The Divine Aunt Jodi!

At long last, Romi's Auntie arrived in Tucson to meet the little guy. Grandma didn't want to miss out on the family reunion, so she arrived from Los Angeles an hour before Jodi's flight. The three Gludts schlepped to the airport to pick up the crew. The irony is that Romi fell asleep on the way to the airport, and stayed fast asleep as Grandma and then Auntie arrived. Jodi's first glimpse of her little nephew was of him shluffing in his car seat. She was still impressed.

We loaded the half-drugged Grandma (she'd taken a pill to help her relax because she hates flying) and the spaced-out Auntie (there was no air on the plane and she hadn't eaten all day) into the car and headed off to--what else?--eat. We had a great meal at Oregano's and returned home so Jodi could enjoy the Romster in his natural environment. And she definitely enjoyed him! The two hit it off fabulously. Rob BBQ'd for us that night, and Grandma was in her glory, having both her own little chicks with her.

Thursday we left Grandma at home to recuperate and headed up Mount Lemmon. Jodi loved the views and the hiking, and she even braved the bathrooms. Romi had a lovely time collecting sticks, and we found a perfect spot to picnic, complete with a babbling brook. Of course, Auntie couldn't resist taking her water-loving nephew into the "crick" and they spent quite a bit of time braving the cool water.

We warmed up with a cookie buried under ice cream and whipped cream before heading down the hill and out to dinner with the Saxtons and the Parnabys. Friday saw us getting ready for Shabbat and touring Tucson's fancy-schmancy resorts, sans baby, before a wonderful Shabbat dinner. We spent Shabbat afternoon at the Hoffmans, where Auntie got to see just how much of a water baby we have on our hands. The two laughed and splashed and swam and ate and we all had a wonderful time.

On Sunday we all got dolled up, although we forgot to take a photo, and headed out to the Tanque Verde Guest Ranch for the buffet lunch, which we all heartily enjoyed. In fact, we enjoyed so much we never ate dinner, although we did manage to get to Frost for some gelato.

Unfortunately, Jodi chose to go home on Monday. We were all terribly sad to see her go. Romi had gotten so attached he actually followed Jodi around and yelled at her to come back and play with him. He loved playing with her in the inflatable pool, on the living room floor and in the guest room. They had a wonderful time together, although it was far too short!

Random Romi Update
Romi has completely mastered the art of walking and takes off like a flash. He has determined that Ima and Abba know nothing about organization and has taken to rearranging the house on a daily basis. Just so you know, movies go in Tupperware bowls and kitchen drawers, garlic presses and flour sifters go in the living room, ladles go in the bedroom and hairbrushes belong in the office.

The little guy enjoys mimicking all that we do, including using utensils, blowing his nose, brushing his hair, and laying down with his head on a pillow. He is fascinated by noses and likes to touch them. At a recent outing to Barnes and Noble, he had a fabulous time stalking children, and even managed to "catch" one little boy who was quietly sitting and reading a book. He approached slowly, extended his hand and put his finger on his new friend's nose, leaving it there until we rescued the poor kid.

P.S. We recently had to stash the Diaper Champ in Romi's closet. He loved flipping the handle over and over, which was a bit unsanitary but funny so we let it go. We eventually took the "toy" away from him when he started putting his dirty laundry in it!