Emma loves a good hand washing

I took this video of Emma and thought it was too cute to keep to myself!

One of the things Emma misses out on at home is leaning into the sink and washing her hands by herself and making a mess with all the water.  I think all kids love to make a mess at the water in the sink.  It's almost like a rite of passage for little ones.  Emma has shown me time and again with her giggles and happy feet that she loves to play in the sink and wants to experience this right of passage through toddlerhood.

Since our house is not set up to easily have Emma wash her own hands (i.e., none of our sinks are roll unders!) I usually wind up wetting a washcloth and using it to wash her hands.  It's not that I couldn't put her hands under the sink to wash them more than I do, it's just that there are a million things like this I could do each day but my back can't accommodate them all.  

So, whenever we are out and about I always look for the handicapped sinks to let Emma wash her hands.  This occurs on our weekly visits to the hospital, trips to the bathroom at church, and many museums.  There is one particular museum that has the best set-up for Emma's hand washing and it is the local Children's Museum.  And while you will not find it on their brochure or website the family bathroom stalls with the roll-under sink is Emma's favorite exhibit.  It is there that I shot this video.

One thing I want to point out is how well Emma is listening and following directions over the noise of the water.  This video is soooo cool to me because it shows how good Emma's receptive language is getting with her cochlear implants!  She might not be saying much, but she is certainly taking in all the language we throw at her.  And she looks so grown up washing her own hands.  Thank you, Emma, for sharing your hand-washing joy with me and reminding me to celebrate the little things in life.