The demise of Bath Man

I'd be willing to bet that when you logged on today, you were expecting to see Yet Another Bathtub Photo (since those are the only recent ones I seem to have). Well, you're wrong. At this point I fear there will never be another happy bathtub photo again.

Despite the fact that Bath Man has been around for almost as long as Liam himself, Liam's love affair with this event has suddenly come to a grinding halt. Once upon a time, he raced up the stairs as soon as he was finished eating dinner, waited impatiently for us to start the water, enjoyed chucking anything he could find into the tub to play with (including such items as cordless phones and snow globes, items that have since hit the trash bin) and then happily stayed in the water until he was well past being pruney. I don't know what changed, but this week he has been on a full-out bath strike. Sure, he will still charge upstairs, load the tub with bubbles and toys, and act like he is getting into it. And then, if you try to get him into the water, he will strike up a bloodcurdling scream.

I could understand this if he'd recently been burned or had a near-drowning experience, but nothing like that has happened. It's seemingly out of the blue. After about 4 or 5 bathless days, I told him that last night was non-negotiable. He seemed to play along well enough, until his ankles hit the water; and then he cried like he has never cried before. I gave him the fastest scrubbing-down in the west and had him out again in under five minutes, but he cried the entire time he was in the tub. Probably not a great way to make him want to get back in again.

Maybe this is a preview of things to come; I know boys aren't supposed to like baths... I just didn't think it would happen so soon... and so suddenly. Anyway, Liam's not looking so photogenic these days, so here's a photo of my sister's cute family from last weekend to tide you over. Henry looks pretty freshly scrubbed in this picture. Enjoy it while it lasts!!