26 months 13 days

Day 805. Last night I went to bed at 12:45 am. I found Emmy already sleeping next to Randy, and so I picked him up and put him into his bed. Emmy and Tammy both joined us in bed at some point later. In the morning it was Sammy who was crying, and so I got up just after 7 am.

After breakfast and dressing them, I took them downstairs and got their Bibles out, and we read a few stories together. We had more time than usual, as Randy took my Corona test to a drop off station. When he came with his breakfast, the kids were excited as they had barely eaten anything for breakfast, and I left them to go upstairs to clean up and then do office work.

At 11:30 I stopped and went to the kitchen to cook, and at noon I called them upstairs to eat. Emmy ate nearly everything in his bowl, while Tammy did not eat at all. All she ever wants is her squeezy drinks (fruit & vegetable and some with cereal). After the meal they went to the bathtub to play. Emmy soon started crying and wanted out. He must have been tired. After Sammy came, Tammy was so rough with him that he started crying, and then she didn't appreciate it when I told her that that was not okay, and she started crying. And so the other two came out quickly as well. The boys went to bed, Randy sat down with them, and I went downstairs with Tammy. Tammy wanted to watch "Barbapapa" again, and I let her. When I heard Randy in the kitchen, we went upstairs. The boys had fallen asleep at about 12:45 already, and Tammy went to bed at 1 pm. I sat down by her bed, and was surprised at how quickly she fell asleep. All three were asleep at the same time.

I did some cleanup and then returned to office work. They were all asleep for a long time, which is rare. Emmy was the first one to wake up and he came straight to me crying. I picked him and lay down with him. I was surprised, when he actually fell asleep. Then Sammy started fussing, and when no one came to pick him up, crying. I was wondernig where Randy was and when he'd respond and get him. It seemed to take forever before he finally did and took Sammy downstairs. Emmy was sound asleep. And then even Tammy woke up before him and came running to me. I gently slid Emmy off my arm and onto the bed and was surprised, when he didn't wake up. Then I picked up the girl and their afternoon snacks and took them downstairs.

Coming back upstairs, I saw that it was 3 pm, so Emmy had slept for over two hours, and so I decided it was time to wake him up. I picked him up and went downstairs with him. He was cranky and wanted me to keep holding him, so I stayed a little bit before leaving them, which made Emmy cry. I returned upstairs to continue working. I made good progress, then started doing housework. When I went downstairs to my office to take care of a few things, Randy assumed I had come to stay and went upstairs. The kids came out of their area and started emptying out a box full of stuff that needs to be packed to go to Mali. Sammy even succeeded in opening a box of Christmas tree chocolates and opening a chocolate. Then they got into the toilet and started playing with the toilet brush. Enough was enough. I took them back into their area to play there.

I got out the photo book of our last time in Mali, and we started looking at all the pictures from there. A year is a long time at their age, and somehow I don't think they really remember Mali. But they were really interested in the pictures.

It was 5:30 and time for me to start making dinner. Randy came back downstairs, but when I told them I needed to go make dinner they wanted to come along, and I let them. And so they got chairs they pulled into the kitchen to stand on, and I put their food into their plates sitting right in front of them. They both did some eating. Then I turned the water in the bathtub on, and they put all the toys into the bathtub. I continued cutting up all the fruit, and then put the soup on their plates. Tammy didn't want to sit down at the table or eat anything. Emmy sat down and ate some.

As for Sammy, Randy had taken his special chair upstairs, and I put it by the table and adjusted its height for him to use it. He has not used the chair at all, but it was perfect for eating, as he is sitting in there really well, with his feet on a board, which the physiotherapist said he'd need. He seemed to enjoy it.

It wasn't long before they got up to go into the bathtub. I put their remaining food on a plate that I took to the bathtub. They didn't eat much more, while Sammy finished his plate in the water. But then suddenly Emmy ate Sammy's blueberry and wanted more, so Randy brought the blueberries back, after he had already taken away their plate. And then Emmy asked for strawberries, so he brough the strawberries back and Emmy ate them. At least that was something.

Then they came out and we got them ready for bed. Emmy still had to take his antibiotics, and he drank it, no problem at all. We put them all to bed, and Randy sat down by their beds. It took a while, but not too long before they were all asleep. I got myself something to eat, ate, and then continued with the office work. I started writing, but alread at 9 pm I started falling asleep. And I kept falling asleep, which was so annoying. Now it's over 2 hours later, and I'm still writing because of it. I'm just so tired. And so I'm gonna finish cleaning up and then go to bed.