E.J.'s First Bath

Another thing that I never got around to blogging about in August was E.J.'s first bath, and I know you all were totally sitting around wondering to yourselves, "Wait, did they ever bathe that kid? I never saw a detailed report so they must have that poor baby living in filth." Well, don't worry, friends. Our baby is clean and a detailed report is here.

Can you imagine if I had just skipped writing this post altogether? Then someday poor E.J. would be sitting in his therapist's office, the neglected second child, crying over the fact that his mother didn't even love him enough to record his first shampoo in detail on the internet. Not on my watch, people!

Anyway, E.J.'s "first bath" is described as such pretty loosely. Really, it was his first real bath in the tub at home. They did bathe him during his two-week hospital stay, but I wasn't present for it (it was after he was taken away to try to insert an IV) and I'm not sure how they did it. But hey, pictures or it didn't happen, right? So we'll call his first home bath the first overall and just run with that.

We took a break from frantically throwing our belongings into boxes the night before the movers came for this big occasion. We set up Ellie's old whale tub in the kitchen and went to town. At first, E.J. was mostly unimpressed.

"So we're going to do this thing, eh, Mom?"

(Also note that there is still wine on the counter behind me. In all our moves, I have learned that it is very important to pack the most essential necessities last for easy access.)

That is the most unimpressed a baby has ever been by anything.

Mildly amused

As things progressed, however, he took a turn for the concerned, perhaps even disgruntled.

Starting to suspect this is actually something he should express an opinion about

Wait, what's happening here?

Nope. Hates it.

When it was time to dry off, E.J. took a break from worry...

Hey, Dad!

Rocking the duckie robe

...before launching into full-out ANGRY.

Mom, this robe is RIDICULOUS.

Somehow, I had this strange feeling of deja vu.

Who hates it more?

For the record, aside from that first bath of questionable enjoyment, E.J. has really taken a liking to baths. In fact, if he's very upset as the night wears down, the best two ways to settle him are nursing or a bath (or, preferably, both). He loves the water on his belly and kicks his little feet with joy. The drying-off portion is still hit or miss, but he's much more tolerant of it overall than his sister ever was.

Yay for clean babies!