Evolution of Bathtime

Before we left the hospital with our new baby girl, we asked our nurse to show us twice how to properly sponge-bathe Adeleigh. This would be our routine for a few weeks until her umbilical cord stump fell off. Her first sponge-bath at home by Mommy was not a success. I don't know how anyone can possibly mess up giving a sponge-bath. But of course, I managed to screw something up. I didn't rinse her well enough and gave her a soap rash. When Phaeton got home, he had to rewash her the correct way. I was grateful that this whole bathing without a bath thing was temporary, because I sucked at it.

I couldn't wait until Adeleigh's belly button could be submerged in water. I wanted to cleanse the whole area and be rid of the shriveled up mutant that was still attached. One of my biggest fears was being home alone when Adeleigh's umbilical cord stump fell off. I had it all planned how it needed to happen. Phaeton would get home from work and do his nightly routine of cleaning around the stump with a Q-tip as instructed by the nurse. He'd be swabbing it and it would effortlessly peel off and jump into the trash. Nothin' to it. Everyone would still be smiling.
But that's not quite how it happened.

I was at home, just Adeleigh and me. I was wearing my comfy moo-moo half unzipped while I nursed her. When she pressed up close to me, I could feel the crusty little guy against my belly. I speak negatively of it, but I was starting to accept the thing as a part of my baby I'd have to grow to love, like an 11th toe. Adeleigh did her thing, ate some, fell asleep. I started to pull her away so I could zip up and when I looked down, I saw a normal belly button. It was so foreign to me. I was so confused. And then I started to piece it all together. If this peach button is here, that must mean that the yellow/green dead button, now disconnected, must be here too........I laid Adeleigh down and the search began. I found myself hesitantly looking around, afraid of where the little dude was hiding, like he might pop up out of nowhere onto my shoulder and startle me. I searched high and low and was finally about to give up. I walked into the bathroom, still half unzipped and looked in the mirror. There it was, dangling from my boob. Gross! I panicked, grabbed a tissue and threw that thing in the trash. Now I need a bath! Can you believe some people save those things in baby books?

After the belly-button bug had been disposed of, we were allowed to submerge Adeleigh in bath water. We were so nervous about giving her her first bath, we watched a video on Babycenter.com about proper technique. Being new parents and completely oblivious to anything other than what the internet says, we took it as gospel. We started watching as a "baby-bath expert and mother of 4" taught a new mom how to bathe Baby Farrah. A minute and a half into the video: "Never leave your baby alone." Check. "Make sure the bath water is warm. Aim for 90 degrees or less." We grabbed the thermometer and tested the water. 90 degrees. Perfect. "Not all babies love their baths as much as Farrah." I picked Adeleigh up, excited and nervous about what kind of a bath-baby she was going to be. We gently placed her in the water. Then, we heard the most heart-wrenching cry of her life. She was miserable. And cold. We realized that 90 is 8.6 degrees colder than normal body temperature. Of course she was crying. She was mad at us. And we were mad at Farrah, for making us believe babies like cold baths. Whatever you do, don't watch this video and believe it.
http://www.babycenter.com/2_video_1486858.bc

We started using the sling in the baby tub because it didn't submerge her completely, but we were still able to safely and effectively rinse and get her clean. We also started using warm water. This made everyone much happier. She would be so comfortable, that she'd oftentimes poop or pee all over the sling. So then we'd have to start over.
How proper of her to cover up for the camera -

We evolved to giving baths without the sling. At least if she peed, we couldn't tell. Out of sight, out of mind. Bathtime would be brief, just in case.

Ducky was a must companion for bathtime. If Ducky wasn't in her chubby hands, she was jammed as far as possible into Adeleigh's mouth. I wish I had a picture of that. If Ducky needed a breath of air and escaped to the water, it was a splash-attack to retrieve her and put her right back in-between Adeleigh's cheeks. Our pants were always soaking wet by the end. The not-so-cute part was that we'd have to go out in the cold and walk Rico with wet pants. And by "we", I mean Phaeton.

Adeleigh and Ducky

Now that Adeleigh has more balance, she uses the big kid tub. She loves it. And she jams as many toys as she can into her mouth at once. I think she's learning a thing or two from Cookie Monster.