bath psychology 101

dAt Monday's weigh in Erik weighed about 17 pounds. From his relaxed posture on the scale I'm starting to wonder if he's getting too comfortable with the weekly weighings.



Ok, so in an effort to decrease the screaming at bath time I tried to use what I learned in Psych 101 at good ol' Augie. I launched a campaign to desensitize Erik to his bathtub. First, I put him in it, fully clothed and read him a book. Happy Erik. Then I took off his onsie, read him a book. Happy Erik. Then I brought the tub into the bathroom and put it in the bathtub and read him a book, neutral Erik. Then I got a rubber duckie wet and put it on his tummy while talking softly to him. Neutral Erik. Lo and behold, the next bath Erik just plain cried instead of screaming. I consider this to be a triumph of science! Science!

Monday Erik had a playdate with the children of my friends Jeanine and Sue. Brody is 7, Claire is 3, Calli and Alyssa are 2. Brody dazzled us with his magic tricks - he just needs to work on not telling us how he does them. Claire enjoyed showing all her toys to the twins, and maybe getting to be the older one who leads the play activities. Calli and Alyssa got to check out lots of new toys and meet Baby Erik who they look at online.