From the mouths of babes

Last weekend, Yang and Angelo brought their just-turned-7 son Joaquin to our village to go trick-or-treating. I joined them to get some (much-needed) exercise and to serve as navigator (a navigator who lost her bearings), and afterwards we all headed to my house to rehydrate and rest our weary feet. My parents happened to be home, and because they hadn't seen Joaquin since he was a toddler, they were bowled over to see how big he's gotten.

Then a cute thing happened as my mom was ushering the Quimsons into our lanai so Joaquin could watch TV. My mom was saying something, when Joaquin, looking up at her, suddenly told her, with the kind of innocent candor only a child has, "You laugh like Tita Ailee." My mom and I exchanged a look of amused surprise, and laughed our supposedly similar laugh. We have heard many people remark on how we look alike (although I actually resemble my dad), how we're built alike, how we sound alike, how we act alike, but this was the first time anyone's ever commented on how we laugh alike. I don't know if it's because a 7-year-old has keener perception, or if a child simply observes different things from adults. Whatever the case, it was a refreshing, unexpectedly touching moment, and even the day after it had my mom and me still smiling over it.

Speaking of things that make me laugh and smile, I am ridiculously hooked on How I Met Your Mother (Hanks and I are on Season 3 now), and I am madly crushing on Barney (yeah, I know he's a sleaze, so what)/Neil Patrick Harris (yeah, I know he's gay, so what). Here are 2 awesomely adorable videos I found on YouTube, to make all of you smile too: