tonight, eric was upgraded to a really, really big paci, which is yet another sign that he’s getting to be a Big Boy. the pacifier is a special preemie, orthodontically-correct paci which the nurses claimed would be difficult to find outside the nicu. it doesn’t seem too difficult if you know where to look, but maybe there’s a difference that makes a difference that i’m not seeing. i’m sure someone can help me clear up the confusion. in any case, the supersized paci is a big step on the way to getting prepared for breastfeeding. it’s neat to see him start to suck on everything in sight when it gets close to feeding time, even though his feedings are coming through the feeding tube.

maybe someday, i’ll stop documenting every bath that he gets, but today was not that day. kris looked at me with a raised eyebrow when i told her that i was going to photograph yet another spit bath, but i just couldn’t quite bring myself to not take the pictures. hopefully you’ll still enjoy the fruits of my obsessiveness.

no, this isn’t a mere product placement for johnson & johnson shampoo; it’s time for another “spit” bath! eric can’t have a full tub bath because his IV is in his arm, which makes it more difficult to keep water from infiltrating the line.

first, the eyes must be scrubbed.

and then the inside of the ear.

don’t forget the back of the ears. you don’t want any yeasty growths accumulating behind the ears.

scrub his head!

rinse his head!

aahhhh. a brief respite from the rigors of the spit bath.

a bath can be pretty tiring and one must yawn at least once during the process.

scrubbing bubbles.

during the bath, eric decides that maybe the new, supersized paci would be a good way to help make the best of the situation.

it’s always nice to end a bath with a little fingergrab.

tucked in for the night. well, not really, because the nurses will still be doing their nursing duties every couple of hours, but we like to imagine that he’s really settled in for a long night of restful sleep.

i think the muscle shirt with cars suits him well.

in one of the most subtle changes of late, eric’s nasal cannula air flow was decreased from 2 liters to 1.5 liters, which is a huge step forward in the process of getting weaned from the respiratory aid. the nurses thought he’d need to have his supplemental oxygen turned up to help offset the decreased airflow, but he didn’t, which they said was quite impressive.

the floating ball indicates the flow rate. when it gets to zero, he’ll be able to get rid of the nasal cannula altogether and be free of tubes up his nose!

they also told us that, as soon as he gets the IV taken off of his hand, we can start bringing in his own personal clothes! the clothes he’s wearing now are special tops with velcro that make it really easy to get on and off in the event of an emergency, but soon he’ll be able to wear regular street cloths.

so, late in the night we did his very first load of laundry.