Come Back Soon, Kong-kong!

How do you explain to a 2.5yo who asks "Where's Kong-kong??" nearly every day?

The house has indeed been quieter as Mathena does not yell for **"Gong-gong" anymore at the top of her lungs. And she doesn't go thumping up and down the stairs in search for "Gong-gong's" company. She's now stuck with plain old mom. Nomore hide-and-play-seek, nomore flicking the tv remote (their game), no more jumping on grandad's mattress (her private trampoline), no more strolls to McD with a 60cent ice cream at the end of the journey, no more impromptu visits to the park with multiple swing rides and no more "Bweak-first time!!" yells at dinner time!
**Chinese for Grandad or Pop

Instead, she gets car rides to Letitia's school 2-4 times a day and a few moments of playtime with me. We have lunch in a school lunchbox (she has to have one!) now and her meals are getting less and less "chinese" due to her aussie exposure. On the other hand, we've discovered that she is quite a "rice pot" and can gobble down half a bowl of rice by shovelling into her mouth.

My dad has been the constant companion and friend to Mathena all the time he was here. She gets almost everything she asks for (reading, tv, play, water, fruits, jumping on bed?) but is generally happy to just sit with dad's arms around her watching her favourite "Wiggles". Dad is now very well verse in all the Wiggles songs eg. "...rocking, rolling, riding, all along the way" and "Tie me kangaroo down sport!" while Mathena uses the placemat as a wobble board.















* Playing with the girls * Papa took Mathena to playgroup and got
all wet

It's been a real pleasure having papa here. He got a bit bored as there's not much to do here (minus the 7 days of tennis). He still manages to mop my floors, wash my dishes, and hangs out the laundry (normally when I am unsure of the weather, my laundry goes straight to the dryer) while he watches the sun. He's done most of the "spring cleaning" stuff for us and relieved us of many chores (esp Alex). Mostly, he's started a love-fun relationship with the girls and even Letitia thinks the dining table is less cramp without him there.