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!

Camp Roth

The three of us just got back from Romi's first visit to Camp Roth. (Camp Roth is what we call my cousin's home because it reminds us of camp: there is always someone to play with and something to do. For example, within five minutes of arriving, Rob and Romi were in the pool with Bryan, I was lying poolside with Alan, and Sharon was watching Jaclyn and Jordan play tennis.) The flight to Cleveland proved a bit rough. We had a 7:00 a.m. departure out of Phoenix so Motzi Shabbat we headed up to a hotel a few miles from the airport (after bidding farewell to a house full of Shabbat guests!). Romi fell asleep in the car and all was going well, until we got to the hotel room and he woke up and completely refused to go back to sleep. So, after literally about three hours of sleep, we boarded the plane for the direct flight. The upside was the little guy slept on the plane for about two hours, which made the trip pretty easy. As we landed in Cleveland the flight got quite bumpy, which made Romi laugh and smile. Turns out our kidlet loves turbulence.

We retrieved our luggage, picked up the rental car and headed to Sharon's, only to get repeatedly lost. It seems as if my usually reliable sense of direction doesn't work without sleep. We arrived at last and as I said, were all poolside in a matter of minutes. My original plan was to head to the seminar, but I was shattered. Instead we hung out at Camp Roth, and Sharon made us a wonderful dinner that we ate outside, enjoying the Roths, the Mecklers, Marianna and the amazing weather.

Monday I headed off to the seminar and Rob stayed home to play and wait for David and the twins to show up. Everyone enjoyed another beautiful summer day. That night, Stan took Rob and Steven to the baseball game (we got to see them on TV) and the rest of us went out to dinner (Romi actually fell asleep at CPK) before returning home to watch Romi walk around carrying his pants. Oddly enough, that's much more entertaining than you might think.

Tuesday I was back at work. Romi played with his uncle, cousins and Abba until I got home, which is pretty much how Wednesday went too. Wednesday night we went out to kick off Austin's 16th birthday festivities, and Romi got so into it that he stayed up really late partying. (Partying by his definition is running around in his PJs, throwing remote controls.) We had some time to play and enjoy being with everyone on Thursday before heading to the airport. Unfortunately, Romi was not nearly as amiable on the return trip home as he was on the way out, but we all managed and return home safe and sound.

Romi's walking skills have vastly improved and he resorts to crawling far less than he did even a week ago. He still makes his new scrunchy face but that too is losing its appeal. We think he's been shaking his head no, but we aren't totally certain he knows what it means. He does, however, point to what it is he wants, which is helpful but not always the most accurate form of communication. Beryl got him a wonderful new toy: a remote-control car designed for the younger set. He likes the car, he likes to push the bottom to make it make noise, he likes the remote control, but he isn't so fond of the car when we start zooming it around. When we actually remote the remote-control car, he climbs into our laps, alternately fascinated and terrified. The other day he went so far as to push the offending auto under the futon.

Our Hybrid

Like my beloved Prius, my beloved baby is also a hybrid. He crawls about half the time and walks the other half. He hasn't given up the crawling completely because not only is it is his most efficient method of locomotion, he has trouble when he has anything on his feet (shoes or footsie PJs). When it comes to eating, his hybrid status continues. He is a fairly adventurous eater, trying many foods, and shows a pretty mature palette (he loves black beans and guacamole), but he only eats with his hands, has very little interest in using utensils. and indicates he's done by putting his food-laden hands in his hair. Romi holds his own sippy cup and loves to drink from a glass (which we obviously hold), but will only take milk from a bottle, only if it's warm, and only if we hold it.

I don't mind a baby hybrid. I know he's on the brink of being an independent little boy and I know I want him to grow and learn and develop, but as long as he's a hybrid, he's still my baby too.

Father's Day

We had a truly wonderful Father's Day. We dressed Romi up in his cute outfit from cousin Sharon, loaded him into the car and headed to the Hoffman's to meet up with the rest of the gang (Parnabys, Saxtons, Ellentucks and Selzniks). When we all get together there is guaranteed to be mayhem, laugh er, noise and lots of food. There was so much going on Romi wouldn't even eat lunch. He just stumbled around, walking and crawling, trying to be a part of all the action. When we determined that eating just wasn't going to happen, we put him in his cute swim trunks and swim shirt from Aunt Kim and Uncle Joe and Ima and the Mooch headed into the beautiful but surprising cold pool with almost everyone else.

Simply put, Romi loves to swim. He laughed, he squealed, he kept putting his face in the water. He didn't care when I dunked his keppie (head) under, he liked the backstroke and leaned into it, he thought the side stroke was hilarious, and jumping around was the best thing since sliced bread. We definitely have a water baby on our hands!

We were finally forced from all the fun when his shivering went on for an extended period of time--the price for having no body fat! Like the pool mama pro she is, Stephi took Romi, quickly stripped him naked, wrapped him like a burrito and put him in my arms to warm up. When he was dry I let him explore the great outdoors for a while, sans clothes, an adventure which only ended when he peed on the terra cota tile. Rob and I dressed our kidlet and took him in to the house where he quickly discovered that Emily was eating ice cream. Being no fool, he climbed onto her lap. I'm really not sure who got more, but Emily was a very good sport about sharing!

We headed home to prepare for Romi's next new experience: an evening home alone with the babysitter. Rob and I had a wedding to attend and for this simcha kidlets were not invited. Stacy came over to take care of our little man, we sucked it up and headed out. When we returned three and a half hours later, Stacy reported that Romi was a little trooper. He wasn't happy at first and insisted on crawling to the door to see where we had gone, but he eventually came around and the two had a great evening together. He ate a huge dinner, took a long bath, played on the floor and even let her put him to bed. I'm proud of Romi and of us (I swear, we didn't call even once!).

Radom Romi bits:
He's walking quite a bit, but has trouble in shoes and footsie PJs.
He loves to push his lion around, but can't navigate well yet.
He's discovered how to make clicking sounds with his tongue.
He's the only kid I know that sits patiently for a haircut and doesn't mind the gel (he gets that from Aunt Jodi).
When he spies Ima he gets so excited that he hugs Abba (who says life is fair?)

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!

His Safety is Her Primary Concern

We recently had the pleasure of my mom's company to celebrate both Passover and Romi's first birthday. Mom spent a little less than two weeks with us, and although we had plenty of trials and tribulations (Passover prep, stomach flu, allergies, etc.) we had a truly wonderful time. It did my heart much good to see how much my mother and my son enjoyed one another's company. I also need to add that having an extra pair of hands in the house didn't hurt. We got so much more done when there was a third adult willing to spend so much time on the floor entertaining the Moochkala. And so, one morning when Rob needed to be at the shul to prep the kiddish we were sponsoring for Romi's first birthday and I needed to go to the doctor to discover why my eyes were bright red (it turned out to be allergic conjunctivitis--yuck), I asked mom to watch Mooch. It was only supposed to be for a half-hour or so, but doctors' offices being what they are, I was gone longer than expected. The doctor had given me a prescription for eye drops and I was anxious for some relief, so I called my mom to ask if I could delay my return a bit longer and stop at Walgreens. Her response? No. Why not? Because Romi's safety is her primary concern.

Not an answer to inspire confidence in the heart of any mother.

What exactly, I asked, did she mean by that? In true Marilyn style she repeated herself, which explained absolutely nothing at all. I tried to ask for clarification but when none was forthcoming, I told her she was seriously freaking me out. That must have hit a sympathetic maternal cord and I finally got to the bottom of the situation.

It seems as if Romi, who can't talk but has no trouble communicating his wants, needs and desires, wanted something to eat. My little old mom picked up her 18-pound grandson and successful got him into his highchair without injury to either party. Way to go! Alas, this is when the anxiety began. My mom tried to strap him in. Now, my mom has a long history of not being able to put on a seat belt (my sister Jodi inherited this defect), but other than that she's pretty competent. However, no matter what she did she could only get one side of him strapped in--his left leg.

Romi was getting impatient by this time and wanted to eat so my mom decided to forge ahead. She had fed him numerous times already on this trip, but he always came pre-packaged, complete with bib, highchair and food items. This DIY was a whole new ballgame and my mom was not enjoying the sport. After a few tries she gave up on the bib (to be fair, it's got this really weird button thing that you then flip inside out) and decided to go straight to the food. Unfortunately, it wasn't all set out on the counter like normal. Instead, she looked up and realized it was all in the fridge, which wouldn't have been a problem except she was hesitant to leave him in the highchair when he wasn't fully strapped in. So my mom did the only thing she could think of to satisfy the little guy's hunger pains and her peace of mind for his safety: every time she went into the kitchen, to the fridge or the microwave, she wheeled him with her. Really. Needless to say, she was pretty darn tired by the time I called.

She also was not amused when I explained to her that the reason she couldn't get the straps on the baby was that we hadn't used them for two months.

Having successfully navigated watching the Moochkie-Papoochkie on her own, my mom decided to teach the little bugger how to use a sippy cup. Here's a video which shows how well that went:

My mother, however, was successful in teaching Romi one of his most popular (especially with the shul crowd) tricks. Enjoy:

Putting Moochkie to Bed

Here's a video of us getting Romi ready for bed, which explains why his parents are so darn tired.

Channeling His Inner Ezra

We miss our crazy kitty, but luckily our little guy has enough of Ezra's traits and characteristics to bring us happy memories. First off, Romi, like Ezra, can't stand being on the other side of a closed door, especially if it's the bathroom door. He will sit outside of it and, in essence, meow. The bathroom in our bedroom was one of Ezra's favorite places, and Romi finds it irresistible. Romi's most vocal in the morning, just as Ezra was; both also make loud incomprehensible sounds. I hate to admit it, but they also both chewed on the furniture. I'd like to say the teeth marks on the futon are from the cat.... Ezra loved being in the sun room; whenever Romi sees the sliding glass door open he beelines it for that room. Ezra also adored looking out the front door, which is where you will often find Romi. We still have to keep the closet and pantry doors closed. Ezra may be gone, but there's a new troublemaker in town who wants into places he shouldn't be just as much as Ezra Splat Gludt did. Yep, our baby reminds us of our cat--it's little consolation, but it's some.

Our newest MOT

At times, I feel that Romi suffers from a few disadvantages, one of which is I don't think our little monkey will ever learn to walk. It's not that I'm in a hurry to be chasing after an even more mobile baby or that he can't reach the next milestone, it's just that most babies first furniture walk, using pieces of furniture to get from point A to point B. If you've seen the sparsity of furniture in our living room, you would understand why I think Romala is a bit deprived. Being the good Ima that I am, I decided to reconcile his deficiency and headed out to Toys R Us. The quest: a walking toy.

All we wanted was a simple toy with wheels that would support our little man's weight and that he could walk behind, getting some much-needed leg workouts. It sounded easy enough, but things have gone high-tech since the days of the plastic grocery cart. The cart now comes with groceries and it talks, narrating your shopping trip. Or the darn thing comes with lights and sounds. It took a good hour, but we finally found a walking toy that had only the most rudimentary bells and whistles (literally).

Here's a photo of Romi's first ever cozy coupe:


And here's what Romi actually uses to stand up and push himself around the room:


True to baby form, he is far more interested in the box then in the toy itself. He not only tries to scale the box, he uses it as walker. And he shows his undying love for this box in his own special 10-month old baby way--he eats it.


The only non-box item this kid has used to pull himself up and roll around to date is his highchair, and that is something we are emphatically not encouraging.

The good news is that we officially dunked Moochkei on Monday, February 23. The bet din was made up of the senior rabbi, the cantor and our good friend Michael Hoffman. The water was quite warm, bordering on hot (according to Rob), but our little guy proved to be quite the trooper. He had to go completely under three times and he never once cried. The cantor noted that as soon as he got out his hair went right back up.

Romi was quite excited to become the newest member of the tribe.


And here's a photo of our little Jewish Taiwanese kid!