Like most babies, Zoë's got a daily bedtime routine that we go through, and while she's a fan of bath time and story time, that's about it. We start with bath time, which is usually a shower. She's not a fan of sitting down, so it seems like a waste of water to take a bath. Plus, she enjoys walking through the shower stream. Of course, it's crucial to have a non-slip mat in the shower for her. She's a quick little thing and it's no secret that it's easy to slip in the shower.
After her shower, she immediately points to her teeth and says "tooth." She enjoys brushing her own teeth, but the problem is, she doesn't really know how to brush them. That's when the crying begins. I lay her down with her head in my lap like my mom used to do with us and I brush her teeth, gums and tongue. Then it's time for her diaper. She is NEVER a fan of having her diaper put on, I'm really not sure why. Fortunately, I sing her a little song about specked frogs (I'll tell you more about that later) and she's content enough.
While putting pajamas on would usually be the next step, we have to do one more before she gets dressed: lotion her up with Aquaphor first, then Mustela Stelatopia. She has eczema on her legs so the Aquaphor keeps the moisture in and the Mustela is a lotion meant for babies with eczema with special ingredients to "restore" the skin. It's not exactly a long process, but it's long enough when you've got a tired, squirming baby. After the lotion, we put on her pajamas and she's finally calmed down just in time for story time.
It's cute, she sits down and then points to the bookshelf, signs book and says "buh." (It's strange, back in the day she actually said "book," but somewhere along the way it went to "buh." We're working on getting it back to "book.") No matter how tired she is, this nugget can read like ten books as long as you let her turn the pages. We usually limit it to two or three, though, depending on the length of the books we read.
Finally, and this is the part I should have worked on when she was younger, I nurse her to sleep. I read books while she was an infant about avoiding that habit, but she was quickly accustomed to it and I couldn't not do it without her crying furiously. I've been advised to let her "cry it out," but I just couldn't do it. So, here we are almost 15 months later and I'm still nursing her to sleep. Some people may judge me for it, but, hey, I'm doing the best I can. And that's why we've created this blog. None of us are perfect mothers, but we all do whatever we can to raise strong and healthy individuals.
Thanks for reading!
Christina
