Lisa n Tom (n James n Joseph)

Lisa writes: To be fair, I should include the cute things Joseph and James do at bedtime. Joseph: Snuggles. Wants to makes sure everybody has kissed him after prayers. If you forget to kiss him, he looks at you intently and says, "Uh! Uh! Uh!" until he gets his kiss. James: After lights out, he wants to be wrapped in a blanket and sit in my lap for a while. He's getting too big for it, so it's less comfortable for both of us. After about five minutes, he announces he wants to go into his bed ("Bed.") instead, but he doesn't want me to leave. After singing and quiet time, and get up to leave and he says, "Huggy kissy?" He gets his hug and kiss, and often when he's hugging me he'll say, "I had a fun day today." That gets me, because I'm usually more focused on the things that happened that were NOT fun (getting stressed, frustrated, and upset with the kids). It's a relief to hear that he remembers fun things.

Lisa writes: Joseph (23 months) goes to bed like this: 1. PJs and sleep sack on. 2. Give him a milk bottle while reading a chapter of the children's Bible. 3. Say prayers with the whole gang. 4. Brush teeth. Switch to water bottle (he uses it like a binkie). 5. Turn out the lights. 6. Cuddle for a couple of minutes. 7. Put him in the crib. 8. Not a peep until 6:30 the next morning. The whole thing takes 20 minutes. James (4 1/2) goes to bed like this: 1. Bedtime alarm on my phone plays the "bedtime song" he recognizes. 2. He ignores this. 3. After stalling for at least 30 minutes, sometimes much longer, we herd him into his room. 4. Negotiation and cajoling to get him to take his clothes off. 5. More negotiation and cajoling to get him to put his PJs on. 6. Read two books, sitting in my lap in the rocking chair with Tom sitting nearby on the floor. 7. Negotiation and cajoling to get him to brush his teeth. (This sometimes turns into threats and tears....

Lisa's niece, Madison, wrote: Happy Birthday, Lisa! I hope that you get a lot of presents from the little people and also the big person that all live with you! Thanks for being the coolest aunt that has always been willing to help me whenever I needed it. Here's a 100 bucks for your birthday.  Love, Madison

Lisa wrote to James's preschool teacher: Hi Mrs. Teacher, Yesterday, James announced that his name was "Sebastian James," I am now "Sebastian Mama," my husband is now "Sebastian Dada," and his little brother is now "Sebastian Joseph."  :) Lisa "Sebastian" Anderson And the teacher wrote back: Good Morning! James is so funny!  I know where he came up with this!  We have three "Sebastians" in our class, and we differentiate them by the first letter of their last name.  James asked why I call "Sebastian" "Sebastian Y", and I explained that we have SO MANY " Sebastians".  Then I said that we should just call everyone "Sebastian" and proceeded to call each student by their name with "Sebastian" in front of it.  James is so smart to remember that, and then apply our game to you guys at home!   Thank you for sharing!  I love it when you all tell me about wh...

Pictures by James

Facebook reposted:

Lisa writes: We inadvertently recruited my mom to babysit James for an hour long-distance via Facetime while we finished putting up some shelves in the kitchen. I think they both had a good time.

My kid, front and center James's preschool teacher, Mrs. Miranda, writes: Happy Friday! Today was a busy busy day! We didn't have much time for free-play upon arrival this morning, because we needed to get ready for mass with our buddies! We usually just go to mass on the first Friday of each month and on Holy Days of Obligation, however last Friday being the first Friday of the school year the PK attended mass with the rest of the school. After mass we prayed the rosary as a school on the lawn between the church and the school (I refer to this area as "the big lawn" in case your child ever talks about it). Mrs. Vosburg and I were so very proud of our class! They behaved like the big kids they are while we were in church and then for the rosary - even though there were distractions, and the class was a bit tired, and it was hot - they were trooupers! As a reward, we had a FUN FRIDAY! After snack we played on the playground. We had a very special luncht...

Lisa writes: Got this from another mom in my neighborhood Facebook group. My life is complete.

Baby selfie during Mass Lisa writes: Some baby phases come on slowly, over days or weeks. Some happen suddenly. For example, I am now Joseph's favorite person. As of yesterday. It's been Tom for nearly all of his life, but as of yesterday, I'm it. I am the person he calls to get him out the crib in the morning. I am the person he follows around the house. I am the person he lurches to reach when anybody else picks him up. Mama. That's me. This is flattering and adorable, but I'm already James's favorite person and it bums Tom out. It's a phase, I know.