Thanksgiving 2010

Dear Logan,

Thanksgiving came and left.  I couldn't believe we're heading into December really soon.  We had a lovely Thanksgiving Dinner at Uncle Paul and Auntie Rachel's house last night.  I think it has slowly become a tradition for us to spend Thanksgiving with them.  This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for my wonderful family and friends, and relatively good health for everyone.

As mentioned, we were at The Lamberts last night for their annual Thanksgiving dinner with friends, starting early at 2 p.m.  They usually had their dinner super early, as friends came early, ate, talked, played, ate and then left.  It's an all-afternoon event.  Unfortunately, Daddy is on-call this whole week from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m., so he pretty much worked the whole time we were at Uncle Paul and Auntie Rachel's house. Luckily, he could still be a part of the gathering, and had some delicious food.  And, some of his co-workers were at the dinner, so if he had any work questions, he could ask them right there!  The weather has become increasingly cold.  It was super cold last night when we were out in the backyard and patio.  Uncle Paul had to set up his two heat lamps outside, so that he could offer more room for his guests to congregate.  There were so many people, it was difficult for everyone to be inside the house.

Guess what I did last night after your brother went to bed?  I joined the Black Friday shopping madness at ToysRUs!!!  I knew it would be crazy, but I figured this year since they're starting at 10 p.m.instead of 5 a.m., I could just go after your brother went to bed.  And I guess many people thought the same way I did, as there were so many people.  I got there 5 minutes before 10 p.m., and the line went all around the store.  I saw many families with young children, and felt bad for the kids for being dragged out late at night to join the madness in such cold weather.  When inside the store, I could barely go through some aisles because they were packed with people waiting in line for check out.  The check-out lines curved all around the store.  I managed to grab a few "good" deals, I think, for the kids.  I got a bed tent for your brother, but it wasn't really his main present.  It's just something I think he might enjoy.  Guess how long it took for me to complete this whole shopping experience?  I got into the store at around 10:36 p.m., and finished shopping in less than an hour.  However, the check-out lines were CRAZY.  I started waiting in line at around 11 p.m., and it took me 1 hr and 45 mins to arrive at the cashier.  By the time I got home, it's already 1 a.m.

I would definitely not join this kind of madness again.  This will be my first and last Black Friday in-store experience.  I think I would rather pay a little more than to join all those enthusiastic shoppers.  Besides, I didn't really have any "must have" items that I wanted.  Today, I leisurely strolled around Target with Aidan, and I still managed to get some more "good deals".  The shopping season has only just begun.


Love you,
Mommy

Happy 2nd Birthday, Little Lobster!

Dear Logan,

Happy Birthday!  You're turning 2 today!  I can't believe you're 2 already.  It seems like not too long ago I was in the hospital, waiting for your arrival.  You were good to Mommy.  Only had to push for a while and then you came to this world.  Unfortunately, Mommy brought you to this world and you suffered throughout your life.

Even though you've been gone for over a year, whenever I see a child of your age, I imagine what you would be like if you're still around.  Daddy and Mommy have a couple friends with children around your age.  So, whenever I see the kids, I think of you.

How are those balloons?  I didn't get the chance to visit you yesterday to see if the latex balloons survived.  When we brought the balloons to you on Saturday, we saw 3 of the 5 latex balloons popped because of the grass.  No wonder when I did a quick scan around the area, I only saw the foil balloons and not the latex ones.  Now Mommy learned!

I put down your birthday in our little calendar posted on the fridge.  Today when I dropped Aidan off at school, he said, "Today is Logan's Birthday".  I was so proud of him that he remembered, even though he didn't check the calendar today.  At times when Aidan was looking at pictures and videos of you, he would tell me that he missed you.  I'm not sure if he fully understand the word "miss" but it doesn't matter.  He knows he has a little brother, and that's you.

We love and miss you so much.  I so wish you're here and I could throw you a big birthday party.

Love you,
Mommy

The "S" Word

Dear Logan,


Upon arriving to Aidan's school today for the International Potluck Party, your brother was happily playing with his friends, until it was time for the potluck.  I sat down with the other parents in the playground, after being ordered by your brother that I shouldn't just stand there and watch, but to sit down with all the other daddies and mommies.  When it's time for food, I headed over to Aidan and saw him holding a teacher's hand.  Then I was told that Aidan needed to hold on to his teacher for 2 minutes.  I immediately knew that he did something wrong and was having a little 'time-out'.  I patiently waited for the 2 minutes to be over, and then approached them.  Teacher told me that she had to tell Aidan a few times today not to hit his friends but to use his words to express frustrations.  He is still learning to express his frustrations with words, instead of crying or hitting.  Teacher said she also talked to the other boys.

When I asked him why he hit his friends.  He answered:

"M called me stupid and I didn't like that".

I literally was speechless for one second, amazed that four-year-olds knew how to use that word already.  I recovered for a minor shock, and continued with my speech about not using his hands, that it's never ok to hit, and to tell his friends that he didn't like them using that word.  I wasn't sure if Aidan told the teacher this and I couldn't see the teacher's reaction, so I wasn't sure if she was as surprised as I was.  But she did encourage Aidan to tell the teachers if something like this happened again.

On our drive home, I reminded Aidan again to never hit anyone.  I told him to tell his friends that he didn't like being called that, and to tell his teachers about it.  I asked him if he knew what "stupid" meant, but I don't think he did.  He only knew that it was a 'bad' word from playing an online Martha Speaks game on PBS Kids.  He recalled being that "stupendous" was good, but "stupid" was bad.

When we went home, we told Daddy about what happened.  I had him tell me about what he should tell his friends if such an incident occur again.

Boys.  Definitely need more time to mature and learn to control and express emotions more appropriately.  But then, Aidan is not even 5 years old.  Expecting him to be mature is a little unrealistic, right?

I know I am always mindful of the words that I use around Aidan.  I don't think I've ever used the word "stupid" to describe anything in front of him.  But that doesn't mean he won't learn it anywhere else.  I just want him to be a little boy for a little longer.  He's growing up too fast.


Love,
Mommy

Fun and Event-filled Halloween!

Dear Logan,

Wow.. what a busy Halloween we had!  I was so tired yesterday that I slept from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.!

After visiting you and bringing you the two little pumpkins, we met up with Melanie, Uncle Kyle and Auntie Leonor at Happy Hollow for a "scare-free" Halloween!  It has got to be one of the warmest Hallweens I've had in a long time.  I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and sweating the whole afternoon in the sun.  Actually, I might have gotten a little sun burnt.  Your poor brother was so hot that I had to take off his inner shirt, and not put on the headpiece for his outfit.  He was wearing thick pants inside, and the elastics of his wings were too short and hurting him.  But after taking off all the uncomfortable garments, he was free and silly as usual.

There were so many kids at Happy Hollow.  It was really cute as almost all kids were dressed up.  I see many parents dressed up as well.  I don't think anyone has predicted such a warm day, as many kids dressed in pretty warm costumes, probably better suited for night time trick-or-treating.  We didn't collect a lot of candies, since most stations were giving out non-food items such as flower seeds, buttons, paper helicopter, etc.  Us adults wanted to hit all the trick-or-treat stations, but the kids had a mind of their own.  They didn't care about trick-or-treating.  They just wanted to go and have fun, and get on the rides.  I think this is especially true for your brother than Melanie.  We stayed a good 2.5-3 hours, and left after the 3 p.m. parade.  We were so tired that I almost wanted to give up and not head to Auntie Alex's house for dinner and trick-or-treat.  Aidan was so tired in the car, I thought he would fall asleep on our way home.

But after changing out his thick pants and rested for a little while, he was as energetic as ever.  Not sure if it's the apple juices that he had, or the excitement of going out, his energy level kept up high until he finally lay on his bed.  So, we headed over to the Higgins Residence and had a lovely dinner of ribs and sushi.  Interesting combination, right?  That's how diverse we are here!  Auntie Alex and Uncle Jasen got their Halloween decorations up and got ready for the kids after dinner.  When there was still light out, I took Aidan trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.  He was having fun and doing just great (even winning a game to get a prize), until he came to a house with some scarier decorations, a flying ghost and scary music.  Being the scaredy cat that he is, he immediately said he wanted to go home.  So, we went back and on our way stopped by several other houses.

When we got back, he assisted Uncle Jasen in giving out candies to the trick-or-treaters.  He was being such a good helper and was so proud of himself.  I think he enjoyed giving out candies more than collecting candies himself.  I persuaded him to leave and go home to give out candies instead.  Unfortunately, only one family stopped by (Daddy actually encouraged them to come by).  I think by then, Aidan was a little too tired to be disappointed in the lack of trick-or-treaters.  Maybe next year we should just stay home and give out candies.  Now, I have a whole bucket of lollipops in my house.

Halloween is over.  The next holiday up is Thanksgiving.  We're not quite sure what we'll be doing that weekend, esp. since daddy is on-call that whole week.  One thing for sure, we will probably going to have dinner at Uncle Paul and Auntie Rachel's house.  I think this is slowly becoming our annual tradition.


Love you,
Mommy