Baby life: bath time
A few snapshots of one of Asa’s favorite activities. Someone wet through his diaper all the way up to his chin this morning, so a bath was in order.
Recently, I have found myself deliberating over whether I want to share certain pictures of him online. There is nothing inherently offensive or wrong with sharing baby rolls and baby butts, and I have no issue with other moms sharing their adorable kids running free in their birthday suits, at all. But I had a picture (an adorable one) of him anticipating the bath, from the back, and I even had it uploaded in this post… and I found myself wondering whether I really wanted to share. Whether he would really appreciate it when he was fifteen. Whether I really want strangers to be able to search and find my kid’s butt on the internet, however innocent it may be. 
It’s crazy how motherhood changes as it goes; when he was an itty bitty baby, I didn’t care as much. But now that he’s getting bigger and close to walking, I feel as though the days of bare-tush-sharing are over. Perhaps because he’s becoming his own little person, growing in independence, and I can see the little boy he’s going to be in a few years. Perhaps because he just seems so big to me; too big to be considered a baby any more.
But, I will always treasure those roly-poly pictures in my personal photo albums, because I know they won’t last forever. This boy is already growing out of his chubbyness, into a full-fledged boy. His arms don’t have creases any more; his legs are fast following. What was an expanse of squish with three rolls is now down to just one. Thank goodness he still has those cheeks, or I might cry over the loss of all his beautiful baby fat.
Also, the above picture might be my new favorite.
Happy Wednesday!
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9 Comments
jerry arnold
such a beautiful baby…yes, indeed they grow up so fast…the chapters fly by…you’ll blink and it’ll be the car keys and grandkids!!! enjoy these moments…
skye
“Whether he would really appreciate it when he was fifteen.” Thank you for considering this! I see some of the things people say about their kids online, and I just cringe for the day the kids are old enough to read it. I have no issue with bath pictures, but I’ve seen articles to the effect of “I admit I love one kid more than the other”, and I’m like…why would you ever post that under your real name? Nothing is private on the internet.
https://colormebrazen.wordpress.com/
Eccentric Owl
Oh man, I know! I understand if it’s a joke, but… what? Even then, I’d be careful. What you say on the internet seriously cannot be undone.
ebhendrian
Oh my goodness, he is SO cute! I totally agree with you on not posting certain photos on the internet, and being thoughtful in general about what you share – I’m sure your son will appreciate it when he’s older. 🙂 I remember being MORTIFIED as a teenager that a baby bathtime photo existed of me in a family photo album… thankfully blogs didn’t exist yet! 😉 Now that I’m a mom and know the sweetness of chubby rolls and bare baby skin I understand why my mom took that photo, but I think it is still important to use wisdom about which moments we share online and which we decide to treasure privately as a family. 🙂 Thanks for sharing these sweet moments with us!
Eccentric Owl
Haha, I was never one to be mortified by naked baby pictures of myself, but my husband TOTALLY is. It never struck me that someday I’d have to be choosing between sharing with blog-friends I love, and keeping moments to myself (I try to be fairly open here!) But, as with any relationship, there are always things that need to be private, so here we are!
dani
That FACE! Ooooh it just makes you want to smoosh him with kisses.
I suppose it would be hard to decide what to show to the world. I know people who don’t put ANY photos of their child online, and then I know people who put EVERYTHING about thier child online. Personally, I appreciate those that share more, but I can understand why people wouldn’t want to share everything about their baby with the world.
Eccentric Owl
Yes, he gets multiple smooshes and kisses EVERY day. All the time. He’s used to it.
It is harder than I expected it would be to edit his life on the internet – I love sharing, because I Think he’s cute and I know others do, too (not in a braggy way, but in a… I love to share joy way?), but at the same time I don’t want him to look back and wonder why I shared/said something that I did (such as butt pictures.) I don’t think I’d ever be able to not share ANYTHING about my babies, haha!
Emily
So adorable! It is so amazing to watch them stretch their way out of baby fat and into these long-legged creatures … my daughter is 3 and it is such an incredible journey. I have been thinking a lot about the whole online sharing thing lately too, especially after reading an article about “over-sharenting” as it was called. It is a difficult line to toe and in a way our generation of parents (I use the term loosely) is kind of having to figure it out as we go along because there aren’t a lot of models to look to for guidance. No answers here, just commiserating about the difficulty of knowing what to do!
Emma
When my eldest turned one I kind of stopped thinking of her as a baby. Just like you are with Asa. Now my son is 10 months and even though he is almost walking an the same size as my daughter was at 1 I hold him close and can’t ever imagine him as anything but a baby. He seems so far from being grown compared to his 3 year old big sister. Funny how things change. Now I realise that at one she was still a baby, I just couldn’t see it without an older child to compare. It’s all perspective! Asa is absolutely adorable. His face is so sweet it melts my heart!