Thursday, December 09, 2010

Scenes from a Bath, the Baby Edition

Tuesday night was bath night for Petunia. She usually loves her bath (maybe the love of baths runs in the family), so I gladly volunteered to give her a bath rather than take out the trash. No brainer, right?

Well, this Tuesday, she did not want to get in her bath. She locked her little knees and screamed when I tried to put her in the tub. I don't know why, but when I took her out to let her calm down, I sat her on her sister's old potty. She was thrilled. She reached behind her and played with the lid. But mostly, she just wanted to sit on that seat and play with her shoes. I asked her if she was ready to get in her bath. She solemnly shook her head "no" and continued to play with her shoes. I waited awhile and asked her if she was ready to get off the potty. She shook her head "no", and when I reached my hands out to her, she clamped her arms by her side.

She was pretty cute sitting there, and I was curious to see what she'd do, so I sat there and watched her play with her shoes for awhile. Every once and awhile I asked her if she was ready to get in her bath, mostly because the round little "o" she sometimes makes with her mouth when shaking her head is so darn cute.

Then Hubby came in from taking the trash out, rolled his eyes at me, and took over her bath. She did scream when he put her in the tub, but not for long at all.

And then Pumpkin came and reminded him that he'd promised to build something with her, so I took over again. I asked Petunia if she was ready to get out of her bath. She solemnly shook her head "no", clamped her arms by her sides, and screamed when I lifted her out and wrapped her in her towel.

Kids are weird.

6 comments:

  1. "Kids are weird."

    OH. YEAH.

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  2. Hahaha, oh bathtime. Annie stands at the side of the tub, lifting each leg as high as she can, trying to climb in. She's not even close. No where near. But the look on her face says "I've almost got it!" She loves sharing a bath with Rosie. And vice versa. It's sweet.

    Kids are weird, though, hey?

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  3. "Kids are weird." I just typed that exact sentence yesterday to a friend. Tate loves being in the bathtub but I still have to "trick" him into getting in half the time.
    I like the scene from a bath and how relaxed you were just letting her be.

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  4. Kid really are weird!

    Stuff like this happens more with my 3.5 yo than the toddler. Thanks to Raising Your Spirited Child, I realized that for her it's about the transitions. That realization has helped us, but it still happens. A lot.

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  5. I also had the sudden realization a few days ago that DD can be a lot like a mini-toddler sometimes, complete with tantrumy bodily flailing and loud shrieking when we aren't able give her something she wants (like a carving knife she wanted to hold). That all snuck up on us way too quickly.

    Seeing them sit on the potty at that age is too cute.

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  6. My normally bath-loving baby did that once. She screamed, went rigid, etc.

    It took two of us to put her into the bath.

    She promptly pooped in the bath.

    Ooh, we were so dense. You were right to put her on the potty first.

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