Yes, We Took the Baby Camping

Last weekend, Memorial Day, Rob and I decided to take Romi on his first camping trip. The rationale? 1) If he was miserable, it was only going to be for one night. 2) We planned the trip with four other families, all of whom have kids and would presumably understand any challenges. 3) And lastly, the actual camping would take place on the top of Mount Lemmon--only a 45-minute drive if we were forced to come home in the middle of the night.

We scurried around last Sunday, eager to get everything ready. (Lesson one: it takes as much prep work to prepare for one night of camping as it does one week.) Rob was enjoying his last shower for what would most-likely turn out to be a long and dirty 24-hours when he asked me to hand him a bar of soap. I did so by opening the shower door, not worrying about the pajama-clad baby on the bathroom floor because the shower scares him. (Lesson two: just because it scares him doesn't mean he won't forge ahead.) Romi chose this moment to explore and crawled in with Abba, complete with PJs and diaper. We let him have his fun splashing and chasing the water down the drain before stripping him down and lathering him up.

The shower incident gave us hope that Romi would love camping, despite his current seemingly irrational fear of trees and bushes (most notably the pomegranate tree and rosemary bush in our very own backyard). We packed up the truck, strapped in the baby, met up with the Parnabys and Hoffmans and headed up the mountain. The drive was lovely and the weather at the top beautiful. Our group campsite, perfect to hold five families (we met the Dubins and Saxtons up there), was located at 8,000 feet, which ensured us a perfect temperature, huge pine trees, blue sky with puffy clouds and that distinctively wonderful forest smell. The campsite hosts meet us as we came in and pointed out site 3 (of 3). The bad news was that our site was located up a steep incline (lesson three: not all car camping means you sleep next to the car), but the good news was they had a cart for us to schlep our stuff up.

The site was really great. Not only was it clear that our hosts had worked hard to clean and clear it, the site had a perfect flat spot for tents (no bumps and rocks to clear or rolling down a mountain), a fire ring and a ramada complete with two picnic tables, two bear lockers, storage and a huge brick fireplace. Excellent!

We greeted our fellow adventurers, ate lunch (lesson we already knew: food tastes great outside) and set up camp. Both Romi and Jacob thought the tents were hysterical, and loved playing inside the empty shelters.

Of course, neither set of parents had any idea of how the 13-month-olds would feel come dark and we tried to convince them to sleep in there! The older kids ran off to explore with various adults, and Romi explored the soot-filled dirt, the regular dirt, the raked dirt...you get the idea. In short, he had a wonderful time and got as dirty as we had anticipated.

We spent the afternoon enjoying the day, the scenery and the company. Everyone grilled for dinner and we certainly didn't starve. (Lesson four: if five Jewish families go camping for one night, there will be enough food for a week). The kids even had a chance go make smores. Michael brought his guitar and took turns playing scrapes of songs to which he could remember most of the cords. Ori indulged her fire-making fantasies and ensured no one was cold at either the fire ring or the fireplace. And we all enjoyed being outdoors in Tucson.

At 9:00 p.m. we determined it was time to go to bed. It was late for Romi to be up, but we also knew he would never go to sleep in a tent without us. The mercury was falling (and the stars were rising!) and we were concerned that he would be cold. Rob built him a "nest" on the egg crate next to our air mattress using a flannel-lined sleeping bag. When we first put him into it, Romi thought it was one of the funniest thing in the world. He laughed and tried to crawl around. When he discovered the sides of the tent, and the funny scratching noise they made when you touched them, he found the other funniest thing in the world. We turned off the flashlights, however, and our exhausted little guy finally crashed.

The good news is that Romi slept beautifully (lesson five: replace the crib with a tent); the bad news is that Rob was so convinced that Romi wouldn't sleep well that he kept getting up to check on him. The worse news of all was that every time Rob rolled over on the air mattress, to check on the peacefully sleeping baby, I was thrown into the air. So Romi was the only one who slept well! But sleeping poorly while camping is part of the experience, so we got dressed, dragged ourselves out of the tent and headed for the fire that Pete had lovingly built in the fireplace (Ori was still snug in her sleeping bag.) Eventually everyone got up, we made pancakes so we wouldn't starve, and hung around, taking our time eating, cleaning up and breaking camp. Ori arranged for us to have a late check out, so we meandered around before heading down the mountain and back to Tucson.

The camping experiment was a huge success. Romi got filthy and loved it, Ori couldn't get her kids out the tent because they wanted to stay, we all ate too much junk, and everyone went home still friends. Great trip!

Random Rominess

Here's a collection of random Romi facts that we love and enjoy and want to remember forever.

Romi is furniture walking like a madman, standing up without assistance (from a crouch even!), but has yet to take his first steps. He also refuses to do that little-kid thing where you hold his hands and he cruises around. Nope, not Romi--if you try it he sits down in protest. Clearly our little guy will walk only when he is good and ready and able to do so on his own.

Romi's favorite toys as of late include a baby doll, a rag, a plastic ball with eyes and a small can of Elite coffee from Israel. He saw a baby doll at Parent-Tot and thought it was the funniest thing in the world, so we headed over to Target to get one of his own. When we got to the baby doll aisle, all of the motion censored dolls staring moving and crying and blinking and sacred the beegees out of Rob and I so we fled. Being determined and dedicated parents, however, we persevered. We found a doll that didn't do anything except exist as a toy. I wasn't sure if Romi would like it but when I held up the box he squealed, so we took that as a good sign. He loves his baby-powder scented doll and laughs when Abba or Ima pretend it's real. He also finds it amusing when we throw balls up and catch them; who knows why? And as of late, he has become attached to a small scrap of green rag. He cleans the furniture with it, drags it around the house, and hides behind it to play "Where's Romi?"

Romi's favorite things to eat include black beans and guacamole, meat, bananas and edamame. He says "Ah-ba" and is clearly understanding more and more. He likes to watch Flip videos of himself laughing and to open all the drawers in the new TV stand. He still doesn't hold his bottle when we give him milk at night or in the morning (other than that he uses a sippy cup), but he does hold your thumb as you hold the bottle, which is unbearably sweet. He can open cabinets and doors, chases the dog and has the best sense of humor of any 13-month we've ever met!