Are all baths terrible?

Newborns are supposed to gain about an ounce a day in their first few weeks of life. Formula-fed babies are typically expected to gain more than breast-fed babies. We haven't introduced any formula yet. His birth weight was 7lbs, 11oz, and then as expected, he fell to 7lbs, 7oz. So at his two week check up, we would HOPE that he would weigh... forgive me while I do the math... 8lbs 2oz.

Now for the interposed story to keep you in suspense. Bath time was pretty traumatic at first. Upon reflecting on the experience, we theorized that maybe it was because we started in a slightly hungry state, and maybe having a happy, well-fed baby going into it would be better. Of course, we did all the same stuff to try to keep him happy, including hooking up our newly acquired space heater, but we also tried to keep him as covered as possible and make it relatively painless.

Happy, well-fed to start with

Looking pretty cute in his little towel with a hood

And wouldn't you know it... voila! He handled the bath much better than before... if only Grandma Betsy could've been around to see it. She would've been very happy. In fact, she probably would've taken lots of pictures and been really excited - the WHOLE time, this time.

Noah handles the bath time with ease

Look! Still no tears!

Happy, cute, and cuddly in his little hooded towel

Therefore, the answer to today's title question is no. Not all baths are terrible. In fact, they can be quite tolerable, as long as the starting conditions are good, and nothing goes astray during the bath itself.

So, how much do you think he weighs?

Any guesses? Nine pounds! Noah's a little chunker. He has no problems eating. He also grew 1/2 inch in length (I have no idea about that rate of growth compared to normal, and I'm not sure it really matters, since length measurements are so variable for babies... measure him again and he probably will seem to have shrunk, if he's flexing his hips just a little more).

When he was born, he was in the 75th percentile for length and about 25th for weight. He stayed the same in length (75th percentile), and caught up a bit in weight (50th percentile).

Ok. Those were the two stories I hoped to convey in this post: bath time and weight gain. So, you know what that means? Time for cute baby pictures!

So cute in his big-boy shirt

Playing on the play-mat

Reaching for toys

Wait! He's not a baby! Great-grandpa Asai having a chocolate cigar to celebrate!