Bath Time Fun! (?)

 Ok, Day 2 of the 31 for 21 Challenge. My friend, Shelly,  (Carrington's Mama) is sharing a fact about Ds everyday, as well as a blog that supporting and loving Ds. (She put our link on there today. Thanks Shelly! :-)) Anyway, I might follow suit.

So here is your first blog - http://carringtonscourage.blogspot.com/ Shelly and her hubby, Brian, have 8 children - 5 of whom are adopted, 4 with Ds!  Shelly has an amazing heart and I hope I can be more like her when I grow up. LOL They are in process to bring home another little boy, hopefully very soon! I'm sure I'll be posting more about them soon. http://atorchforteagan.blogspot.com/

Fact about Ds: (Michelle is actually the first one that told me this shortly after Ruby and Lydia were born.) 80% of the children born are born to mothers UNDER the age of 35. This is consistent with higher birthrate of this age group. Interesting, huh? Even though as a woman ages, her probability of having a child with Ds increases, but most children with Ds are NOT born to mothers of "advanced maternal age".  Both Elijah's and Jonathan's mothers were well under 35 when they were born.

Ok, bath time fun! (Or maybe not!) So, last night (Sat.) Pat is working back shift (6pm -6am) and Sarah decides to take these cute photos of the boys before bath time. Bath time is usually Daddy's job.

LOVE J's expression here!

Elijah clapping with glee

Bath time progresses as normal with these 2 and Rachel in the tub together. (Our tub is an extra foot longer than standard tubs so they all fit just fine.) I get Jonathan done first so Sarah can give him a bottle before bed as he is very tired. Elijah stands up (big no-no) and starts to squat. (You now know where I'm going with this, don't you?) I ask him if he has to go potty. He does tell me sometimes...sometimes. He says no. I have him sit back down. He stands up again and squats. KERPLUNK!  Yep, he just pooped in the tub! EWWWW!

I pull Rachel out ASAP, and of course she has a cup of water in her hands I neglected to see and it dumps on the floor. I get Elijah out and wiped up a bit and set him on the potty seat. I'm getting Rachel dried off and now she is signing "potty" and saying it very loudly!  She often does this, but nothing happens when I set her on the potty seat.  I don't want to pull Elijah off the toilet yet, as I'm not sure he's finished.

She still insists and Anna offers to take her to the other bathroom. (If you know Rachel, you know that once she has her mind set on something, she does NOT change it.) But no, she won't go. Instead, she pees on the floor! (Do ya think I should start potty training her soon? Yep, probably...)

Ok, Elijah comes off the potty, she goes on. I get Elijah wiped and dried off, dressed, and the floor cleaned up while she sits. Elijah is "released" out of the bathroom in hopes a sibling will play with him and keep him outta trouble. Rachel comes off the potty and 30 seconds later pees on the floor again!!! Ugh! 

Wipe child, wipe floor, trim Rebekah's big toe nail that has ripped off way off goofing around with a sibling or 2 or 3, chase down escapee child still not diapered, try to diaper stubborn child, comfort stubborn child after she throws a fit about getting diapered in the hallway and now has a scrape on her forehead from the plaster walls as she once again tried to escape. Sigh...yep, bath time fun! Or NOT! :-) Yes, I am a very blessed mother of many. 

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All this bath time fun reminded me of Elijah's very first bath. Not just his first bath with me, but his first one ever. I believe he was just given sponge baths in the orphanage. He DID NOT like his first bath, or many to come after that. But now, he LOVES the water - absolutely LOVES it.

So, here are a couple of never before posted photos of Elijah's first bath in a Kiev apt. One thing to notice is his ribs. Scroll back up and look at his ribs now...can't see them can you? :-) Amazing what 9 months and 10# can do for a child! He is even getting some "pudge" under his arms like his little brother. Yep, Jonathan has lots of fun, squishy "pudge".

Thanks for reading my little story. I promise not all of my posts this month will be this long. I'll never get any sleep! Type at you tomorrow. :-)