23 months 16 days

Day 716. Last night I was so exhausted that I went to bed just before midnight. This morning it seemed they came a little later, but by 7 we sat down at the breakfast table. After they had already eaten plenty of salami and cheese. They surprised me when they still ate cereal at the table. After breakfast I took them downstairs. The internet was still down, so we had to make our own worship music, then read the Bible together, and when Randy came, I left to go clean up and then do office work.

I felt better today, so thank you to those who've prayed. I was able to work and did not have to take a nap. At 10:30 Sonja arrived, and I got started making food for everyone - four different dishes for the kids, Randy, Sonja, and myself. At 11 am we sat down to eat. They ate well, main course and dessert. Then I cleaned up the boys and put them to bed, and Sonja went downstairs with Tammy. It took a little time to get Emmy to sleep, as he wanted to be with Sonja and kept saying her name. And Randy also left right away to run to the grocery store. Surprisingly Sammy did not fall asleep right away. He was up quite a bit before he fell asleep.

After cleaning up I went back to work. I decided to wait with bringing Tammy upstairs to increase the probability that she'd fall asleep fast. Just before 12:30 I went to get her, but she still didn't fall asleep fast. I stayed with her so she would not wake her siblings up. But she woke Emmy up anyway, and then Sammy was up as well. I took the boys downstairs, with her standing in her bed crying, as I was walking away. When I came back, I picked her up and sat down with her. She was pretty tired at that point. I asked a few times if she was gonna go back to bed, and she shook her head. After a few minutes she let me put her to bed, and at that point she was soon asleep.

Randy was back before she fell asleep. Just before 2 pm he went to get Sammy and then left to go to physiotherapy with him. For the second week in a row his session was in the pool. Randy told me that today Sammy was walking in the pool. He had a swim ring on, and his feet could touch the step into the pool, and he was moving his legs and moving.

At 2:30 I took some food downstairs for Sonja to give to Emmy. Tammy ended up sleeping a long time, until 3:30, and then I took her downstairs as well. I found Emmy outside with Sonja, in the sand pit, and he was already pretty red from the sun, so I went to get some sunscreen, and we put it on them both. Emmy did not appreciate that at all. Then I went back upstairs to work.

The boys returned just before 4:45, just as I was heading downstairs to spend time with my children, and so I went downstairs with Sammy. Sonja and the kids were back inside. The July photobook had arrived, and especially Emmy was excited to see the package. He just loves packages. We opened it up, and they immediately started looking at it. After we were done, Emmy grabbed my phone and said "Oma". He wanted to call Grandma, like we had done the other day, so I tried, and Oma picked up. Emmy actually talked to her telling her things as much as he's able to. All three were excited to see her and kept waving at her.

After the phone call, they wanted the table down, and the chairs, and then the paper and crayons. Sonja said that that was the third time today that they sat down to draw.

Then it was time for me to go upstairs to make their dinner. After a few minutes Randy went downstairs to join them. At 6 pm I called them upstairs to eat. Emmy ate nearly all his bread, but Tammy none of it. They had fun in the bathtub, with the boys playing with the faucet, while they were all eating. Sammy finished all his food, but not the other two. We got them out, brushed their teeth, put their pj's on, and I put them to bed. Emmy wanted me to sit down with them. It took quite a while before he fell asleep, and the girl continued tossing and not lying down. It took a long time and convincing before I was able to leave, and she fell asleep not long after.

I was able to make my food and eat and went back to work. Now I've done all the housework necessary and will be able to head to bed soon.