Lisa n Tom (n James n Joseph)

Lisa writes: We bundled up and headed to the Museum of Natural History, then swung by Arlington National Cemetery to introduce James to Tom's dad, Charles.

Lisa writes: Photoshoot with Aunt Christi Line from Hermione Granger: "Is that really what my hair looks like from the back?"

Lisa writes: Christi and the kids woke up, got ready, made pie crusts (apparently it took a couple of tries to get this right), cleaned up the kitchen, and then got bored. So they headed off to Tyson's Corner, James in tow. James at the Tesla store. Asleep. Did you know Teslas don't have an engine? Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and styling. Christi texted me this with the caption: "The force is strong with this one." Cheerful, he is, especially considering that at this point they'd been dragging him around for five hours.

Lisa writes: Christi and kids arrived last night. James was so excited to see them that he wouldn't go to bed until late and ended up sleeping in until 10 a.m. (which he has NEVER done!) along with all the rest of them this morning while Tom and I went to work. Christi send pictures of the gang as they were finally being rousted out of bed. Madison, age 17, and James, 7 1/2 months and First Breakfast. James: "Ummm?" James, in a very tiny voice, "Heeeeelllp meeeee...." Christi decided naked breakfast would be less messy.

Lisa writes: We went down the Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico (worth the trip if you're in the area) and James tried out some future career options. He is 7 1/2 months old, sitting (and falling), eating people-food (puréed), sleeping through the night (mostly), and showing more and more personality. If you were to ask him, and if he were able to answer, he would probably tell you his most impressive new talent is blowing raspberries while keeping the binkie in his mouth. Try it sometime. Skillz.

Lisa writes: We were asked to be in a little article to be published in the December 2014 edition of the Catholic Charities newsletter. (Click to enlarge slightly)

Lisa writes: James decided to just skip all the little kid stuff and promote himself to the 5 & 6 year old Primary class. "Pbbbt! Nursery. Whatever."

Lisa writes: Seven months is a lot different than two months. Like, a lot.

Lisa writes: We were a mile away when the clouds rolled in. James was a good sport.

Lisa writes: James woke at 5:50 a.m. this morning (thanks, end-of-Daylight-Savings-Time) so we all got up, ate breakfast, and walked to the elementary school to cast our votes. There were only four items on the ballot: Senator, House of Representatives, a proposed Virginia Commonwealth constitutional amendment to exempt spouses of servicemen killed in action from having to pay property tax on their house, and a transportation bond. We were feeling civic-minded and generous, so we agreed to everything. We got stickers.

Lisa writes: We didn't take any pictures on Halloween night, so I subjected the boy to the indignity of being stuffed back into his costume again for a photo shoot. There was a flag flapping nearby that was much, much more interesting than me. Last week, the pumpkin farm down the road was selling the big ones for 0.59 cents a pound, so James here would have been about $11.21. Today was a RED LETTER DAY for James in a bunch of ways. It was his first day of daycare. He will go to Miss Sandy's house twice a week. He was happy when we dropped him off and, Tom reported, hungry when he picked him up. Today he graduated from the carseat stroller to a front-facing "real" kid stroller. And, speaking of carseats, today we had to adjust the straps up to the 3rd of the four settings. Tom had to look up the instructions online to figure out how to do it, and Tom pointed out that he was using the instructions labeled "Bigger Child Settings" now instead of the...