Snuggles and Bathtime

Two things worth mentioning this month that didn't seem to make it into the '16 Months' post. Ava is going through a phase, two actually, one which I never want to end and one which I hope ends as soon as possible.

The last couple of weeks Ava has entered the long awaited stage where she again wants to cuddle into my shoulder before she goes to sleep or when she is scared or tired. When she was an infant I thought there was nothing better but really, she had no choice--she could barely hold her head up. Now, she wants to snuggle mommy! Ahh, it melts me. The only drawback is that she weighs 25 pounds so I can only hold her for so long before my back begins to give out. I wish I had a picture of one of these moments but they are almost always right before bed and I'm sure she would lift her head as soon as the camera was in sight. Maybe I can get someone to snap a few when she is no doubt exhausted during our beach vacation next week!

The second phase (that I am praying really is a phase) is Ava's hatred of baths. She has never really enjoyed them but they've now turned into me holding her in a sitting position while she screams and I do a barely passable job at cleaning her. It takes ten minutes to get the bath ready and approximately 8 seconds for her to be soaking wet, wrapped in a towel in my arms and screaming for her ducky. Some days I can calm her down enough to be distracted by a toy while I wet her down but most times I'm not that lucky. I thought all babies loved water but that's not the case with this one! I've resorted to pouring water right over her head--she's going to cry anyway, may as well get it over with fast! Poor girl. Did no one tell her that bathtime is supposed to be fun?