Splish, Splash, Rudy’s Takin’ a Bath!

The docs told us several times that, due to what Rudy had to endure at the start of his life, he would have his own unique developmental time line.  That’s certainly been the case.  The milestones come slowly, but they do come.

About a month ago, we realized that sponge baths were getting kind of difficult.  Due to his compromised health and this trache and G-tube being potential sites of infection, regular hygiene is a big deal (having a Mom who’s borderline OCD works in his favor here).  We don’t have the biggest of kitchen counters to begin with and Rudy has become very good at grabbing for things and knocking them down.  So bath time became a sort of juggling routine of trying to control his squirming, catching items (sponges, medical supplies, dish soap, the phone, the fruit bowl) before he knocked them over the edge, and then–oh, yeah–actually getting him clean.

So, now that he can sit up pretty well on his own, we finally decided to see if we could skip the sponge bath and put him in the sink.  While we captured the first couple of times on video, we thought it would be cruel to post that as he HATED it.  We suspect there was something about the new sensation that just wasn’t suiting him.  But that’s where having a skilled in-home therapist at home sure is handy.  Olivia loves taking care of her little brother and he clearly loves her attention.  Check it out:

We’ve got a big bathing boy, who even likes to splash around in the tub!  Astute Rudy fans might recall that this isn’t Rudy’s first foray into the bath…but look how far he’s come!    Stay tuned…if he keeps growing this way we’ll have to transition him to the actual bathtub before too long!