Squeaky Clean

The little guy loves his baths these days. This is a far cry from a few months ago. We caught his first "real" bath on video a few days after his umbilical stump fell off. He screamed through the whole thing. I felt like such an amateur, struggling to hold on to his slippery little body while fumbling with a wash rag. My whole family was watching, too. Fortunately my dad, who is amazing with babies and small children, was helping me. It was a proud moment for him, I think, to be a part of his first grandchild's first bath.

I've added bath time to his nightly routine - every other evening - as he approaches the age where we'll be able to put him down at the same time every night. He's still in newborn-mode, sleeping whenever his little internal clock tells him to. I see small changes from week to week; his naps are getting longer and he plays longer, too. He falls asleep a little earlier every night. I keep pushing the routine earlier and earlier, but it doesn't make too much of a difference. He's either ready to sleep or he's not. One of these days I expect it to click, and before long we won't remember nights without baths and bedtime stories.