first bath

Benjamin's umbilical cord did not fall off all at once. First the doctor took off about 60% of it during his first checkup and told us the rest would come off a bit at a time. Most of what was remaining came off the next day. [Maman corrects me: the doc showed us that most of the stump was about to fall off, but he didn't take it off; he put silver nitrate -- a "chemical cauterizer" -- in Benjamin's belly button, and that first bit actually fell off at his next at-home changing; then most of the rest came off the next day...]

We've seen our boy's bellybutton for days now, but it looked a bit ... scabby ... and so we continued to give him "sponge baths" which he hated (although he's always loved the shampoo portion of the ritual).

Tonight, after subjecting him to the despised rub-down with wet washcloths, I decided to see if I could get the rest of the vestigial junk out of his navel with an alcohol-soaked cotton swab. Out it came, and so to celebrate, we gave him another bath, this one in comfy warm water.

Benjamin loves the real bath. This will be a pleasant part of the evening routine. In attendance for this ablutionary event were maman and mamie (maman's maman) who is here this week to create order out of chaos.

- papa