I started noticing a pattern with the kinds of pictures I take with my phone. They are the very far from staged, quick! grab a camera moments part of every day with a baby. And a huge number of them include two of Annie's favorite pastimes. Eating, followed by bathing.
And even if we do the bathing before the eating, we typically do another round of bathing after the eating for good measure. Because who wants to put their kid to bed looking like this:
If you're curious why she's usually naked during mealtimes, it's because beets stain. And so do bananas - something I've learned since becoming a mama. And surprisingly, so does watermelon. And spaghetti sauce. And basically everything else that we feed this kid. So, we try to minimize food to cotton contact.
Are you wondering if I've ever heard of a bib? Well, then I'd have to ask you if you've ever fed Annie. I'm not worried about the five inch by six inch patch of her T-shirt that a bib covers. I'd like for the WHOLE outfit to stay clean...lap included. And that is not something any bib I've ever known has been effective at doing. Plus, this girl likes to put her hands on her head and rub crumbs into her hair as she chews. It's therapeutic, I think? Try it. Okay, don't. That'd be weird.
We admit, it's not always Annie's doing that destroys her face and clothes at dinnertime. But hey, putting a spoonful of stainable food in the mouth of a moving target as she repeatedly dodges you is no easy task. Like this chocolate pudding Annie stole from Great Grandma Betty while she was in the hospital at Thanksgiving.
Apparently mashed bananas is not how she wanted to be introduced to the culinary world.
Before long she become all about solid food inspiring this 'thirty dirty' weekly photograph (find all the weekly pictures here):
It's amazing that only six months ago she subsisted on milk alone, and just last month she dove head first into this strawberry birthday cake:
side note: This delicious Strawberry Cake recipe is from my Uncle Mark Lacy found in the Mueller Family Cookbook! Buy a copy here! It's the only cookbook I own - it's the best. Proceeds go toward the Alzheimer's Association in honor of my grandmother Nadine.
But back to the point. This girl thinks of eating as a full body experience and likes her toes to get a taste, too. So, baths are a necessity. Or worst case, a foot rinse in the sink.
Thank goodness she loves the water.
And her daddy.
In fact, she loves her daddy so much that he slaps on a swimsuit and gets in with her from time to time. And because she loves him so much, sometimes, just sometimes, she likes to offer a gift to him as a token of her appreciation.
Those aren't pebbles behind her bum...
I love how proud she looks to boot.
And messes happen on vacations, too. So, bath time gets a better view for weekends at the lake.
But my favorite part of bath time is pulling her out and bundling her up in a big white towel.
And there you have it, bib blowouts and bubble baths.
