I learned at Parent/Teacher conference on Friday that you pretty much memorized this book, Aidan. Ms. Kwong says that you would sometimes sit by her during circle and ‘read’ louder than her and your classmates will look at you instead of her. She joked with me that she had a thought, “Maybe I’ll let Aidan teach the class”. It’s so cute to see you grow up and your interest become more and more apparent to me. You are SUCH a boy. This is innate since I am sure your Dad and I do little to promote it in you and in your princess sister. You like pirates, ghosts (even though you’re afraid of them, you’re drawn to them), bats, spiders, frogs.

…hopes you all had a fun and safe Halloween this year! (At least that’s what they’d say if they didn’t have lollipops in their mouths!) Oh, what a difference a year makes. Last year they had absolutely no candy. This year, they each ate 3 lollipops in the entire course of trick or treating! =)

To Aidan and Brooke:

This year, Mommy planned on making you Thing 1 and Thing 2 from the Cat in the Hat. Our visit to see cousin Riley and Mom’s profound skill of procrastination ensured that this would not happen. So we ended up wearing the costume Di Tu got Brooke as a backup. But what about Aidan? Mom took the shirt originally for Thing 1 and made it into Grumpy’s shirt. Then I got you some brown sweatpants from Target and some fleece from Joann’s glued onto an old baseball cap became Grumpy’s hat. Sorry if you feel that Mommy ripped you off compared to Brooke’s elaborate costume but to be honest, love, you hate wearing anything that does not feel like clothes. So you brought it on yourself, if you ask me. Plus, I hand crafted your costume…that’s love. :)

You both had a great Halloween this year. A little timid to start. The first couple of houses had to come up to you to give you candy. But once you both realized candy was involved, you had no problem walking up to doors by yourself. You said “Trick or Treat” to get your candy and said “Happy Halloween” as you left. We only went for an hour, but I’m sure in toddler time, that’s like 3 hours. Yeh yeh and Gu Jie went with us but your Dad was able to beat the traffic and go with you at the last couple of houses.

When we got back, a few neighbors rung our doorbell. I asked Brooke to help give candy to the neighbors. It only took one time, and you were hooked. I’ll admit I was nervous that you wouldn’t like the idea of ‘giving candy away’ but you loved it…maybe more than trick-or-treating yourself!

After a while, your sweet aunt and father started scoping out the neighborhood to make sure kids come to our house so you both can give out candy. It was a hilarious night. I think we had as much fun as you kids did. If you two had a good time, then our job is done.

Love you,
Mommy

We went to Tanaka Farms a couple weeks ago with the Le family. Took some cute photos of the kids and let them run around. It’s amazing how much energy kids under 4 have!

My pumpkins

Kickin’ it with cousin Nathan

We went to get our flu shots today before visiting cousin Riley in DC next weekend. The kids did great. Aidan marched right in and stepped on the scale himself – 28 pounds. The nurse then checked his temperature as we explain to him what’s going on. Right after he says, “How about Brooke?!” So Brooke got on the scale – 24 pounds…a 4 pounds difference!

Brooke went first for shots. I planned it out to get stickers and their “first” lollipop ready for the aftermath (I’ll explain the quotes around ‘first’ later). Brooke hugged me on my lap and I explained to her she’ll feel a fast ouchie then they’ll put a cute circle bandage on her (If you know Brooke, you’ll know she’s obssessed with bandages). She didn’t even shed a tear! I opened her first lollipop and put her in a seat.

Aidan came in with Mike and I told him to look at what a big girl Meimei is and how she got a lollipop from the doctor. Once the nurse touched him, it was like a tsunami siren…I think every office can hear him. He was so upset, it didn’t matter that Mommy already peeled off this beautiful blue lollipop waiting for him. He held it and cried and kept saying, “OUCHIE!” which broke everybody’s heart. To add drama to the effect, he started saying, “The doctor did it! The doctor ouchie me!” After a couple of minutes of this, Aidan finally put the lollipop in his mouth (the nurses cheered…hahaha). What a wonderful concoction this sugar stick is! He stopped crying instantly and changed the story to, “The doctor gave lollipop to me”.

We leave the office and head to the car. Brooke puts the lollipop to the side of her mouth and examines her stickers. Mike says to me, “Wow. It’s like they’ve done this before.” So suspiciously, I asked them, “Did you have a lollipop before?” And both said, “Yes”. Me: “Did Mahmah give it to you?” Both: “Yes.”

Being a good son, Mike tested it,
“Wait. Did Suksuk give it to you”
Nods no.
“Gi Jie?”
Nods no.
“Mahmah?” Nods Yes…

We both started cracking up and will definitely let Grandma know she got ratted out…again!

So that’s why I quoted “first”. Apparently this isn’t their first lollipop…

Excerpt from IM between Mike and me after he dropped off the kids:
Michael Lam: they finished their
Michael Lam: lollipops
Thi Ngo: WHAT?!
Thi Ngo: LOL
Michael Lam: before we even got to
Michael Lam: school
Thi Ngo: how is that even possible?
Thi Ngo: hahaha
Thi Ngo: geez.
Michael Lam: lick,, lick, crunch, crunch, all done
Michael Lam: haha
Thi Ngo: LOL
Thi Ngo: the worst
Thi Ngo: they’ll need a good teeth brushing tonight for sure

This video has absolutely no substance regarding content…and at the same time, it has EVERYTHING.

This is just a glance of my blessing with twins. They are definitely each other’s best friend and can entertain themselves over nothing. Here I have no idea what’s so funny and they never let me in on the joke. I guess it’s an inside joke (toddler style). But it still doesn’t stop my heart from warming every time I watch it.

On Sunday, the kids stayed with Mahmah so Daddy & Gu Jie could play badminton. Afterwards, the three of us went to dinner and got back by 6pm. Mahmah just made them dinner so we sat around and watched them eat their rice. Randomly, Aidan turns to his Dad, “Daddy, I eat chocolate today.” I looked confusely at him, “Who gave you chocolate, Aidan?”

Aidan: “Mahmah. She gave to me!”

I looked at my mother-in-law and she didn’t even look at me. She looked at Aidan and said,
“Caucau! You give Mahmah trouble!”

We all just started cracking up. The rest of the night, Mahmah kept sighing and saying, “Don’t do anything you don’t want people to know in front of them!” Haha.

We put the kids to bed and Mike walked by me and nonchalantly kissed me on his way out. We didn’t think anything of it until we hear a little voice:

Brooke: “AAAWWEEeee!”

Mike and I started cracking up! Caught!

I said to her, “You’re embarrassing, Brooke!”

She giggled and laid her head down. Funny girl.

Driving home from Mahmah’s house Aidan noticed that there were no stars tonight.

Me: “You’re very observant, Aidan”
Aidan: “I’m not a Zurg!”

(For you who don’t know, Zurg is the bad guy robot from Toy Story)

The kids are fully transitioned into toddler beds. I’ve been waiting for days and it finally happened.
Mike and I were downstairs watching TV and we heard a loud THUD come from upstairs. I waited for it…strange, no crying. Mike ran up to check it out. He was standing at the top of the stairs making sure he was unnoticed. He snuck back down and confirmed that Aidan did fall out of his new bed. But, by the time Mike got up there, he witness a half-awake/half-asleep Aidan climbing back in and putting his head on his pillow. What a good boy!