As much as I love to watch Natalie grow and develop and hit her milestones, I have to admit that every time she does something new Mikey and I both have a little inner groan as we realize that life has just gotten a bit harder.
Take sitting up, for example, which happened a couple of months ago. We were thrilled. Overjoyed! Our baby girl was so strong, and being able to sit up to play with her toys absolutely changed Natalie's outlook on life. She was happier, more smiley, and so much more content to play on her own instead of needing constant interaction and entertainment.
But, sitting up also meant that bath time (our favorite time!) suddenly became a challenge. Once Natalie realized that sitting up was, hello, awesome, she no longer wanted to take life lying down. That meant that she would struggle like mad during bath time to try to heave herself up. Clearly, hair washing became a nightmare.
To remedy that problem, we decided she was big enough to simply sit up on her own in the tub. No problem, right? Well, imagine trying to keep a greased pig in a tiny tub while it tries to nosedive straight down into the water. Not so easy. And? As she got stronger she began using the little tub to pull herself up to a half-standing position so she could reach out for anything in sight--the shower curtain, the water spigot, the drain. Again, nightmare.
So, in the interest of making life easier (despite it meaning a boo-hoo moment as I realized that, yet again, my baby is growing up), we said sayonara to the baby tub yesterday and just went for it with the big tub. We put a towel down to keep her from sliding everywhere, and tossed in a few of her shape blocks for her to play with, and voila! Bath time disaster solved.
Take sitting up, for example, which happened a couple of months ago. We were thrilled. Overjoyed! Our baby girl was so strong, and being able to sit up to play with her toys absolutely changed Natalie's outlook on life. She was happier, more smiley, and so much more content to play on her own instead of needing constant interaction and entertainment.
But, sitting up also meant that bath time (our favorite time!) suddenly became a challenge. Once Natalie realized that sitting up was, hello, awesome, she no longer wanted to take life lying down. That meant that she would struggle like mad during bath time to try to heave herself up. Clearly, hair washing became a nightmare.
To remedy that problem, we decided she was big enough to simply sit up on her own in the tub. No problem, right? Well, imagine trying to keep a greased pig in a tiny tub while it tries to nosedive straight down into the water. Not so easy. And? As she got stronger she began using the little tub to pull herself up to a half-standing position so she could reach out for anything in sight--the shower curtain, the water spigot, the drain. Again, nightmare.
So, in the interest of making life easier (despite it meaning a boo-hoo moment as I realized that, yet again, my baby is growing up), we said sayonara to the baby tub yesterday and just went for it with the big tub. We put a towel down to keep her from sliding everywhere, and tossed in a few of her shape blocks for her to play with, and voila! Bath time disaster solved.
(The budge LOVES splashing, and has become so fascinated by her ability to splash that she is now constantly doing her arm-waving splash motions wherever she is. I'm sure she is just hoping that air will make a big splash, too, one of these days.)
Just one small problem.... she's now figured out how to stand up in the bath tub, and is dying to both stand and splash simultaneously. Pulling to standing milestone reached. Life, harder.
Sounds about right.
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