I Can't Believe it!! Major Breakthrough!

Gedalya has been terrified of the bath for as long as I remember. The last time he took a bath happily was when he was under a year. Since then he has been falling into fits of hysteria if he suspected it's bathtime.
I would improvise, washing him off in the sink, quick showers that had him yelling as if the world was ending... It wasn't fun. He'd climb out and sit in my lap, and I'd have no choice but to rinse the shampoo off while he was in my lap.

Zusha would take advantage of Gedalya's fear of the bath. Whenever I would undress them...
ZUSHA: Gedalya, bath?
GEDALYA: AAAAaaaHHHHHHhhh!!! NOOOOOOOoooo!!!!!!
ZUSHA: Yah!
GEDALYA: No! No! No bath!! MAMAAAAA!!!

Look how sad he is here after a bath:

But tonight I tried something different. I was washing the tub and preparing the bath. Gedalya was running around the house screaming and crying. This time I told him, "No, no bath for Gedalya. Bath for Zusha." It took a while for him to believe me. He didn't stop crying until Zusha was safely in and he was safely out.

Zusha was enjoying himself immensely. He hasn't had a nice calm bath in months. It's always rushed and punctuated with shrieks and sobs. Tonight it was finally peaceful. Gedalya was looking on as Zusha played with the water, the toys, and the "SNOW!"

Gradually, Gedalya stretched out his hand and began splashing and feeling the "snow." After he warmed up to it, I took him and plunked him in! To my surprise, he was totally fine with it. He played, I washed him, and he even cooperated with the hair washing better than Zusha! I can't believe it. I really can't. I am so happy to have overcome this toddler challenge. (Or rather I have exchanged it for public fall-on-the-ground tantrums. But I will revel in my newfound joy of the peaceful bath and deal with the other challenges as they come.)

Look how happy he is now!

And look at that long hair!