Bathing
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Bath
Posted by gls on 04 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: Bathing, LMS, Parenthood
The Girl has had a love-hate relationship with the bath.
She generally liked it until recently. There was a time when she hated it; this was because she had been sick for a while and simply hadn’t had a bath for a couple of weeks. Once we got back into the routine, though, she started liking it again. She wasn’t eager to get in, but she caused no problems; she wasn’t eager to get out, but she didn’t fuss.
No more.
Now she loves it. And getting her out can result in one upset Girl. Bath time is play time — and she’ll play with just about anything.
New Evening Ritual
Posted by gls on 06 Feb 2008 | Tagged as: Bathing, LMS, Parenthood
8:00
We start cleaning up all the toys the Girl has managed to drag out. And believe me — in the space of about 3 nanoseconds, L can pull out every single toy in every single toy basket and toy box in a given room.
8:15
Bath time. L loves the bath. She doesn’t love getting ready for the bath. She gets testy, cranky, and whiny. But before we can take a bath, we have to potty. This could be optimized, but we’ll return to this later.
8:30
Bath’s done, dressing begins. This can take anywhere from twenty seconds to five minutes. Like most things, it depends on how cooperative the Girl is. She’s able to put her arm out in anticipation of having the sleeve of her sleeper slipped on. (How’s that for alliteration?)
8:35
Bedtime, with watered down juice and some kisses.
9:00
The girl wakes up crying. She stands up, flings the bottle to the floor, and begins howling. Time for Potty II.
9:10
Having had an enormous BM, the Girl is ready for sleep. At this point, the obvious hits: “L, why don’t you do your business before the bath, when I set you on the potty chair and wait in full anticipation?”
“Because that would make your life too simple, Tata,” is the probable answer.
9:15-10:00
Intermittent crying as the Girl tries to calm herself back down and fall back asleep.
Vignettes
Posted by gls on 14 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Bathing, Diaper, Feeding, LMS, Parenthood
Every night around eight-fifteen, eight-thirty, I take the Girl for her bath. “Bath” is one of the few baby signs we use consistently, and last night, she provided humorous evidence that she truly understands the sign. I came out of the bathroom after preparing her bath and she was looking at one of her favorite books while sitting at the bottom of the six stairs that separates the upper and lower portions of our split-level home. “L,” I called. She looked up, and I began making the waving my arms as if splashing the water. “Halapu ciapu!” I called out, Polish for “splish-splash.” She tossed the book aside, pulled herself on her feet quickly, held out her arms, and smiled hugely.
Every morning around three, the Girl wakes up hungry and wet. I stumble into her room to change her diaper; K heads downstairs to prepare a bottle; the Girl usually just cries. Lately, though, she’s been increasingly calm as I begin the process, and last night, she remained calm throughout the whole change. She would start to get fussy but I managed to calm her with some reassuring words in my sleepy, calm voice and a gentle stroke of her cheek. She didn’t break into hysterics even when K entered.
The Girl in the Mirror
Posted by gls on 04 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: Bathing, LMS, Parenthood
She’s there every single time L and I head to the bathroom for L’s evening bath. It always takes her a few minutes to notice us, and when she does, she seems just as confused as we are. But then the Girl in the Mirror smiles a little, and somehow L manages to smile at that exact moment, and then it’s laughs and giggles all around.
