What Romi Likes

Romi likes playing his guitar with a pick and a capo (OK, it's really a clothespin, but it works), finding photos and drawings of Asian children in books (he always calls them Romi), asking the name of everything (literally everything, from food to engines), airplanes (he can identify quite a few by the salient details, including engine location, the type of tail and if it has winglets), and swimming. Over the past few months he has been found sleeping all over the house, albeit mostly in our bed, although he has made special appearances on the floor of the guest room when Aunt JoJo was staying there and with Penny in her bed. (We figured that one out when he smelled like cedar chips. When asked why he slept on the dog's bed, he replied, "Comfortable." Hard to argue with logic like that.) He likes dancing in the monsoon with his umbrella (thanks Sharon!) and our full attention--he recently admonished Rob, "No reading!" and promptly confiscated his newspaper and put it in the sunroom.

Romi also likes his birthday. He had a wonderful time, especially when his music teacher sang to him at school. It's been three months and he still talks about it. He loved his party at Pump-It-Up (0nce he warmed up to the experience). He was a bit like his Aunt Heather that day, running into our room and finding me in bed announcing, "Wake up Ima! My birthday!"

Our little man likes to say, "I don't like it," "I have a question" and "Ima tell." He never tires of hearing the same stories, including the branch breaking at the school, the two-day sprinkler marathon and how the Airbus 380 scraped a wing at the Paris airshow. He likes the fact that he's potty trained, although lately he asks for help when he needs to go, only to ask us to leave when we actually get to the bathroom. (Gone are the days when I asked if he needed help as he ran by and he replied, "No, I got it!)

But what Romi likes above all else is his Aunt JoJo. He was lucky to get two recent visits, one in May and one in July. He is not alone in thinking she is one of the funniest people on the face of the planet. When she is here, he not so gently or kindly asks Ima and Abba to go away. We've seen him run to get something only to return to the guest room, throw open the door, and announce to his beloved Auntie, "I'm back!" For her, Romi will wear tags in his clothes, put lotion on his body and tolerate mouse in his hair.

Romi's favorite child at school is baby Zachary, so called because he is the youngest of all the students. He isn't in Romi's class, but they get to see each other throughout the day. I have come to pick Romi up to find him sitting by his friend's mat (Zachary stays for nap), patting his back to put him to sleep. One day, Romi and baby Zachary where on the playground, standing on the bridge connecting two pieces of play equipment. Another child pushed baby Zachary, who headed for the edge. While not a huge fall, the height is significant enough. Romi, however, was not going to let anything happen to his best bud and threw himself on top of baby Zachary, preventing him from falling. Romi stayed there until a teacher, who saw the whole incident, managed to get to them. He's his father's son!

Lest you think our little fella has no mischievous side, never fear, he would also make his grandmother proud. We let Romi roam naked through the house and backyard. (He has to have on clothes to go out front or when we eat.) This drives Papa nuts, a tidbit which Romi picked up on. One night, when Nana and Papa arrived to visit, a clothed Romi ran to greet them, immediately stripped down and proudly announced, "Papa, I'm naked!" Go Romi!