Thank you, Darth Vader!

At their Halloween parade at daycare, one of the other fathers showed up dressed as Darth Vader.

The girls have never seen Star Wars, and didn't know who Darth Vader was. But something about the mask impressed them, because all week they've been walking around the house saying, "Thank you, Darth Vader!" in low, growling voices.

The Candy Organizing Gene

All children must be born with a gene that instinctively teaches them how to dump out their bucket of Halloween candy and sort it into little piles.

How else do you explain me finding Caroline, without any prior instructions, in our living room doing this:

Caroline sorting her loot.

Here are some more photos from Halloween night:

We work hard for our candy in the Lim household.

Even all the free candy tonight didn't sway Katherine's opinion that Halloween means a LOT of walking.

Our conversation toward the end of the evening:

Katherine: "Daddy?"

Me: "Yes?"

Katherine: "Can you pick me up?"

Me: "No, honey. If you want to get the candy, you have to walk up to the door."

(We walk in silence for a few feet)

Katherine: "Daddy?"

Me: "Yes?"

Katherine: "Is Halloween done yet? I'm tired."

Things Kids Say

Last weekend I went into Radio Shack to buy a watch battery. The girls came in the store with me.

The store was empty, and quiet.

The man working at the register was a "bit" large.

The girls looked at him, turned to me, and shouted, "He's gonna have a baby!"

I was shocked that he still sold me the battery.

Sing along if you like.

We have fun at our house. Here's proof:

Perspective

We took the old Pack 'N Play crib out of storage last week to lend it out. The girls of course had no memory of the Pack 'N Play, but enjoyed playing with it nonetheless.

Watching the girls climb in and out of the crib with general ease made me realize with shock and horror just how quickly our "babies" are growing up.

I sifted through my photos of the girls and found a photo from January 15, 2006 (5 months old) to compare and contract with the current photo taken August 20, 2008 (36 months old).

To get a full appreciation of how big the girls have gotten, keep in mind that in both photos:

1. The Pack 'N Play is exactly the same size.
2. Big Bird is the same guy in both photos.

January 15, 1006 - 5 Months Old.

August 20, 2008 - 36 Months Old.

Click on either photo for a larger view.

Don't Take My Macaroni!

Two nights ago, Caroline started crying and screaming. I went into her room, and she was sitting up in bed, eyes closed, screaming, "Don't take my macaroni!"

When I tried to pick her up to sooth her, she began hitting me (eyes still closed), crying, "I want my macaroni! I want my macaroni!"

There were three interesting observations I made even though it was 3 a.m.:

• Caroline LOVES to eat. Even though she is smaller than Katherine, she packs down her food at almost every meal. That evening for dinner, she had polished off a big bowl of Kraft mac 'n cheese, so I wasn't convinced she was hungry.
• During waking hours, Caroline never refers to it as "macaroni". We all refer to it as "mac 'n cheese".
• For bedtime, Caroline had read the book, "Yankee Doodle", which of course, uses the word "macaroni".

So even though I was fairly certain Caroline was not talking about mac 'n cheese, we nonetheless heated up a bowl of mac 'n cheese. Caroline ate one bite, then promptly climbed back into bed and fell asleep. I'm not sure she ever fully woke up.

I guess we'll never know, but I wonder what Caroline was dreaming about. Yankee Doodle? A big bowl of mac 'n cheese? Daddy witholding food from her? It's a mystery!