Bedtime Routine

Tori’s bedtime routine in exact order because that is how it has to be in Tori’s world…

Make a surprise in the potty (she sits on the potty with the same book every night with her feet up on a stool.) Here’s how it goes when she’s done…“I made surprise for you.” Tori cheerfully announces as she’s sitting on the potty. When we come into the bathroom she stands up, shakes her hinny, and proudly declares that the surprise is in the toilet. “Aren’t you so proud of me?” We both have to come see… keep in mind, she’s been potty trained for almost a year and we still need to celebrate each poopy in the potty.

We then ask her to pick out her jammies and diaper. If we pick them out we usually pick the wrong ones. She often grabs two diapers… one to wear and the other one to smell (not sure why). These must be put on in the living room in front of the fire. She then asks, “can you leave the door a little bit open?”

Dental hygiene- in exact order… fluoride, “can I do it?”… I always say no… she still asks every night. Brush teeth- she always stops us and asks us, “are you brushing in circles just like the dentist told me?” We then floss. If any of these steps are reversed or forgotten she is sure to correct us.

Then it’s time to read a book- we have to sit in the big blue chair with the light on and she needs to recline it all by herself. She’s then asks me to “read just like a teacher.”

After story time is time to get into bed… She asks, “can you leave the door a little bit open?” She then has to collect everything- duckie, doggie, floxy the lamb, and anything else that’s been special during the day. She has to tuck her baby Sally into the bed she’s made for her. She checks to make sure she has water, that the night light is on and usually grabs a book to read. When all is in order she goes over to Baby Siah’s crib and sings him Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. When she finally gets into bed she wants to be covered up with one blanket… it can not be folded and we wouldn’t dare add a second blanket even if it is cold. (Sometimes, we sneak in and add another blanket; she wakes up and removes it.) We then pray… sometimes she joins in but usually she wants us to say the prayer. She gives hugs and kisses and lots of I love you’s and the very last thing we hear as we walk out the door is always, “can you leave the door a little bit open?”

Josiah’s bedtime routine-
Try to catch him and put on his jimmies. Wrestle him where ever we caught him and try to get him dressed… try to catch him again as he’s naked and running away or trying to jump off the changing table. Make a bottle… as soon as he hears that it’s ready he runs to the big blue chair, cuddles for 3.2 seconds, throws the empty bottle on the floor, and immediately tries to get away. He’ll occasionally tune in while we are reading Tori a story… but usually that ends with Tori saying, “he’s bugging me.” Since he’s trying to wrestle the book away from us or throwing things at our heads. We then try to brush his teeth. It’s a two person job… one of us holds him and tickles him so he’ll open his mouth so the other one can get the toothbrush in and at least attempt to clean his teeth. We then put him in his crib and he acts like a caged monkey… jumping, yelling, laughing, throwing things… eventually he crashes and all is quiet except for the sound of the paci being sucked.

I love our crazy life… I also really love watching my little ones sleep.
One of us always sneak in before we go to bed and makes sure they are covered up and sleeping peacefully. That’s my bedtime routine and if I’m not the one to check on them, I love watching Jeff watch our babies… it’s so precious! Life is Good!
This is a picture of Tori... but if she wasn't wearing pink jammies... you probably couldn't tell the difference. Besides, I doubt I having any of Josiah sleeping- he doesn't do it very often. And he only cuddles on accident... like if he's sick or so tired he can't help it... but then he remembers and tries to get away.