23 months

Day 700. Today they are 1 year 11 months old, or exactly 700 days.

Last night I was so exhausted that I went to bed as early as I could, which was just after 11 pm. This morning Emmy came to my bedside at 5:30 am, and he did not go back to sleep on me. By 6:30 we sat down to feed them breakfast. After breakfast I went downstairs with them, turned worship music on, and we were dancing, but they asked for the instruments right away, and so they were playing the drums and all kinds of other noise-making instruments which was fun. I never take my phone downstairs with me at that time, so no pictures.

And before I forget it, yesterday was the very first time that one of them said a whole sentence. Tammy repeated a whole sentence I said, but I can't remember any more what it was. They still don't put two words together on their own.

Once Randy came downstairs, I went upstairs to clean up and then do office work. As time went on I got so very tired that I closed my eyes and set my timer for about an hour. I'm thankful I got this little, only nap of the day as it really helped. At 10:30 I got up to cook, and at 11 am we all sat down for lunch. They ate well, and had their icecream as dessert. I cleaned them up, dressed them, and put Emmy to bed even before Sammy, and it was only 11:40. Normally I wait until 12. But Emmy was tired and was asleep by 11:50. Sammy went to bed right after him and was asleep by 12, and so Tammy went to bed really early today, but even she fell asleep faster than usual.

The afternoons are tough for me, with the tiredness hitting me real hard. After cleaning up, I went back to office work. When Sammy woke up after about 90 minutes, I picked him up, and a few minutes later Randy went downstairs with him. Emmy woke up at that time, so I sat down in the chair with him, but he did not go back to sleep. He only does that with Daddy. And so I took him downstairs as well, and went back to work. After just over 2 hours Tammy woke up, and I sat down with her, which she alwasy enjoys. It takes her quite a while to wake up, and so she lies on my chest for a while before she's ready to get up. Usually because her brothers are coming upstairs. We have Alexa in our house and use the announcement feature, broadcasting into every room that it's time to eat, and so the boys come upstairs.

Emmy goes straight to the balcony door, so I open it for him. While I was getting their food ready, Randy started playing the YMCA song, which Sammy just seemed to love so much, having the time of his life (video uploaded). Then we sat down to eat; well Randy sat down with Sammy to feed him, and I sat on the balcony trying to feed Tammy and Emmy. And I had set the bowl of fruit down outside for them to help themselves, which they did. For some reason they preferred getting their jarred food from Randy, who had the same as I did. And he always had the peanut butter.

After they were all done, they went downstairs, and I went back to work. I made good progress. I stopped a little earlier than expected, when Randy called me downstairs, as he was changing Tammy's diaper, and Emmy was hurting Sammy. So I comforted Sammy and talked to Emmy about what he had done.

There was no more leaving after that, so I just stayed until 5:30. Of course they wanted to go outside, and as cranky/tired as they were, that was the best thing to do. Tammy went straight to the sandbox, having fun, and even lying down in it at one point. They also rode their cars, especially Tammy. She figured out that you could go down the hill fast and kept going up and down. Then she showed me just matter of fact that she had a bloody toe, and continued on. I guess it would have been better for her to wear shoes on the concrete ground.

Our neighbors came outside to give us a box of shoes that have become to small for their kids. Tammy and Emmy immediately started getting the shoes out and trying to put them on. It was still a little bit of a challenge, but the shoes were still too big and not that hard to put on or take off, so they succeeded a few times. Sammy was a little cranky, so I stayed busy keeping him happy, throwing him around.

At 5:30 Randy came downstairs. I washed Tammy's toe and put a bandaid on, but they hate bandaids, so she was screaming and trying to prevent that from happening. I then went upstairs to get their food ready, with her seeking comfort in Randy's arms. While I was working on the food, I heard them all cry. That's why I went downstairs before I was done. Sammy had already been crying nonstop for a while. I found Randy lying on the floor with all three kids. As soon as I came Emmy got up, and while I carried Sammy up, the others followed. And so I had the challenge of finishing with the food with them upstairs. It helped to put some food into their mouths already.

Then we sat down to eat. Everyone was fine again. But they didn't eat much there. All three finished all their food in the bathtub. Then they went to bed. Tonight Emmy never got up once but fell asleep fast. Thank God! Tammy was also tired, but falling asleep is not that easy for her. She whines the whole time until she does. And I had to sit next to her to help her.

Once she was asleep I went to make my own food, ate, and then I went back to office work. Later I did all the cleanup, while Randy already went to bed. Now it's 12:30, and I'll be heading to bed shortly.