25 months 16 days

Day 778. Last night I was going to bed just after 1:30, when Emmy did his typical thing, waking up and wanting Mommy to hold him, and after I put him down, to stay with him. By 2 am I was done and went to bed and let him stand next to my bed, putting his head on my arm and holding my hand. I kept asking him to go back to bed, but he wouldn't. I finally did get back up and put him to bed, and this time it worked.

In the morning he came pretty late, some time after 6 am; Tammy was already with us at that time. And we only got up at 7:40 am today. Tammy did not even touch her food this morning, and Emmy ate very little. Even Sammy did not want to eat his cereal today. After breakfast I took them downstairs, where we read the Bible until Randy arrived with his breakfast. Then I went upstairs to finish cleaning up and getting everything ready for our departure. At 9:15 Sonja arrived, and at 9:30 we left the house to walk to the bus station.

After riding a few stops on the bus, we got off right in front of the medical center, where the kids already have their eye doctor. This was our first time at the pediatrician's in that place, as it's so much closer than the one in our old neighborhood. I already had a negative impression of them in advance, though, from what I had read online and from the form I had to fill out and sign, as well as the way the assistant was talking to me. We got there a few minutes early, and I handed in the forms and gave them the kids' insurance cards, and was told to wait. They had a nice waiting room with books and toys and rides and climbs, and so our kids got busy right away, having fun.

We were waiting for quite a while before we were called. We all walked into a room where a nice, older nurse was waiting for us. She asked us to take the kids' shoes off for them to be weighed. Not having been there before, the kids had no fears, not anticipating anything negative like at the old pediatrician's, and so they happily played along. Emmy stepped onto the scale all by himself, had no problem lying down for his height to be measured, and let her measure the circumference of his head. And that's all she did before moving on to Tammy. Then the doctor herself walked into the room to check out who these new patients were. She asked who the Mom was, and then asked who Sonja was. I said "a friend", and she immediately kicked her out of the room in a very rude way! Thankfully Emmy was done, because he wanted to be with Sonja, and so he left the room to join her outside. The doctor asked a few questions and left the room again. Right after she had left, the nurse profusely apologized for the doctor's behavior. Now I understand why I had to sign that if I said anything negative about them online they would prosecute me.

The nurse then weighed and measured Tammy, who also played along happily. Sammy came last. Then we left the room and were told to wait outside to be called into the doctor's office. I was surprised, when she wanted to see only me and not the children. She asked me whether I had any questions or needs, and I had none. She said she had a special heart for kids like Sammy and that she had no doubt that Sammy would walk one day. The conversion was short, and then she said good-bye to me. She hadn't even looked at the kids, and that was their 2-year-old checkup! When I talked to another assistant outside to find out when the kids needed their next shot, the doctor heard me talk about the vaccinations for Mali and reacted rather negatively, when she found out we were going to Mali with them. I made an appointment for one shot they need in November, and then we left.

The first thing I did leaving there was to give the kids a fruit bar to eat. Another rule was that no eating was allowed on their premises. We walked to the bus stop and took the bus back home, where we arrived just before 11:30, which is their lunch time. I warmed up three jars and the leftover chicken for them, and so they were able to eat right away, eating little as always. They then went into the bathtub, but did not get any puddings, not having eaten. I did feed Sammy some of his food, though. Then I dressed the boys again and put them to bed.

Unfortunately it was NOT one of the easy days today. I tried and tried to get Emmy to sleep, but to no avail. At least Sammy had fallen asleep after some time. Finally Emmy fell asleep as well, after an hour of trying to get him there. Tammy had looked tired, so I put her to bed at 1:15. Another mistake, I should have waited till 1:30. She simply would not sleep, nothing working to get her there. And then Sammy woke up, as well as Emmy, before she had fallen asleep. I took the boys to Sonja, and then Tammy soon fell asleep. I was totally exhausted, but went back to work. Tammy woke up just after 3 pm, and I took her downstairs as well. Just after 4 pm Sonja had to leave, and Randy went downstairs to be with the kids. At 5 pm I stopped working and started getting their food ready. At 5:30 I went downstairs, announcing that it was time to clean up. Today neither Tammy nor Emmy lifted a finger, and so I was the only one cleaning up. Then we all went upstairs and sat down to eat dinner. They ate some and then headed to the bathtub, where they continued eating, while having fun with the water. Then we got them out and ready for bed. By 6:45 they were in bed, and once again they were giving me a hard time instead of sleeping. It's just so exhausting, when you don't know what else you could do. It took nearly an hour before they fell asleep and I could walk away. I started making my food, which took time, ate, and then went back to work. I've been struggling to keep my eyes up while writing this, but at least all the house work is done, and I can go to bed now.