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

Aidan's BFF

Dear Logan,

Remember your brother's best friend, Jia Jia, from CCLC?  Her mother called me up and said Jia Jia misses Aidan.  So we set-up a playdate and met today.  We headed over to Jia Jia's house, and the two of them played like they have never been separated.  Wasn't that cool?  In reality, Aidan hasn't seen Jia Jian since the end of July.  In the beginning, your brother was more into the toys in the house than actually playing with Jia Jia.  But after a little warm up, they were acting silly as usual.  I wonder how long this friendship will last.  If Jia Jia and her mother are willing, I would love to keep this friendship going.  It doesn't hurt that us mommies also seemed to get along pretty well.

Oh, since it's pre-Halloween, we decorated a few pumpkins for you.  I used a sharpie and drew out some silly things on the miniature pumpkins.  Aidan wanted to participate and drew a smiley face for you.  At first, I thought I would bring them all to you.  But after some thought, I worried there wouldn't be enough room.  So, I asked Aidan to select two to bring them to you.  Guess which ones he picked?  He didn't pick his smiley face.  Instead he picked Mickey Mouse/Minnie Mouse (each character on one side of the pumpkin) and the little ghosts.  We all know he likes Mickey and Minnie.  I think he also likes the word "BOO!", that's why he picked that one.  We will be bringing them to you tomorrow before we head out to Happy Hollow for our Halloween date with the Cheung's!

Miss you,
Mommy

What a Surprise! You got your door!

Dear Logan,

Did you like the little pumpkin that we left for you? We decorated it with the stickers that your brother got from his goody bag at school, and the rubber ducky and the spider ring were also from the goody bag. We were SO surprised to see your new door. I didn't get a phone call, or email, notifying us that it's ready. That's why when your brother visited you today, he couldn't find you! Then Daddy noticed that your new door has arrived. I was glad that it came right on time, and actually earlier than expected. However, it also sealed the deal. It solidifies the reality that you're really no longer here with us.

Today is Halloween, and we had such a fun, and busy day. But first off, before we came to see you, we went to get our flu shots. We spent the night down in Sunnyvale, just so that we could get up early and head to Kaiser for our flu shots. This is the only Kaiser in the area that opens on Saturday for flu shots from 9-4 p.m. We missed it last week, so we specifically planned to be there today. Your brother immediately recognized the hospital was where you stayed. He still remembered you were there and spoke about it. When Mommy tried to tell him the plan for the day, I usually liked to say, Number 1 ...... , Number 2......, Number 3..... Today, he said this himself, "No. 1 get shot, No. 2 see Logan, No. 3 bouncy house". Just because we're at the same hospital, that's why he put you as No. 2. Your brother never forgets about you. He still remembers you, but unfortunately, it seems likes his last memories of you were the visits at the hospital.

Mommy has been super busy with work and with the move. I actually haven't been too emotional lately when thinking about you. Trust me, I still miss you a lot, especially, when I see other babies that are around your age. The pain is still there, I am just too busy to feel it right now.


Miss you,
Mommy

Happy Halloweeny... Arrggghhh...

This is Dan Dan first year of trick-or-treating and also daddy and mommy's first. If I had done this before, I would have planned it better. Luckily, he's still too young to understand what this is all about and won't blame me for the uneventful trick-or-treating.



We planned to take Dan dan to Tanforan Mall to go TOT because he's so cold outside. Thinking the mall would be a safe and warmer alternative. Unfortunately, mommy had a late meeting at work and by the time I picked him up at daycare and get to the mall, it's almost 6 p.m. All the stores were out of candies and we only got THREE candies out of all whole mall (even though this is not a big mall). Mang.. that's horrible! Thank goodness, Dan Dan didn't know any better and he wasn't very into it anyways. When we got home after dinner, it was already 7:30 p.m. and it's getting cold. Daddy would definitely not let me take Dan Dan out and I was too tired anyways. So we stayed home and gave out candies for 30 mins before Dan Dan's shower and bedtime routine.


Luckily, because of the mid-day doctor's appointment, I had Dan Dan with me most of the day until I dropped him off at day care at around 2:30 p.m. There's a Halloween party at work and I brought him with me and showed up his little pirate outfit. Of course everyone said he's a cutie pie, and my staff got to meet him for the first time. Since I work at a different office now, my other co-workers haven't seen Dan Dan in a long time. It's nice for them to see and play with him again, even though we didn't stay for long. Instead of partying, Dan Dan was mostly interested in playing with all the cabinets, doors and drawers. At least Dan Dan wore his pirate costume all day!

Bye Bye Paci!

Last night was the second night in a row that DanDan slept through the night without a pacifier. I am so glad he is able to cut it out of his life just like that. He actually has been pretty good with his pacifier, using it only when he sleeps. But still, after hearing horror stories, I'm glad this is an easy one for me. No paci fairies, no donating paci to poor children, just plain cold turkey! I am so proud of him!

DanDan has been talking a lot more even though we're unable to make out of the sounds coming out of his mouth. It's funny how he likes to talk in our ears or face when we're sleeping. Like he wants to whisper some secrets to us. He's still as musical as ever. Especially now that his mouth is not being shut by a paci, when he lies down in bed at night, he would sing for a little while before falling asleep. In the morning, instead of quietly waiting for us to get him, he would be saying "ma ma" and talking to himself loudly. It's all broadcasted through the baby monitor. Even though I know he's not saying "ma ma" to call me his room, it still motivates me a little more to go in his room early in the morning to fetch him.

I am thinking about what to dress him up for Halloween. I really want to get him an airline pilot outfit since he's been obsessed with airplanes in the sky. We live close to the airport and we see airplane very often. But I can't seem to find a 18-24-month outfit. They are either 18 months, or 2T-4T. Gotta keep searching. Or maybe I should just get different pieces separately, so that he can actually re-wear the shirt or pants or jacket after Halloween.

Ah, my boy is growing up so fast.