22 months 27 days

Day 697. Last night I headed to bed just before 1 am. If I remember right, Emmy got out of bed and walked over to my side only once, staying in bed after I walked him back. This morning he returned just after 6 am, got into bed with us, but did not fall back asleep. Soon he was up, running around, waking his siblings up, and then they were all up and about. Around 7 am we sat down to feed them breakfast.

Then we went downstairs, where I turned worship music on, and we danced and worshipped God, as well as reading the Bible. Emmy knew exactly which Bible he wanted - the big one with lots of busy pictures (Wimmelbuch). Then they wanted to swing and Mommy to make them fly again. Once Randy came with his breakfast, Mommy was glad to be relieved and go work upstairs. After cleaning up, I put a chicken into the oven, and sat down to do office work. I was very tired, but powered on.

At 10:30 I started cooking, and Sonja arrived. That was great timing, as they were rather cranky. Today Emmy scratched up Tammy's face and neck really bad. He scratches when he gets angry, while Tammy pinches. At 11 am we sat down to eat - chicken with rice and vegetables, but for some reason they ate very little chicken today. Emmy always asks for his ice-cream half-way through the main course.

After lunch Tammy and Emmy went downstairs with Sonja, while I put Sammy to bed. It was about 11:45. At noon I put Emmy to bed, and then Tammy, who needed a little longer to fall asleep, but I didn't have to stay, sitting by her bed. I was still really tired, the degree of tiredness going up and down over the course of the day, but powered on. Sammy woke up first, as always, after over an hour, and went downstairs to be with Sonja. Emmy slept about two hours, and also went downstairs. Tammy woke up not much later today, around 2:15, and rested on me for a little bit. I was ready to fall by asleep by that time. Instead I called the others upstairs for the afternoon meal. They had a cereal with fruit jar, and I cut up some apple and watermelon. And Randy gave them peanut butter. By then I had come to the point that I could not go on, so I lay down and let Randy and Sonja take care of the kids. I only fell asleep for good once they were all downstairs.

I woke up at 4:30, so just over an hour later, and decided I needed to go downstairs to spend some time with them. I found them sitting at the table with Sonja and drawing and joined them. Then we went outside for a little bit, which they always enjoy doing.

Tammy wanted the cars outside, and they both rode and pushed them for a little bit. Tammy often goes straight to the sandbox and enjoys playing in the sand, while Emmy enjoys running up and down on the tarp covering it. Emmy also got a ball out and threw and kicked it around. And they went up to the fence, looking at people walking by, especially the dogs, and saying hello to everyone, some saying it back. It was also funny, when Sammy pulled the tarp over his face, hiding under it. He's always enjoyed crawlig under things.

Before I knew it it was 5:30 and time to go upstairs to get their dinner ready. At 6 pm I called them upstairs to eat. They ate some at the table, and continued in the bathtub. With me not in it, they had free access to the faucet, and so the games started again. All three were at the faucet, turning the water on and off, with me watching to make sure the temperature didn't get turned to hot. They were all eating pretty well while playing. Then I turned the shower head on, which startled them. Especially Emmy did not appreciate it all. After the second and third time they'd had enough and all the fun was over. Now all they wanted was out, and so we got them out. They ended up in bed a few additional minutes earlier than usual. And Tammy and Emmy were up and about in their respective beds instead of lying down and sleeping. I finally walked away to get some food, and so Emmy got out of his bed once again. I again told him he'd go to the bathtub, which he hates, and when he continued, I actually took him there. After that he stayed in bed and soon fell asleep, and so did his sister. After eating, I went back to work. Now I still have to do all the cleanup, but hope to make it to bed earlier than yesterday.