Bath Time

I am thoroughly enjoying Finn's bath time.

It used to be a bit of a production, but since I added it as part of The Routine, it's quite a lovely moment in our evenings. He'll crawl right into the bath room and stand, holding onto the edge of the tub, watching the water run. Then I will hand him his colored cups, and he'll toss them into the tub, one by one, pausing to stand on his toes to look in at them floating on the soapy surface. When he has added them all, he turns to me and reaches, trying to step up. I take off his clothes and his diaper, and he climbs up on my leg, ready to go in, the final ingredient in the baby soup. I only let it fill for a couple of inches so he can sit and play, but he needs steadying in any case because it's slippery, and he likes to stand up and drop things back over the edge or pat the wall on the other side.

Last night, we added blowing bubbles. I bought him some bubble bath, seduced by the word "Calming" on the label. I don't know about that, but it smells really good, and it comes with a bubble wand. For some reason, in the last couple weeks, I have not tried it out. I think I assumed that it would not really work, and that would be quite disappointing. But last night, Pete was helping, and he immediately saw it, grabbed it, and started blowing bubbles. Finn is entranced, but can't figure it out. He wants to grab them, but they disappear. They stick to him, and he tries to shake them off. But he likes it.

Tonight, he repeatedly put his face down very close to the water, just slightly getting his nose and maybe his mouth wet. The last time he did it, he got in a little too far and didn't try it again. He didn't get any in his nose or mouth, he wasn't spluttering, and he also did not get upset and want to get out of the tub. I'm happy he feels confident enough to explore.

It's now 9:32, and he's been asleep for about an hour or so. He'll wake up a couple of times for Pete, but only for what Pete calls "a few seconds." I am going to drag my sick body to the guest room for some book time and hope that the consumption cough stays away so I can get some sleep.