TMI re: First Bath

Here's the requisite photo of Izumi taking her first bath. You're so good at math, that's right, Izumi is already three weeks old here. And just now having her first bath?! Eeww...

Japanese friends are particularly appalled when they hear of Izumi's bathing schedule, I mean, lack thereof. When Japanese babies are born, they and their mothers stay in the hospital for nearly a week, and nurses bathe them every day. Once they're home, their mother (or more likely grandmother) takes up the bathing duties and executes them faithfully and usually daily, it seems.

But here we are in the good old U.S.A., where nothing but a sponge bath is recommended until the umbilical cord stump falls off. Now, what is the difference between a sponge bath and a little rub-down with a wet tissue as a sideshow to a diaper change? Not a whole lot, in my mind.

So as I was saying, the above photo is of Izumi in her first bath. What you can't see, as I've cleverly cropped it out, is the part of the bath that has newborn poo floating in it. Eeww again. But no problem, we just dumped that water, rinsed out the bath and started again. We're not terribly clever with reading Izumi's facial expressions yet, but it seems to me she enjoyed round two of her bath a bit more than round one.

Bonus photo, left: Koji, and Izumi accesorized with Aogu's finger, which she needed to remain calm for this photo shoot. Thank God, I am so grateful that to date, Koji is very loving and gentle with Izumi. May this trend continue for the rest of their lives!