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"No I didn't give you the gift of life, but life gave me the gift of you!"

Friday, February 8, 2008

Zahri's First Bath




Today we took our first bath, or should I say that I put about 1” of water in the very front of the tub and Zahri sat in it? It was nice because I brought in her stacking cups and linking rings, toys that she has played with for nearly 2 months now, and they really helped her calm. At first I had her stand in the water, which she wasn’t so sure of but she did, and then I sat her down. Yep, a little squeal for a bit, then she looked right up to me like ‘help me mom,’ and then she calmed in the frozen position. After a couple minutes she started to relax a bit, and I was able to at least slowly put water on her back and her hair, by no means was it a ‘I’m totally getting her clean bath,’ but it was a start. Afterwards I snuggled her in the towel and then put baby oil on her, thanks Linda for your wonderful Arbonne treats for Z. Once she was in her pjs she was so darn happy; I can only imagine how great in felt to be semi-clean. I hadn’t tried a bath until today, I didn’t want to overload her on too many new things. I really wanted to come right home and get her in the tub, but I resisted. Look how darn cute she is!

Regarding naps, I had asked if 3 naps a day is normal on my last post, thanks for your responses. Seriously, who knows! I do think that they probably slept more than what is normal to allow the caregivers some reprieve throughout the day, but I am telling you that after 2 hours of playing she is pooped and needs a nap, however, I am learning that when she naps, it is usually only for a half an hour or 45 minutes, no 2 hour naps for Z. She gets very needy (normal) and starts lying on the floor and sucking her thumb. When she sleeps, she always sucks her thumb. It is so cute, when she isn’t quite ready to sleep, we lay on the bed and she talks up a storm. She also makes so many noises with her mouth, ones that I haven’t heard before, I love it! I learned 2 things in the past 2 days regarding naps:

1. If I lightly touch her forehead and face and neck she gets drunk eyes and falls right to sleep. Sweet!
2. Yesterday I was putting her down to nap, and she had 2 toys in her hands. After awhile of playing with them, I took both toys away so she could concentrate on sleeping. She then grabbed for her burp cloth near by to play, so I took that after just a bit. The she found her socks and played with those, again I had to take those too. Then it was my watch on my wrist (which I took off), then she crawled up to the headboard to feel that, then she pulled the blankets back to feel the mattress, then she found her toes, and then she started with her mouth noises. I couldn’t take away her toes or her mouth (haha); I guess this is how creative you get with what little you have to play with while you are in the orphanage. It was so darn funny! Each time I took something away she didn’t squeal, she just found something else to play with.

Really, I don’t just put my child in her walker and let her be all day. I promise! Really! It is just the best time to get descent photos of her since my hands are not full of her. Here are a couple cute ones of her scooting around! I am so glad that I invested in this cheap walker for the week that we are here. It only cost 3000 tenge at the outdoor market (Sulpak – best place to buy cheap walkers). 3000 tenge = about $25 since the dollar is so terrible here. Ugh! We get only 118 tenge right now for $1.00 and that is super low. Even when I first got here we got around 120 tenge for a $1.00; I guess a couple years back your money went very far here but with the decline in the value of the dollar and with all of the new oil and gas rigs around here, it is quite expensive. You think, oh I will buy a fur coat, tall stiletto boots and a tall Russian fur hat, they must be cheap since the demand is so high and everyone wears them. This is not the case.

9 comments:

Alysa said...

She is so cute and now semi-clean! Seems a very happy and content baby. You're doing great!

Alysa

Unknown said...

But I wanted a fur coat, silettos and a tall hat :) ---darn that declining dollar! I fretted until you posted again! I need to hear from you daily! Z is so beautiful---but it also seems like she has a wonderful temperment! Lucky you! My bags are packed and ready to take off in the early am. I can't wait to get me hands on BOTH of you---clean or not!
Love ya!

Susan said...

aww she is precious. WAy to go Mom!! You are such a good mom, such a natural! She looks great.

and, yeah, i figured you just put her in the walker and ignored her all day. NOT.
you're such a dork. :)

thanks for the updates, glad the bath went well. :)

and yay for semi clean. :)

Suzanne said...

Too bad you can't put the walker in the tub! I've been wondering how to introduce baby to the bathtub when the time comes. I thought about drawing myself a bath while she watches on the sidelines from a little walker thing. Then I could climb in and she could see that it's okay. Maybe even bring her in with me?

Anyway, I love your nap stories.

Happy travels to Mom and Beck!!!!!!

xoxo
Suzanne

Stacy Peters-Walters said...

What cute photos of Z! You must be enjoying this quiet time getting to know each other.

When my kids wouldn't sleep, I would gently rub under their eyes and between their eyes. They'd drift off to the soft touch.

Rebecca said...

Chris, I'm reading this blog entry in your living room.... We are one step closer!

The trick is to get INTO the bath--a good, big, bubbly one, and have her take a bath with you. She won't be cold then, as with 1" of water, and she can splash and play and have you right there. And she'll smell good!

One day to take off (oh Lord, please let me have remembered everything....)

Angela said...

Yay for a clean baby! My bio son would get tired after a couple hours of play and/or more stimulation than usual. He took two 2 hour (at least) naps a day until he was about 1 1/2. I know the circumstances are different, but I think the sleep is normal. I'm sure she loves the walker - I think they love to be vertical and see everything like we do. It is so great that you are seeing things from her perspective (holding off on the bath, for example). I have found that the more I can remember to do that the happier everyone is. Children see that you can empathize with them and validating their feelings and needs is important for their emotional development. She is probably a bit young to understand this, but certainly she still reaps the benefits. Great job, MOM!

Stacy Peters-Walters said...

Perhaps this is a dumb question but - They don't bathe the babies???????? I guess it makes sense time wise, but I just had never thought of it.

Connor developed a fear of the bathtub when he was about a year old and we bathed a lot together to get him over his fear.

Aunt Barb and Beck - Have a great flight and safe trip over there! I can't wait to hear that you've made it and how it went! Stac

Kelly and Sne said...

She's so adorable! How fun - her first bath! Although I understand bath time can be trying... it really is a special time. Especially afterwards when their all snuggly. You're a natural!

Izaak, Elijah & Ty 'Bear'

Izaak, Elijah & Ty 'Bear'
Cousins (Izaak wants to name my daughter (his cousin) Isabella, Sant (for 'Santa') or Hershey (his friend's dog's name.) Hmmmm I told him that if we name her 'Hershey,' that would mean that we get to give her a lot of kisses.

Kolter Matthius Simon

Kolter Matthius Simon
Littlest Cousin......possibly. Kolter may indeed be the same age as his little girl cousin in Kaz. :)