What I want to achieve this summer through bath time play with my 0-year-old daughter

Among the busy times spent with my daughter from morning till night, bath time is one of them.

My internal monologue during the few dozen minutes I spend in the bath with my daughter goes something like this.

I have to be careful to make sure no accidents happen.
I have to hurry so we can get out of the bath while she's still in a good mood.
But I also want to enjoy communicating with her.
But, but, I just don't have the capacity...!

I felt the difficulty of balancing ensuring safety while also having fun.

However, by the time she reached 8 months old, I finally started to have more peace of mind and began to genuinely enjoy bath time.

At the same time, I've had more moments where I think, maybe my daughter is enjoying bath time too? A synergistic effect?

There are a few scenes where my daughter seems to be having fun in the bath.

The first is the 'Can I catch the water coming out of the shower?' trial time.
My daughter tries to grab whatever enters her field of vision first. Toys are like that, and food is too.

Recently, she seems to have noticed the water coming out of the shower and has started reaching for it.

But she can't catch it. Because it's water.

I wonder how she feels about this state of being able to see it but not catch it. I hope she finds it amusing.

The second is the moment she pulls the bathtub plug.

As expected, my daughter tries to grab whatever she sees. As I watched her grabbing it, her strength increased, and she actually became able to pull the plug out.
It has a weight that doesn't move easily, and there's also a sense of accomplishment when it pops out if you keep pulling.

However, for me, it's a problem because the water level goes down...

Basically, I adjust my position so I'm in the tub where I'm hard to see, and I adjust it so I'm in her field of vision only occasionally, maybe on some days.

The third is the splash time in the bathtub.
This is a game where we sit in the tub together, slap the surface of the water, and say 'Splash!' out loud. There's a pattern of just one 'Splash!', and a pattern of doing it dramatically like 'Splash, splash!'

At first, I was doing it alone, but recently my daughter has started imitating me and doing the 'Splash!' too. She even laughs.

It's quite recommended, as you can experience a level of fun that you wouldn't think you'd get from just slapping water.

In addition to doing this splash time to enjoy bath time, I've also incorporated it as a foundation for something I want to do this summer.

That is, my daughter's pool debut!!!

I think one of the hurdles for my daughter to enjoy her first encounter with a pool is getting water on her face at an unexpected moment.
So, I decided we should get used to it in the bath! Since she was about 5 months old, I've been steadily (?) playing 'splash' games with her.

When I splash the water in the tub, it creates droplets.
The strategy is to get her used to those droplets hitting her face.

At first, it was a gentle splash, just enough for a little water to touch her face. Once she got used to that, I started splashing more vigorously, with enough force that she'd get a face full of water.

Thanks to months of repeating these splash games, my daughter seems to have accepted water on her face without crying.

She still looks serious when the water hits her, as if it feels strange, but because I laugh and make it look like so much fun, she now has a look on her face that seems to say, 'Is this... fun? Should I be laughing?' and she'll give me a slightly delayed 'hehe' smile.

This means she should be ready for her pool debut this summer!

My original goal was to buy a plastic pool and have her debut today, on Marine Day.

However, she is right in the middle of what you might call a 'nursery school baptism,' with cold-like symptoms lasting for about two weeks, so I'm holding off on the pool for now.

I've realized that when you're raising a child, there are many times when you can't do what you want to do on the day you decide you want to do it.

But, we'll be able to do it someday!
Since summers have been getting longer over the past few years, this summer is still going to last a while!

Hoping that we can have her pool debut this summer, I will focus on nursing her back to health.

I wrote this because I wanted to participate in Chiaki-san's monthly parenting positive campaign project!
Thank you for always hosting such heartwarming projects!