Bath Time

About a month before Jude was born, Ryan and I decided to rip apart our only bathroom with an actual tub (our master bath has a large shower). Our original plan saw the bathroom taking minimal time to do, so we assumed it'd be done well before Jude arrived. Well, Lowes and some overtime came along (gotta make the money to PAY for the new bathroom) for Ryan and the bathroom got put on hold. In addition to it being upsetting that we don't have a finished bathroom for Jude, I feel terrible for my cousin Michael who lives with us. His showering is now in part dictated by our morning routine (which is currently very unpredictable being that I typically don't have anywhere I have to be in the AM).

Well - on with the purpose of this whole post. When we first brought Jude home from the hospital it wasn't even an issue. As long as his umbilical cord was still healing, he couldn't be submerged in water anyway. Fast forward a little less than two weeks in and it then became a small issue. I told myself I could continue with the sponge baths or I could take his infant tub downstairs and give him a good cleaning in the kitchen like our grandmothers did their children. I opted for a nice heavy sponge bath. Every other day I would fill a large bowl with warm water and baby wash and scrub him down. At first of course he hated it, but after about two time he caught on that it wasn't that bad.

About a week ago though I was tired of the sponge baths. I was worried he wasn't getting clean enough (not that he really did anything to get too 'dirty') and wanted him to get a good hose down. On one particular morning when I was in the shower Jude started throwing a fit. I of course started to rush my shower (even though I knew he was fine - I still hate when he has to cry) and before hopping out I thought "today's a bath day for Jude, this boy's getting in the shower".

Now I'll say that not once in my life did I ever imagine showering with my son. It seemed bizarre, weird and with the tile floor in our shower stall, just... unsafe. But I went for it anyway. I quickly hopped out of the shower, grabbed one of Jude's towels, a wash cloth and his baby wash and stripped him down. For about the first 15 seconds he did not like it. What was this liquid being sprayed on me? Why is she making it worse with that gosh darn wash cloth?? (all questions running through his head, I'm sure). But within less than a minute he realized it was warm (not too warm!) and comforting. He calmed down and just looked at me with this look like "what are you doing to me now?? hasn't the last month brought enough changes??"

After he was all cleaned up I wrapped him up tightly in his towel. His hair felt softer and smoother and he just seemed cleaner than a sponge bath could get.

Now, this isn't to say I'd prefer this over giving him a bath. I want my peaceful shower back, but for right now it's working well for us.

I called Ryan that afternoon and told him "I did the first of many things you may disapprove of me doing as a mother". He just laughed.