Nathan reached a milestone tonight. He got out of the bathtub by himself. While this sounds so trivial, even as I type it, I couldn't help but shed a tear when it happened. Bathtime is a ritual at our house, a constant. No matter what the day has been like - the Hacker boys always have a bath before bed. I think I can count on my hand the number of times we have skipped bathtime.
It is a great family time for us - it's fun! Dan typically has done bathtime at our house starting with the boys very first baths. While I was breastfeeding, he could have intimate time with them as he washed them. It was known as 'daddy time'. Dan has done a wonderful job training them in bath etiquette, and they both know to clean up the toys when done, pee down the drain not on each other, rinse out the cloth and then hang it up. Typically mommy comes in to sweep up the clean boys and snuggle them. (After all, that's what mommies do best) Nathan and Drew both know to face me backwards so I can put their hooded towel on them, and grab them up from behind. It's our thing. I didn't realize until number 2 came along and started mimicking his older brother that it was our thing. It's something that Nathan became jealous of when Drew was the one being picked up and snuggled on. It's now something I pay close attention to - as does Nathan, at least until this evening.
Tonight as he was cleaning up his toys and wringing out the cloth to hang it up, he jumped out of the tub on his own and proceeded to put his towel on his head. He stopped looked up at me, and we both realized at the same time what he had done....he skipped our "thing." I scooped him up at once and snuggled him looking in the mirror - as if to forget that my baby is no longer a baby. He's a big boy that doesn't need me to swaddle or cuddle him, except when he wants it. And for that, I shed a tear.
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