A-Ma Ding, A-Gong Ding, Atticus and Skyler

By KEVIN DING

I had time this afternoon to put together the following photo montage from my parents' camera -- compiled from February through June -- because Sedona and Maven were over at my parents' house, where they so often are and always have a good (food-filled) time.

The most recent videos I posted were a slice of the fun the girls have with my parents; these photos are sort of the rest of the pie. I hope the images contribute to the girls remembering many years from now how connected they were as little ones with my parents.

There's also one shot in there of my sister and her kids in the pool with us at her house. Sedona's affection for Atticus and Skyler, even though they are only seen periodically, is surprisingly strong. She brought them up the other night while we were reading her favorite two books -- Richard Scarry animal books gifted by Kris, actually, because we had the same books at home when she and I were growing up -- in Sedona's normal bedtime routine.

We don't usually just "read" the books; it's more like we look for things or discuss issues, with Sedona so often hatching her own commentary or simply asking: "What's ..." to evoke discussions. The times we sit together and read are truly some of my favorite times ever. Anyway, I pointed to three animals playing on a carousel in the book and asked Sedona if she could pick anyone in the world, whom would she pick to play with her. She said: "Atticus and Skyler." I said, "Really? Atticus and Skyler?" She said: "They are my cousins!"

She had just come from my parents' house, so I said, "What about A-Ma Ding and A-Gong Ding?" And Sedona paused and pointed to some open space on the carousel between the three animals and said: "They can sit there. There's room for them there." For the next three nights, I asked similar questions regarding with whom Sedona wanted to play "Ring Around the Rosie" or tug-of-war, based on the pictures in the book. Each time, she said: "Atticus and Skyler" ... with the follow-up refrain to explain: "They are my cousins."

Final notes: We've expanded the photo images to the largest size for better viewing. And we've re-opened the voting for the polls to the right about whom the girls most resemble; there seems to be a lot of opinion changing on that front in recent times.