Westley and I are standing outside the shower. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to dry two people with the one clean towel we have in the house.
I've been showering with Westley since he was five months old. It was fun and easy for a while, and it's still mostly fun, but this morning I'm getting a real lesson in patience. He's opened and closed the shower door at least a dozen times, letting cold air in and hot water out. He would really like to play with my make-up, and he shrieks when I tell him no. We're dripping wet and naked and I'm freezing so I figure he's really freezing. I can't dry Westley and keep him away from the poopy diaper that's sitting on the toilet waiting to be soaked, and stop him from tasting the shampoo, so I hand him the first thing I can reach to play with.
It's my razor handle. There's no blade on it. I ran out of replacement blades a few days ago, and keep forgetting to buy more.
Westley eyes the handle for a minute. Then looks me straight between the legs, takes the handle and scrapes it across my crotch, where the stubble is starting to get noticeable.
He likes to help me brush my hair. I guess it shouldn't surprise me that he'd want to make sure I did a thorough job de-fuzzing my lady regions. Especially since he's roughly crotch-height these days.
* * *
Rob takes over my baby-showering duties on the weekend. From the living room, I can hear the shower door opening and closing, and Westley laughing. Then I hear Rob:
"Gentle! That's Daddy's penis."
* * *
If he had his way, Westley would be naked all the time. Being naked, apparently, is where it's at. For one thing, you're a lot faster with no bulky diaper in the way. For another, when you have to pee, you can see the pee come out, which is like, whoa! But mostly, nudity just feels great.
I do not understand this at all. For me, being naked is a necessary unpleasantness on the way to some other activity.
I'm a foot nudist, and my son will almost certainly be one too. The first thing I do when I get home is take off my shoes. Now that he wears them, I've started taking Westley's shoes off right after I take mine off. Like oxygen masks on the plane: remove your own before offering assistance to others...
For a while, I was taking Westley's shoes off but leaving his socks on. His feet got too cold otherwise. But now that he's discovered the joy of nudity, he's becoming more interested in clothes and how to get them off. Socks are easy to take off: just yank, and ta-da! Naked feet!
So now, Westley has cold feet all the time. Just like Mommy.
.....................................
