We did things different today. It was time to wash our kids, we knew that for sure. They were both pretty gnarly. But bath days are the worst around here. And we have tried everything! Almost…
Brady and I have always said that our soaker tub is for us, not our kids. But in a desperate move to completely separate baths from what they have been in the past, we buckled. We started bath time right after breakfast, and we started with Laela. I bathed Laela while Dekker observed from outside. He loved seeing her, splashing and content in the water. She was less impressed with having her hair washed, but as soon as she fussed, I would pick her up and dip her in and out of the water, sort of “bouncing” her, I guess? He loved that! Brady talked to him about the fact that, while Laela wasn’t necessarily happy in the bath, that I was keeping her safe. Once her bath was done, Brady and Dekker dried her off, and he really liked that too.
He was not as happy when he figured out it was hit turn. He freaked when Brady lifted him into the tub with me. I held him so tight while he screamed and tried to get away. When he could finally hear me speak, I asked if we should sing and he said “ya,” so we did. We sang a version of “Jesus loves me” with lots of clapping and whooping, which he loves. I switched some of the claps to splashed instead, and he loved that. Even getting all soaped up was nothing compared to the great song we were singing. But as soon as I lifted that bowl up, he lost it. He squirmed and kicked until he kept almost falling and slipping, and it was just such a mess. Finally, I just leaned him back and poured water over his hair while Brady worked the cloth to make sure he got none in his face or in his eyes. Dekker screamed the entire time. The second it was over, I wrapped my arms around him and told him it was all done. Brady wrapped him all up in a towel and in no time, Dekker was dressed, happy, and ready to get downstairs to play. I think the timing of the bath was perfect, since it wasn’t straight to bed afterwards, and he got to go play toys and forget about it. It was still far from “good” but it was something. Whats a term for half-assed success?
Downstairs was fun today too. We watched Despicable Me, which I hadn’t seen since theatres. I had forgotten how funny it was. I’m thinking Laela might look like Agnes in a couple years 🙂 Dekker loved it too. He loved Gru’s car, and the minions! One little minion was making funny noises with his tongue, and Dekker would laugh and try to mimic it. It was super funny. At one point, Dekker brought one of Laela’s dollies over to where she was playing on her mat. He lay it beside her, cocked his head to get a good look at her, and then said “La sleeps.” Very observant. Once she was awake and back to her toys, he would periodically drop by her mat and check on her.
We spent the evening with some of our friends. We had never actually sat down for a meal together, and after tonight, it seems like something we should have done ages ago. It was actually quite refreshing. They have three kids, and the house is busy, so our noisy kids fit in well and didn’t seem to disturb anyone 🙂 That makes my life so much easier!! However, I have to say that Dekker really surprised me today. He sat in his own chair, where he usually sits on a lap at a new place. He ate his food like a champ, requesting more squash three times. Lots of “yum yum” to be heard from him. Also, for a treat, he got some iced tea. He had his sippy cup of water at the table for his main drink but in his little plastic cup, we pour a bit of iced tea for him. He won’t drink from a cup yet, since he’s so afraid of messes and tends to pour the drink all over himself, so we figured we could give him tiny little sips and he could get the taste of it anyway. Well, he loved the taste, of course. And apparently Brady couldn’t give it to him quick enough. Dekker just grabbed the cup in one hand and drank it. In no time at all, he was pointing to the jug. “Mo? Please?” It was endearing, and exciting that he actually can drink from a real cup. Yay Dekker! Even after dinner, he was incredibly friendly! He had maybe three cries, but two were from falling and only one was attitude. She interacted with the other kids, and with the new adults too. He initiated the interactions, tossed balloons around, asked for help, said please, and even allowed himself to be picked up by someone new! It was a huge success! Oh, and speaking of balloons, he has rarely been around balloons, and it turns out he loves them. “Bloon! Bloon! Please? Hep? Bloon!!” It was awesome.
Awesome enough that we accidentally stayed until 10:30!!! Turns out we’re horrible people for staying so long, but I feel like losing track of time is also a really nice thing, because we really had a lovely time with our friends. And it was refreshing to see Dekker SO happy in a new place with new people. Thats not especially common, and its exciting to see him grow like that.
Now, we’re all home and tucked away. Deks is in bed, Laela is having some milk, and my bath is run. I had to fight for it, though. I know, its a little late for bath time. But this morning’s bath just didn’t quite meet my relaxation standards, and didn’t include snacks. And that’s important.