Bathtime!

Bathtime is a wonderful time of day. We generally have a great morning routine. The girls wake up usually within 15 minutes of each other. Whoever is up first gets to come to my bed and snuggle until the other is awake. (Once I declared that my favorite child would be the one who slept the longest at night. My mom didn't think that was fair. But at 6 am, it's true.) Once everyone is awake, we pile into the kitchen for breakfast which is announced with an excessive amount of excitement from me and the chattery butterfly, ("Breakfast time!!" as we race down the hall). We make a huge mess, attempt to clean up and then head for the kids' bathroom for one of our very favorite activities. Today ladybug was so excited she even launched into the still-filling tub with her diaper still on. With both butterfly and ladybug happily splashing among the bubbles, I sit back, pull out my phone and do another required daily task, check facebook. Sad, I know. I'm kind of addicted.

Once that is done, I can play more freely because let's face it, we have some of the coolest bath toys. My favorite are the foam letters that we can stick to the wall and encourage butterfly to identify. Ladybug likes to teethe on them, thus explaining the bite marks. Her favorites are A and L. Sometimes there is a brief tussle over the hair-washing water bucket because we love to dump water on each other, the floor and especially mommy's feet. But they can always be redirected with our fish friends. These little plastic toys don't really do much until I figured out that you can squeeze them, hold them under water to fill them up and voila! we have a makeshift watergun. We also have the "fish parade", the ocean animals that can be linked together until ladybug comes crashing down on them, much to her sister's annoyance. But then, she gets revenge by insisting on "helping" me wash her little sister's hair. My lil ladybug still does not understand why I must do this, despite the amount of mashed up banana and chocolate smeared into her hair. Fortunately, my butterfly actually enjoys having her hair washed and doesn't put up too much of a fight anymore. Her favorite part is tipping her head forward during the rinse so her curls fall forward and the water streams down them, creating a little curtain around her face. It amazes me how long her hair is when the water pulls it straight and how fast it springs back up as the curls dry, appearing to lose at least 4 inches in length.

The ladybug always wears out first, but I can't say I blame her since usually bath lasts over 30 minutes (it's just too much fun!) and I wrap her into her fluffy purple hooded towel that our friend gave us as a baby shower gift. She likes to be wrapped tight and snuggle up against me until I finally deposit her onto the changing table so I can wrap her sister in her matching towel (who then takes off running to play with her "cape" streaming behind her) and rinse the tub. Then we commence the "routine". Each child must be slathered in "lolo" (lotion, love baby Aveeno), baby diapered and both girls dressed, hair done and finally set free to play again. By now, mommy is soaked and exhausted by my girls look so dang cute.