Monday, July 19, 2010

Hide, Hide!

It is absolutely no exaggeration that it is Romi who has gotten the entire family through these past six weeks. He brings with him love and laughter, enjoyment and energy, and is simply the best distraction. As of late, he has taken to tattling on his parents. If either one of us does something he doesn't like, he goes in search of the other parent, points out the offending parental unit and makes a face. He has also figured out that sometimes Ima and Abba need to be talked into what he thinks is simply a fabulous idea. He encourages our consensus in his plans by getting a twinkle in his eye, smiling the most beatific smile ever, and vigorously shaking his head yes. And yes, of course it works.

Romi's most enduring new trick is "hide." When one of us is going after him or he doesn't want to get dressed or simply decides it is not time for a clean diaper, he says "hide, hide" and runs to find someone to pick him up and hold him. He snuggles up, burying his face in your neck and assumes he is safe. Recently, he opened the broom closet to see the vacuum (with which he has a love/hate relationship), yelled "hide," and when he couldn't find someone to hold and hide him, he opened the bottom drawer in the kitchen, bent over and put his head in it. "Hide" has also expanded to protect inanimate objects. A few weeks ago, Rob tried to confiscate a bar of soap from the Romster, who took it and ran off through the house. When he finally found me in the kitchen, with Abba in close pursuit, he yelled "hide" multiple times while simultaneously picking up my shirt and stashing the bar of soap under it. And yes, of course it worked.

Heather always says the force is strong with Romi, which is most obvious in the absolute power he has over his cousins. But every once in a while, he must also use his cutest-baby-in-world wiles to get what he wants. I wasn't feeling well one day and told Rob I was going to return to bed to lie down for a few minutes. Romi, however, had other plans. First he came and asked me to get up (no, he didn't actually say it, but he has ways of making his wants and desires known). When that didn't work, he brought me my glasses. I thanked him, took the glasses, put them on the nightstand and stayed in bed, so Romi took it to the next level and delivered to me my slippers. I explained that I was staying put and closed my eyes, trying to relax. It wasn't long before I felt a gently tugging only to look down as Romi ever so slowly and carefully pulled all the covers off of me and the bed. And yes, of course it worked.