Nakey Time

Subterfuge and trickery...all part of my M.O..  Zeke has had a lot of difficulty in letting go of the items that came with him.  His shoes, his jacket, his pants, and his toys have been constant companions.  Trying to take the clothing off while he is awake and you've got a melt down.  He's been sleeping in his shoes.  It feels a bit mean to do a complete switcheroo while he is sleeping.  It doesn't really seem to send the message "these people are okay and can be trusted." 

So I had tried to change his pants or his shirt every other day and left the rest alone.  However, his feet are starting to reek (from wearing the same shoes every day for 5 days straight with no breathing time?).  And his jacket is looking a bit, well, disgusting.  Days of rolling on the airport floor, chewing on the collar, and dribbing watermelon juice down the front are starting to take their toll.  Plus the jacket is hot.  Since he refuses to be in a carrier or stroller, we have been forced to carry him so it's not just hot for him, it's hot for us. 

To be sure, I have tried lots of things to get him to change his clothes.  Every morning, I've pulled out two shirts and two pants and asked him to choose one.  I've tried running the bath water and putting toys in it.  But he wanted nothing to do with those things.

So today I decided to be sneaky.  Zeke seems to have a pretty good sense of order.  He likes to use napkins and puts things into the garbage.  I decided to try the bath and toy thing again but this time, with a glint in my eye.  My plan?  Get him soaking wet in his clothes.   With a sippy cup, an empty bottle, a toothbrush and a plastic car, I set to work.  The two of us played a bit beside the tub.  Then I sat on the edge with my feet in.  Then I got in, completely clothed.  I asked him many times to join me but he didn't want to.  So I sat in the tub, used my bottled under the spigot to make a fountain, and played.  He giggled and laughed and had a good time splashing me.  And my fountain bubbled, and gurgled and sprayed everywhere.  Pretty soon, he was soaked.  I made one last attempt at getting him in the tub.  I turned the water off and told him he needed to get in if he wanted to play more.  (He has figured out the baby signs for more and all gone already.) 

After a bit of a sign discussion, he decided he was done.  Out he went to Derek and what did he immediately start doing?  Stripping down.

 Do you hear my evil laugh?   MWWAAHHHH!  

The smelly jacket and shoes were hidden away while I helped him finish getting undressed.  I got out a few clothing choices but he was uninterested so we just let him run around in a diaper figuring that at some point, he will get cold or we will leave and he will want to put clothes on because we are leaving.  Right now, as I type this, he has on new pants and new socks.  He actually had on new shoes at one point but took them off.  No interest in a shirt just yet.  And maybe the melt down will come when he realizes that his jacket is missing but we'll deal with that when it comes.

So enjoy the nakey time pics!  We're enjoying the fact that we've got a few more smiles and a few less smells.



Even headed back into the bathroom to put new toys in the tub; guess he'll have to try them out another time.



Success...taken an hour or so after I wrote this post!