I couldn't be any prouder as a parent based on our weekend.

I took the kids and myself to our annual eye check up: Gerard's second and Aubrey's first. Aubrey was a bit difficult to examine, but doctor got a decent look at her, and said everything looks good based on that. We will try again next year!

Gerard did very well. At first, he was hesitant to have his eyes photographed by an assistant. So doctor took him in right away as they had techniques for younger patients. He had to show doctor which directions the hands were pointing. That was cute. 

Later that afternoon, Gerard and I had dental appointments. He did very, very well. Our dentist was very glad to have a patient like him at that age -- she said that he was very cooperative and he was. He let her clean his teeth without a fuss. It helped a whole lot that I had him sit in the corner and watch me while I was being worked on. 

I forget which doctor it was now who commented that he had very good speech at his age. We try not to speak in baby tongue to either child. It works.

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Lately, we've been having to correct Gerard in saying his name. He switches speaking in 1st and 3rd persons, and when he does 3rd, he tends to say his name as "Jard" or "Jad." i.e. "Jard want that" -- to which we ask immediately: "what's your name?" He would then respond with, "Gerard. Not Jid." Cute! But now he's been playing games with us. He tells us his name is Jid. 

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This morning, Aubrey was crying her usual for her morning milk. I tried to calm her down by saying "come on, girl!" while her papa got up to prepare a bottle. She eventually stopped crying and started to mimic me with her own version of "come on, girl!" I love her. 

our trash can says a lot about something

It has come to my attention that our bathroom trash can fills up on the same day of any given week. 

This only tells me one thing: we lead very routine lives. The kids' diaper changes are always on-point, as is all our bathroom activities. Nothing is out of step here, folks. All of these happen at a certain time throughout the day everyday.

So opposite of how I envisioned my future to be only 10 years ago!! 

Our Halloween!

We had a typical Halloween weekend, but some moments are absolutely worth sharing!

On Friday, I brought Gerard to work with me, while Aubrey spent a "lady day" with Grandma. We were having a Halloween party at work, and I thought Gerard would enjoy being in his costume and seeing my colleagues in theirs. I rented Thomas & Friends DVD's to keep him occupied at my desk but that didn't work well because after the first disc, he didn't want to watch any of it at all. So some of my kind co-workers brought him around to collect candy.

By the time our party started, he got sleepy (it was already past his usual naptime). He wasn't impressed with anything, and he eventually fell asleep in his "uncle" Joe's arms and then I took over carrying him. Then we had an afternoon merienda in which he enjoyed some porridge and beer (Sprite).

Aubrey, from what Grandma says, had a great time herself. She is always ever the social bee that wants to be out and seeing people! She supposedly picked up a new habit of bending sideways and popping up her head while she accompanied Grandma to work for a couple of hours.

On Saturday, Grandma and I took the kids to California Academy of Sciences in their costumes (by the way, Gerard was Indiana Jones and Aubrey was Cinderella). Aubrey was so excited that she was basically jumping in her stroller and screaming with joy. I had the parental task of chasing Gerard around who was also hyper and ran in every direction without a drop.

On Sunday, we realized there was a mouse problem in the house so we had to stay put and clean up a little while papa did some groceries. But by afternoon, we packed up and heard mass at St. Dominic's Church, then trick or treated in the area on Fillmore Street. There wasn't a mass of kids, but enough kids were out getting candy from businesses that were still open.

It was a very exhausting weekend for me, but I'm so happy both kids got a great Halloween experience.