. You astound us with your vocabulary. Though you are only two, you can pronounce words like broccoli, capsicum, vegetables, carrots, tomato, potato, pumpkin, cucumber, garlic, eggplant, avocado, coconut, banana, circle, triangles, rectangles, square, racoon, elephant, crocodile, spider, panda bear, zebra, girrafe and lots more. You recognise shapes and all letters of the alphabet. I am truly impressed by your intelligence and wit.

Some of our happiest moments during the twelve days have been the occasions when you came to us for some cuddle and hugging. At times you crawled into my lap to read.

You would give us flying kisses from time to time and the way you express “ I love you” is to fold your hands across your chest.When you want to walk instead of being carried, you would say “walk walk.”  When you want to climb the stairs, you would say “climb climb.”

When you are in a supermarket, you love to touch the fruits and vegetables. On many ocassions when I carried you in some supermarkets, you would look at me and say “touch touch” and I always acceded to your requests, making you very happy.

At night, you always scan the sky for stars and moon.  Whenever you see a star, your face lights up and you would point at the star. Unfortunately during your stay in Miri, we never saw any moon at night.

You are a little cheeky girl. You can be a bit of a drama queen and exclaim “Oh No!” or “What should I do?”

You have a very healthy appetite. You love apples, pears, strawberries, pasta, soups, bread, rice, brocolli and chicken. You drink a lot of plain water and do not drink sugary drinks or sodas. When we visited toy shops, you never asked to buy any toys.  I am amazed at how disciplined you are.

We light up whenever you make your appearance. We welcome you by calling out your name and with big smiles on our faces. Often you would come running to us yelling “grandma” or  “grandpa” or “Uncle Leslie.”  Each time you call me grandpa, my heart seems to melt.

Dearest Kayla, when you were born two years ago, a part of Grandma’s and Grandpa’s hearts we never knew existed opened up with love for you. When we thought we were too old to fall in love again, you came into our lives. Becoming your grandparent has been one of the best things of our lives. By the time this blog article goes live on my blog, you will have just arrived back in Sydney from Singapore. Though you are so far away now, we hug you with our thoughts. We think of you every single moment, our little princess. Our love for you transcends all boundaries.

It has been said that a  granddaughter is one of the greatest blessings in the world. Grandma and Grandpa  totally agree with that. Having a granddaughter is the best thing about growing older. You are the epitome of our joy and love. We are so happy we got you in our lives. You are a most precious addition to our family. You are God’s way of filling our lives with laughter and happiness. You have brought so much joy to our hearts and light to our eyes. You are the greatest gift in our lives. Your smile magically lights up our days and makes us forget the worries we  have.

Dearest Kayla, whenever Grandma and Grandpa think about you being our granddaughter, we are filled with overwhelming pride and gratitude.  You are an amazing bundle of pure energy and you radiate hope and love. You have shown us that our hearts can hold an infinite amount of love. Oh Kayla dearest, how we love you!