Day 674. It was once again later than I thought it would be last night, namely 1:30 am. This morning we got up later again, at 8:10. Tomorrow we'll have to get up an hour earlier than that. After breakfast, I cleaned them up, dressed them, and went downstairs with them, where we were worshipping God and dancing. When Sammy joined us, we sat down with two Bibles to read some stories. It's not always easy as they don't always want to share a book but each one have their own book. And it's also a challenge sometimes to have all three on my lap and try to look at one book together, keeping Sammy balanced so he doesn't fall over, and then he grabs his sister or brother, whatever he can grab, annoying them.
Once Randy came with his breakfast, I went upstairs to clean up and then work. At 11 am I stopped to start cooking. Sonja arrived at 11:20, and it took me a little longer to get everything ready than expected, and so it was 11:45 before we sat down to eat. We had cremed spinach with potatoes and eggs, and I have to say, that they eat a lot cleaner than they used to. I guess they're becoming pros at using spoons. Emmy didn't eat much, but Tammy ate all of what was on his plate as well. She's still refusing to eat watermelon for some reason. At least as dessert or for the afternoon meal. She does eat it for dinner at night. She also refused the pudding today, and so Emmy ate the pudding all by himself. Then I cleaned them up, dressed them, and Sonja went downstairs to play with them there. Once Sammy was done he went to bed, and a few minutes later I went to get Emmy and put him to bed, followed by his sister. I finished cleaning up and went back to work. It didn't take long, though, before I got so tired I had to close my eyes, and then I fell asleep. It's a luxury to sleep, when you have so much to do.
When I woke up, it was all quiet. I found out that the boys were already up and downstairs with Sonja, and that Sammy had slept 90 minutes instead of an hour today. I could tell at bedtime tonight, as he was more awake than usual, and it took him longer to fall asleep.
At 3 pm the boys came upstairs to eat, which is what woke the girl up. I sat down with her resting on my chest, where she stayed for quite a while, while Sonja tried to feed Emmy. They don't want to go into the chair for the afternoon meal. As we had to leave at 3:45, I had to get going getting everything ready. Tammy didn't eat much, but Emmy did better. We dressed them and left the house on time.
Today was the hottest day yet, with a projected 36 C (97 F). That makes riding in the old unconditioned subways no fun at all. We took one subway, and then a tram, and got to the shoe store for special shoes on time. It's the only store in Vienna. We had only been there one, without an appointment, and were sent away. Today we had an appointment, the only one available, so we took it. They had a play corner for kids, so that was perfect for Tammy and Emmy, while I was inside with Sammy for his shoe fitting. The guy examined his feet, and then he had to stand on glass with a camera underneath that took a pictur of his feet. Then he put a pair of shoes like the ones he's getting on him and had him stand again. Sammy liked it so much that he laughed, while he had been a little suspicious before. I could tell that he was standing really well in those shoes. Now they're still making arch supports for him to put into those shoes, which will take about two weeks.
It hadn't taken very long at all, and we were on our way again. It was already 5 pm, but I wanted them to have the opportunity to have some fun before going home. And so we went to a park near where we had to switch from the tram to the subway, and where there was a playground. It was a really nice playground. Tammy wanted out of the stroller before we even reached the entrance, and ran to it. They had a really nice, wide slide on an incline, and it was perfect for me to go down on with them, which they enjoyed as well. We went down quite a few times. There was also a swing, but they didn't spend much time on it. There was a bug on a spring, and they had fun getting on it with Randy, who went all the way to the ground with it (video uploaded). Then we went to the climbing structure, and Emmy went up first, with Sonja's help, and Sammy enjoyed being on it as well. There was also a big sandy area with water that Randy wanted to avoid. As it was getting late, we left before they could get over there.
Emmy now always wants to come out of the stroller, when we are on the tram or subway, and so I have him on my lap. Of course that means that Tammy wants to come out as well. Today Sammy didn't want to be in the stroller while on the subway, so all three were out, having fun. Thankfully they let us put them back into the strollers just before we get off.
We got home just before 6 pm. They were full of energy, no tiredness detected, and I got them downstairs as fast as possible, as there's too much havoc to wreak upstairs. I went to work getting their food ready as fast as possible, as it was later than usual, and called them up as soon as I had something on their plates. Thanks to Sonja being here I was able to keep cutting up fruit in the kitchen, while they were already eating, and I took whatever I had ready to them. Then they went into the bathtub. Emmy immediately started crying and wanted out, as he has been doing (except for yesterday), and so we got him out, and continued feeding the other two. It was Sammy who was determined to get to the faucet again to play with the water, and he did. I just have to be more careful with him, as he changes the temperature all the time. Then we got them out as well, got them all ready for bed, and I put them to bed with a prayer. By 7 they were all in bed, which is their usual time, though it can be earlier than that. I walked away, which upset the girl. I came back and found all three wide awake for some reason. I stayed for a bit before walking away again. I sat down to eat and was not done, when Sammy started crying really hard, so I picked him up and held him for a while, which made the others jealous. After I put him back to bed, he was fine, and I was able to walk away, though the girl didn't like that.
I finished eating and started working. Now everything is done, and I need to go to bed with our early morning tomorrow.
