22 months 18 days

Day 688. Thank you for praying. There was improvement today. Last night I went to bed at 1:15. This morning Emmy did not cry, when he woke up, and he only came into our room and to me at 6:50, so over two hours later than yesterday. I can live with that. He lay down on me, but did not fall back asleep. He finally got back up and woke his sister up, who then wanted to come out too, so I got her out, and then they were up on the bed with us, and back down, and doing all kinds of things. Sammy woke up as well. At 7:30 we sat down to feed them breakfast.

After breakfast I cleaned them up and dressed them and went downstairs with Tammy and Emmy. I turned worship music on, and we were all dancing, and I was also praying. Sammy joined us a few minutes later, and I got some Bibles out. Unfortunately they are unwilling to share Bibles. I was trying to read a Bible with both boys, but Emmy did not want to share with Sammy.

When Randy came with his breakfast, I took the computer and went upstairs to clean up and then work. I was pretty tired, but powered on. Just before 11 am I stopped to start cooking. I could hear Emmy fussing downstairs, and as soon as the food was at a good point, I went downstairs and picked up a crying Emmy. Tammy followed us up upstairs as well. Emmy was pushing a chair into the kitchen, smart boy. We were having one of their favorite meals - chicken with rice and vegetables. I was taking the chicken apart, and they were obviously hungry, so they had quite a bit of the chicken while standing on the chair right by me. Randy came upstairs a few minutes later, and at 11:30 we sat down to eat. They did really well eating.

We get to talk a lot at the dinner table. Emmy has started saying "nein" (no) very clearly. Until now he had only been shaking his head, but now he enjoys saying the word, and with emphasis. Sammy was saying "nein" today too. He's repeating what we say more and more; one time today he repeated the word "chicken" perfectly, when I said it. He's now not saying "heiß" (hot) all the time any more, but saying more other words as well.

After their icecream (that Emmy is still calling "Eier" (eggs)), I cleaned them up and dressed them, and Randy went downstairs with them, while I cleaned up and dressed Sammy and put him to bed for his nap. At 12:30 I put Emmy to bed, and with a little help, he soon fell asleep. Randy had not let him sleep in the course of the morning, thank God. Then I put Tammy to bed, and at least I can leave her alone and she plays for a while before she falls asleep.

I was working on the computer, while Randy left to go hand in our Covid tests and get some groceries. It was surprising and a blessing that Sammy did not wake up after an hour as usual, but slept nearly two hours today. When Randy returned at 2 pm, they were all still sleeping, though Sammy did wake up shortly after, and so did Emmy. Randy took them both downstairs, and I went back to work, waiting for the girl to wake up.

When she was still sleeping at 3 pm, Randy came up with the boys anyway to feed them, and the noise woke her up. I sat down with her, but she didn't stay on me for long, as Emmy wanted me to open the balcony door, and then we went all outside, i.e. the three of us. Today was supposedly the hottest day so far this year, and you could tell. I was surprised that Tammy was actually eating just after waking up, and she ate more than her brother. They also had watermelon and apple, and Emmy peanut butter. After cleaning them up, I dressed them, and then we left the house at 3:45 pm.

I had received a call that Sammy's special shoes were ready for pickup, and as we had nothing else planned, we decided to go get them right away. We took the subway, and then a tram, and we were lucky to get all new vehicles with air conditioning. By 4:30 pm we arrived at the shoe store. They have a kids corner, and so Tammy and Emmy had fun there with Randy. They got Sammy's shoes out right away and put them on his feet. You could immediately tell that he was standing so much better! Unfortunately he needs socks to wear them and we didn't bring any, so we had to take them back off. Starting tomorrow he'll wear this all the time, whenever he wants to stand. They are shoes for standing, correcting some of what he's not doing right. He seemed pretty happy.

We left the store and headed back to the tram station. We went all the way back home. Emmy and Tammy switched seats a few times today, so I had both in the single stroller at times. And of course they wanted out quite a bit. Both of them were out on the subway going home.

It was 5:20, when we approached our building, and we passed it and continued on to the closest playground, where we stayed for a little bit so they could have some fun. And of course they enjoyed it. One time I looked over and was surprised to find that Tammy had climbed all the way to the top of the relatively big slide all by herself. I had Sammy most of the time, as he was a little cranky, and I know how to make him laugh.

After half an hour we headed back home, and they went downstairs with Randy, while I started making their dinner. At 6:30 they came upstairs to eat. We had fun at the table. Emmy ate nearly all his bread, while Tammy ate all the apples first and not much after. She also refused to eat any soup, which has been the case for days, but Emmy ate it all. Then they went into the bathtub, where Tammy and Emmy ate most of their food, and Sammy all of what he had left. They were also having great fun. Since they started their swim class, and with all the other water activities we've done, I've seen them more comfortable in the bathtub as well. Today I accidentally dunked Sammy under, and he didn't mind at all. They also don't mind water coming down from top and over their heads any more.

We got them out and ready for bed. At first it looked like they were tired enough to lie down and sleep, but not for long. Soon Tammy and Emmy were on their feet having fun. It was frustrating to me to try to get them to sleep, but to no avail, and I finally left. Emmy got out of his bed, and Randy put him back in, which upset him. After that Emmy lay down, and I sat down next to him, comforting him, and he soon fell asleep. I walked away, but the girl was crying really hard, so I returned. I did this a few times; she really wanted me there tonight.

I was finally able to leave and get some food, and then start working. At some point it seemed that Randy had disappeared, and I finally found him sleeping on the couch downstairs, and I let him sleep. I did all the cleanup and then sat down to write my update. It's not yet midnight, and I'm hoping to make it to bed soon.