It's amazing how much something as simple as bathing can evolve as a part of the routine and how quickly it can do so. I'd forgotten what it was like to bathe a newborn and how challenging I find it to support his head while cleaning his back side. And how little time it really takes to bathe a newborn, as they aren't yet into playing, stalling, or pitching fits. Or that they might actually dislike the bathing process.
Jude was not happy about his first bath at home. We did it in the spare bathroom in a small tub that came home from the hospital with Jonah, and I made it as quick as possible. Jude screamed and cried the entire time. Jonah had to be present to witness it, but he spent the entire time washing his combs in the sink nearby, which was both a help and a hindrance. I secured privileges of the first bath at home because Ben had those privileges with Jonah. Fair is fair, right?
Who cares that my brother is screaming about a bath right next to me!
We only did one sponge bath like this at home before graduating to the baby tub in the tub. And ever since that time, Jude has pretty much unilaterally LOVED his bath time. He can be crying up to the moment you put him in the tub, but once he hits that water, he just chills out. Of course the poor kid gets absolutely no privacy because big brother has to come along to check out what is going on (he might miss out on something) and to take advantage of the additional opportunity to play with his bath time toys.
Jude's first bath in the "big" tub.
Jonah's interest in Jude's baths has its perks: while Ben has traveled in the last couple of months, I was able to bathe Jude and manage Jonah by taking advantage of Jonah's desire to help. Suddenly I couldn't remember how to draw a bath and needed his assistance in the bathroom. He came running, happy to show me, and I closed the door behind us so he was effectively corralled. He played fairly innocently alongside the tub while I was able to take care of business, and he took care of emptying the little tub while I got Jude dressed. The downside, of course, is that Jonah can get in the way as you try to get Jude in and out, and he also gets himself in little predicaments (falls) between the toilet and tub as he moves all over in his imaginative play. (He also unapologetically walks all over your legs.)
Jonah playing with his duck boat while Daddy bathes Jude. Typical scene.
Baths with Jonah are now all over the place. He used to consistently LOVE his bath time, but lately he has been throwing fits about it: sometimes because he doesn't want to take off his clothes, sometimes because the water is too "hot" (it's not), and sometimes because who knows why. Invariably, the days when he throws the biggest fits about getting in, he then throws the biggest fits about getting out. Sigh. The joys of parenting a 2 year old.
This does not qualify as a fire truck in Jonah's view.
We do still have a lot of fun during our baths. Lately, the Matchbox cars have taken much of the focus during bath time. But we've also gone through periods recently where other activities took precedence, such as writing and drawing in the tub with the washable crayons he received as a gift. Requests could be very specific, such as a certain number of tractors, trucks, cars, buses, etc., or very generic, such as "write something." Ben is a much better artist than I, so I can't say that I loved the "drawing" phase, particularly when Jonah provided commentary to me that my artwork was not up to stuff. Take, for instance, the fire truck I drew here. Jonah informed me that it was NOT a firetruck. Sorry - I'm already insecure enough about my drawing abilities. I don't need that from a kid!!! I do credit this interest in drawing and writing with his knowledge of all of the letters of the alphabet. We practiced them in the tub (which he enjoyed immensely, honestly), and we occasionally practiced a few words as well.
Sometimes we sing and use the toys as a part of the fun. For a while, Jonah was very much into the "Five Green and Speckled Frogs" song, and we used it to work on counting/numbers and just having fun in general. I caught it on video one night in December (though it wasn't Jonah's best performance on the counting side):
Now, we can't play with the little frog without Jonah stealing it and having to squirt us. He still can't quite figure out how to fill it (and it does tend to "stick" in the collapsed position, so no additional water will enter it without coaxing). It's hilarious when he has to stop squirting you to ask you to fill the frog and then immediately expects you to give it back so that he can get you wet.
So many fun times and memories have been made at bath time! We very much look forward to seeing the two boys interact together and have fun in the tub, but expect that is still some time away. In the meantime, separate back-to-back baths it is!
We've tried to use sign language with Jonah in the hopes that he will be able to communicate with us more easily before he can talk. We use the signs for eat, drink, more, milk/nurse, and sleep among some others. The first one he picked up and started to do though, was bath.
Jonah loves his bath time! It was one of the first words that he seemed to recognize, and he would always perk up when he heard it. On the night I captured this (about a month ago - yes, I'm a bit behind in posting), we were outside talking with the neighbors when it seemed to be time to go in, so I asked if he was ready for bath. As soon as he heard it, he started doing the sign for it. When we got back inside, I was hoping he would do it again so I could capture it. I think he got tired of me asking at the end and just decided to walk out of the room.
He also does the signs for outside (kind of), eat (though he puts his hand to his nose instead of his mouth), and more (but we never really know what he wants more of, because sometimes we try to give him more and he refuses...).
Jonah has always enjoyed his baths and doesn't seem to mind the water at all. He even recognizes the pre-bath routine and gets excited when we put him on the floor in the bathroom in preparation for his bath. At home, we have a Primo Eurobath which we've used for all of his baths since his initial sponge baths, with the exception of a few in a dishpan when we were in Ohio earlier this summer.
We debated about what to do about his baths while we were in Ohio last week for Thanksgiving. He seems too big for a dishpan at this point, and we didn't really want to take along the bath (and use precious cargo space) for the three times he'd use it over the course of the week. In the end, we decided we would simply bathe him in the grown-up tub. And what a good decision! After helping him sit up for a bit, we let him lie on his back in the water (it didn't reach his ears) and he just LOVED it. He might be a swimmer some day because he was splashing and moving himself all over the tub. Here he is early on during that first experience:
Earlier tonight, we had a hard time deciding whether to lay Jonah on the bottom of the regular tub or put him in the Eurobath. In the end, we settled on the Eurobath, but he was extremely restless in it and constantly lifted his butt off the bottom as if he was trying to tell us that he missed the other experience. Which way will we bathe him on Thursday? Time will tell, but I'm leaning toward ditching the Eurobath.
