Toddler Hilariously Calls Her Triplet Grandpa's Brother 'Another Papa' in Viral TikTok: 'I Was Not Expecting It' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

From left: Naomi and her grandfather Leslie Lai Hing.Photo:Leah Lai Hing

Leah Lai Hing

Leah Lai Hing had no clue that aTikTokhighlighting her 3-year-old niece’s adorable confusion would ignite such a reaction — but it did.

“I was not expecting it at all. Not at all. I don’t think any of us were,” Lai Hing, 33, tells PEOPLE.

With over 16 million views and 2 million likes, the viral clip showed young Naomi sweetly trying to guess which relative was her grandpa after he stood next to one of his identical triplet brothers.

The family had gathered at a cousin’s funeral in Georgia, in late August, when Naomi’s mom Javon Gordon says that she initially asked why there were “two” grandpas.

“I was like, ‘Oh, this is a perfect moment to record her and try to see [if] she can distinguish between who is her grandfather and who is her uncle,’ " she says. “So we recorded and we just asked her, ‘Who’s in front of you, and who’s that next to you?' And she just said, ‘[Another] papa.’ "

From left: Leslie Lai Hing and his brother Lenny.TikTok

TikTok

But the playful dynamic between the family was not new, according to Gordon. It’s just something grandpa Leslie and his brothers have “always done with the grandkids,” the 39-year-old mom adds. “This is just the first time we actually caught a reaction.”

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Leslie says that “a lot of people” used to confuse him and his brothers because they “are identical.” The three “were like peas in a pod” while growing up together in their native Trinidad, he says.

And even though the brothers now live in different parts of the U.S., Leslie tells PEOPLE they still keep in close touch with each other.

From left: Leslie Lai Hing and Naomi.Leah Lai Hing

Leah, who goes back and forth between New York and North Carolina — where Javon and her daughter live — says the family tries to make the most out of spending as much time together. Even if that means at a funeral.

“Sometimes it’s not something we would want to get together for, but we had to,” Leah says.

For now, Javon shares that she just wants Naomi’s connection with her “papa” to continue.

She says, “I just hope they continue to grow together and she remembers these moments that she has with him.”

source: people.com