2 years 29 days

Day 760. Last night I headed to bed some time after midnight. Tammy had a little bit of a runny nose and was having a hard time for a while. She kept coming to us. Randy then sat down next to her bed, and she finally fell asleep. Both Emmy and Tammy joined us in bed at some point during the night, and once Sammy was up and complaining about being left out, he joined us. Emmy was asleep again at that point. We did get up a little earlier than we have been the last few days, at 7:15.

After breakfast we went downstairs, where I turned worship music on to pray, and got their Bibles out. When Randy came with his breakfast - and theirs as they all eat with him - I left them to go upstairs, finish cleaning up and then start doing office work. At 10 am the doorbell rang - an appointment I had all forgotten about.

It was the guy who was delivering Sammy's new standing apparatus. He had measured Sammy for it over 3 months ago. He said that right now they're having issues getting parts from overseas, which is what caused the delay. But now he was here with it. He put it on our dining room table and started tinkering, while Randy came upstairs with all three. They had been curious about what was going on. Once ready, we put Sammy in place into the apparatus, and he really seemed to enjoy it. He's always liked standing. When they moved it to the ground, Tammy immediately joined Sammy, standing behind him, and later his brother did too.

By 10:45 the guy was gone, and everyone but me went back downstairs. It was high time for me to start cooking, but given the late time, I changed plans and did not make vegetable rice with our leftover meatloaf. I still have babyfood jars to use up, so one less now, and Randy wanted some corn on the cob with his meatloaf, which he then shared with the kids, and they loved it.

After their puddings, I put them into the bathtub to get them clean again. Tammy now takes her diaper off a lot, and for once she needed to. Tammy and Emmy stood right where the water was coming down, really enjoying it. They were upset, when I got them out. Water playtime is at night! I dressed them, and put the boys to bed, while Randy went downstairs with Tammy. Emmy fell asleep first, and then Sammy. It's unusual but has happened several times like that recently. Then I put Tammy to bed. It was only about 12:15. And she did her usual moving, twisting and turning and not staying in bed. Randy sat down by her bed, kept her from leaving it which upset her, but eventually she fell asleep. Just a little late, as we had to leave early, at 1:30 pm.

I was really tired, but had work to do. As our departure time was arriving, I picked out their clothes, woke up Randy, and all three had to be woken up. Randy dressed Sammy, while I dressed a sleeping Emmy who woke up while I did. The girl came last and did not appreciate at all being woke up already.

We went out the door a little later than expected and started walking to the eye doctor's office. On the way I dropped a letter into a mailbox, and we handed in our Corona test kits. We got there just wafter 2 pm. Thankfully the waiting room was pretty empty, which changed while we were there.

They have a kids' corner, where Tammy and Emma sat down on kids' chairs, and I got their afternoon snacks out that they were eating. It wasn't long before the first one was called in, and I walked in with Emmy, while Randy stayed outside with the other two. Then it was Tammy's, and then Sammy's turn. She did a few tests with them and looked at their eyes. Emmy did best, Tammy simply refused to cooperate, and Sammy couldn't do it. We went back into the waiting room, and were then called in to see the doctor. She briefly looked at each one of them, and that was it. Sammy has an eyes appointment at the university hospital next week, and all three need to come back when we return from Mali.

Before we left the building that is actually a medical center with all kinds of doctors having their practices there, we headed a few floors up to the pediatrician's. We're still going to the pediatrician in our old neighborhood, which is now pretty far for us. I had emailed the one we went to several times, but never received an answer. She told me that they do not do email, even though their website even claims you can get an appointment that way. Great. I made an appointment for them, but wasn't really that excited about the place.

We walked to the bus stop and took the bus back home. We walked by the skating park right by hour house, and they watched a little bit. By 3:30 we were home. We went downstairs, but then I left them to get more work done. I had not been working long, when I heard Sammy crying and crying and not stopping, so I went downstairs. I gave Randy a break, and put Sammy into his new standing apparatus. The other two were very interested as well. Emmy stood behind his brother, and I rolled them back and forth a little bit. Tammy also tried to stand on it at the same time. Sammy seemed to really be enjoying it. Everyone was happy again, and Randy returned, giving me a little more time to work. At 5:15 I went back downstairs, letting them know that it was time to clean up.

Emmy was really tired, wanting me to hold him, and after I put him down, he clung to my leg, which made tidying up difficult. Finally Randy picked him up to hold him, and I continued working. And Tammy was motivated to help again and kept putting toys on the shelves. It wasn't long before we were all done and could go upstairs to eat. The first thing I did upstairs was to give her 20 cents to put into her piggy bank, and she was grinning from ear to ear because of my exuberant praise and the money. From my actions she understands that the coin is something special, even though she has no concept of money yet.

Everyone sat down at the table, and I started making their food and putting it on their plates, so they could eat it right away. Tonight I decided that this was not working well enough, as they got up before I could even get all the food cut up. Not only that, they took their diapers off to go into the bathtub, but they can't get in by themselves yet. And so they hadn't eaten much, when we went into the bathtub, but ate more while playing in there, including the leftover corn from lunch.

Emmy wanted out first once again, then the others followed. By 6:30 they were all in bed. Sammy fell asleep first, Emmy was up for a while but mostly stayed put until falling asleep. Tammy was the one having a hard time as usual. And tonight I stayed with them from the beginning, hoping to make it easier. And I did stay until she was asleep as well, which was before 7:30. Then I went to the kitchen to get my food, ate, and started working again. Now it's late, I'm tired, and I have yet to do all the cleanup.