Day 725. Last night I headed to bed just after 1 am. This morning Emmy came at 5:45, but at least that was the first time he came. I let him crawl into bed with us, but he doesn't go to sleep any more. After a while he wants to leave to wake his siblings up, and so Randy closes the door to keep him in our bedroom, which he does not appreciate. And then he starts asking for food. At 6:30 I got up to go to the kitchen; the siblings were up as well. We unloaded the dishwasher first. Both Tammy and Emmy help me, taking out item after item and handing it to me. That includes their cups, and I put milk into them that they then drink. Then I open a banana, and they eat it. Randy puts Sammy nearby, when he gets up, and I give him some banana too. Tammy and Emmy never appreciate it, when Randy picks them up to give them a clean diaper. He usually interrupts whatever they are doing. Then they go into their chairs, where their cereal is waiting. They hardly eat any cereal any more. I always try to find something they'll eat. They still eat salami, but not as much, and cheese. I also had some fruit.
After breakfast I cleaned them up, dressed them, and went downstairs with them. Randy brought Sammy, once he was done, and then took another Covid test to the drop-off, before making his breakfast and coming down. In the meantime we were worshipping God, with instruments, and then reading the Bible, before they moved on to other things. Yesterday a new book arrived, and we were reading it again.
When Randy came, I went upstairs to clean up. It was 8:15. I turned the computer on, worked a little, but then I was just too tired, set my alarm, and closed my eyes. It was a rude awakening at 10:25, and it seemed to take hours before I felt better, because I was so very tired. I started cooking right away, Sonja arrived and joined the kids, and it was closer to 11:15 before they came upstairs to eat. It was spinach with potatoes, and they pretty much cleared their plates today, and then had icecream. I cleaned up the boys, we dressed them, and put them to bed, and Sonja went downstairs with Tammy. Emmy always needs some encouragement before he falls asleep. And he makes sure he knows where everyone is, going through a list of names, and I tell him where everyone is. "Daddy? Tammy? Sammy? Sonja?" And more than once.
At 12:30 I put Tammy to bed. She needed some time anyway to fall asleep, even though the others had gone to bed at 11:45. But then they were all sleeping. And I was doing office work. Sammy woke up just before 1 pm, which was perfect, as he and Randy left at 1 to go to his physiotherapy session at the university hospital. For the third time in a row his session was in the swimming pool. He had a swim ring on and again walked on the steps in the water. Randy said he also swam by himself, with the ring. He had fun.
When Emmy woke up, I held him for a while, but then he wanted to be with Sonja, so I took him downstairs. He enjoyed all that alone time he had with her. At 2:30 I took some food downstairs for him. At 3:30 the boys already returned. Randy put Sammy on the floor close to me, and the noise was enough to wake Tammy up, who had already been sleeping for over 2 hours. She left her bed and lay down on the floor right next to her brother. It was the cutest thing! She likes showing her solidarity with her brother, meeting him on his level. By the way, this morning I put two rubber bands in her hair, to keep it out of her face, and I think it looks really cute. Unfortunately it doesn't last, as it comes off too easily. In the afternoon some packages arrived that included hairclips for her, and those worked much better. You can see it in her hair on the outside pictures. They still get loose after a while, but don't fall off.
I took Tammy and Sammy downstairs to Sonja and Emmy, as well as their shoes and the big bubble set. They immediately wanted to put their shoes on, and then I opened the door to let them out. I also put a small mattress outside so Sammy could lie on it rather than the concrete ground. Then I left them to return to work.
I was upstairs working and could hear them play outside. I went on the balcony a few times to look down at them, and waved at them. I probably should have stayed hidden, as Emmy suddenly wanted Mommy who was out of reach up there. And so I decided to head down early, at 4:30 pm.
When I got there, Emmy was crying in Sonja's arms, and reaching towards me, so I took my little boy into my arms. For the next hour we had fun. We were using up the last of the bubbles, were playing ball, and they were riding the cars. Emmy was pushing Tammy who was sitting on the car up and down the hill, which was really cute. Sammy was rather cranky and needed constant attention.
After a while we went inside. Paper and animal stamps had also arrived this afternoon, and so I got the new white paper out, and the 30 stamps. They started stamping the paper with the colorful animals, but also holding it upside down and getting the ink all over themselves. It was still fun. Then we got out the crayons, and by then it was 5:30, and so I left them to get their dinner ready.
At 6 pm they came upstairs to eat. They hardly ate anything in their chairs, but ate well in the bathtub. The same was true for Sammy. Sammy went straight to the faucet, and I had to hold him upright so he could play with it. Both him and Emmy did primarily. It wasn't easy to do so, with the sink in the way, and he slips frequently, and then I have to hold him with just one hand, so I can feed him with the other. But loves playing like that so very much. When I finally pulled him away to wash him clean and get him out, he screamed in protest, as he was not done playing. The others came out as well, and we got them ready for bed. I then put them to bed one after another, with their nightly prayer. Of course Emmy wanted me to stay by his side. He cries when I walk away. Tammy is now much more relaxed and doesn't mind me leaving. Several times they both left their beds and came to the kitchen, where I was, even though I had told them to stay in bed. I then put them both into the bathtub, which they hate. I alwas ask them whether they want to sleep in their beds or the bathtub, and that's usually all it takes for them to lie down in their beds. Emmy was crying so hard, I held him for a while while sitting by his bed, and then put him back to bed. He didn't need long to fall asleep after that. Tammy was still awake, but I was able to walk away anyway. She called me a few times, I comforted her, and left again. I finally got to eat, and then go back to work.
All day today I had been trying to call Paul in Mali, as I have to write the monthly thank you letter for our donors. But I could not reach him. At 11 pm he called me back, and we ended up talking for 40 minutes, with me sitting on our balcony, while everyone else was asleep. It was so good to talk to my son, which I don't do often enough. And he told me about the situation he had been busy with all day, trying to help a boy, but there was no happy end.
And so it was nearly midnight before we hung up and I was able to go back to writing my update. But it was worth it.
