Our Hamster Is a Turkey

The other morning, as Rob did the dishes, he heard Romi happily playing in the living room, singing to himself. After a few minutes, Rob decided he should poke his head in on the little guy only to find that he had successfully climbed into the dining room chair, had swiped a bencher (a little small prayerbook) off the table, and was imitating his parents benching (singing the blessing after a meal). Rob decided that Romi decided to get away with a little something and left him to his own devices. The singing continued and a few minutes later Rob again poked his head into the dining room to check on the Hamster. He was still singing and still holding a bencher, but he had migrated from the chair to sitting smack-dab in the middle of the dining room table. Hey, at least he was praying.

Romi's vocabulary is still sporadic, but he makes his needs and wants known. He recently foraged open the pantry door and brought Abba a bag of uncooked noodles, so we cleverly figured he wanted pasta for dinner. When he runs to the sunroom and takes hold of a black folding chair, we know it's time for him to do the dishes. He has mastered shaking his head yes and no, and he still uses the emphatic finger pointing when necessary although he has also started saying "yeash" for yes.

Recently, Romi enjoyed a wonderful visit from his Aunt Kim and cousins Austin and Sabrina. Romi loved playing with his cousins, especially on the swings in the park. The higher the better! And he looked absolutely adorable in the turkey hat he made with Aunt Kim.

Last Sunday afternoon, Romi and I walked across the street to see the rather extraordinary display of Christmas decorations on the neighbor's front yard. It literally stopped Romi in his tracks as he took it all in. He was intrigued by the lights and couldn't figure out what they were (they were off). He pulled on them, touched the large plastic colorful bulbs, and when all else failed, he carefully leaned in to smell them.

I eventually coaxed Romi over to a blow-up bear that didn't move. He was quite tentative and when I asked if he wanted to touch it he emphatically shook his head no. When I asked if I could touch it he was equally against the idea, but he did smile when I patted its nose. He eventually work up the courage to touch both the bear and the penguin, but Santa still freaks him out!