22 months 1 day

Day 671. Last night it was close to 2:30 before I made it to bed. An hour later Sammy was crying really hard, waking his brother up who had not had a bottle, so I gave Emmy one and sat down to feed Sammy. It's really rare now for Sammy to need milk a at night.

This morning we got up just before 8 am, and this time it was Sammy who was fussing, and he was the only one I was hearing. The others were immediately on their feet as soon as I walked in. I made breakfast, we fed them, I cleaned and dressed them, and then I went downstairs with Tammy and Emmy. Recently Emmy always stays on stop of the staircase, pretending not wanting to go downstairs, so I only go down with Tammy, but as soon as we're out of sight, he starts calling me back so I can get him down.

I turned worship music on, and we started worshipping God and dancing. Emmy now wants me to hold him much of the time, so I had him on my arm while praying. When Randy brought Sammy, we sat down to read the Bible togehter. Once Randy came with his breakfast, I left them to go clean up and do office work. I did go back downstairs after a few minutes, because Tammy was crying so hard, and I comforted her, but I didn't stay long.

At 11:15 I stopped working to cut some red meat and cook it for them. I already had sweet potatoes and vegetables in jars in the warmer for them. Three more jars of many used up and gone. They came upstairs to eat at 11:30, and Tammy and Emmy devoured the meat really fast. Tammy also ate all he vegetables plus some of Emmy's . I didn't know they liked red meat that much, as I don't make it that often for them. Sammy liked it too. They had dessert, and then I cleaned up and dressed Tammy and Emmy and took them downstairs. Randy was finishing up with Sammy and put him to bed, and then started making omelets for the two of us. At 12:30 I left Tammy downstairs to put Emmy to bed, and then returned to her. She hadn't even cried, being all by herself. We sat down and read some books together, and then I took her upstairs as well to put her to bed. All three were in bed then.

I ate my omelet, and then went back to work. Sammy and Emmy woke up early again, as always, and we picked them up and took them downstairs, where Randy stayed with them. I went back to work. At 3 pm I stopped, as it was high time for them to eat their afternoon meal. I called the boys upstairs, and the noise was enough to wake Tammy up, who had slept just over 2 hours. Once again Emmy went straight to the balcony door, and I opened it, and then Tammy wanted to go outside as well. I took their jar of food outside with me, and they ate it all. Randy put the chair with Sammy right by the balcony door so that he could see us. Randy always says that Sammy won't eat once his siblings are out of sight.

We were just done eating and back insde, when Sonja rang the door bell at 3:30 pm. She couldn't come earlier today. It was heart-warming to see their joy, when she walked through the door. She'll forever be the most special person in their lives after their parents. We took them downstairs, where Sonja ended up with all three kids by herself for a while. Randy went to the grocery store, and I went back to work.

I got a lot of work done. At 4:45 I stopped working and went downstairs to play with them. I opened the door and let them go outside, taking a few vehicles out as well. They went to the sandbox right away, but did not play in there for long. Emmy started throwing sand around, and I asked him not to. When he kept doing it, I put him inside the apartment and closed the door. After a minute I let him back out, and he wasn't throwing any more sand.

Instead they started playing with the vehicles. Tammy sat on the narrow car and went all over the place with it. She's really good at using it. I was pushing Emmy on the tricycle, and then switched with Sonja who was holding Sammy. After a while I put Sammy on the other car. He's a lot better at keeping his balance now, so it's easier to push him without him falling off. And then the others started pushing their vehicles instead of sitting on them.

I looked at my phone and realized I should have left 7 minutes earlier to make their dinner, so I went inside and Randy took my place. It was after 6 pm, when they all came upstairs to eat, and they ate pretty well at the table tonight. I did make less bread.

As soon as Emmy was in the bathtub, he was already crying to come out. He was pretty tired again, and that's when he does not want to be in the water, and so he came out after just a few minutes. Tammy went straight to the faucet to play with it, and Sammy insisted on joining her. They were both laughing and having lots of fun turning the water on and off. Until Tammy turned the water to the "hot" position, and it ended up being too hot. She started crying, and it was over then. She hates it when I wash her hair, but it needed to be done, and so she was crying even more. And Sammy was crying too because Sonja was holding him in the water, while I was taking care of Tammy. Tammy then came out, and I finished up with Sammy, who continued playing with the faucet all by himself, while I was putting food into his mouth. He was crying really hard, when I pulled him away from the faucet and got him out of the water.

I put Emmy to bed first, and then Tammy, and then put the night braces on Sammy's legs and put him to bed. Emmy fell asleep fast, but Tammy was cranky and wanted me to stay, so I sat down by their beds and stayed for a while. She wasn't sleeping yet, when I left, but she barely complained at all. I got myself some food and was eating, when Emmy started crying just an hour after going to bed. I picked him up, tried to give him milk, rocked and walked him, but he was crying and would not comfort down for long. I finally handed him to Randy to try to calm him down, and he fell asleep on Randy. A while later I moved him from Rand's chest to his bed, and he just continued sleeping. Who knows what the issue was.

I finished eating, and went back to work. Now it's still early, but I have yet to do all the cleanup. Still, I'm hoping for an earlier bedtime, as my eyes are falling shut right now, while I'm writing.