Thanks, Buddy. I needed that.

I just gave B a bath. For the last 3-4 weeks, this has been a task of extreme dread and stress. He has always been really good in the bath. And all of a sudden, he FREAKED out. He cried and screamed and refused to sit down. One time, both hubby and I had to hold him back just to get it done. I tried lots of different approaches and each time was the same. The only thing I could do was to figure out how to get him in and out in 5 minutes and pretty much hold my breath the whole time while he seemed to be under immense duress. Fun stuff.

My big boy went through two anti-bath stages like this. All of a sudden, out of the blue - just HATED it and seemed petrified. And the second phase lasted an entire 9 months. Not days. Months. We had finally gotten to a point with the 2 of them where I didn't dread what should be a fairly enjoyable event.

And then B started up. I was bracing for another potentially long road.

So tonight, after an especially taxing day, I geared up to do the bath. I took him away from his coveted ipad and planned for the worst. Then I changed a diaper which has also been a battle in recent days. Once undressed, I decided to wrap him up in a big towel and just sit with him for a while. Over the last few weeks, he has really seemed to love this post-bath ritual. One time, he even pulled the towel over for a second cuddle after I had already dressed him. After a couple of minutes, I plopped him in the tub. He didn't cry immediately or try to climb out. I started to drop a few toys in. A couple of weeks ago, we had some success getting him to laugh at this game but he still started the crying and freaking out as soon as I started to wash him. This time, he grabbed the toys from my hands and dropped them in one at a time, giggling. It seemed as if he remembered the game. And then, to my surprise, he sat down and happily took a bath. I even got some good vocals from him. He said turtle (sort of) and sang bye bye when I sang a goofy bye-bye water song.

It could be a fluke. Next time may be the same old battle. But it made me really, really happy. And this, my friends, is a prime example of the daily roller coaster my life has become.