27 months

Day 823. Last night I headed to bed at midnight. To my greatest surprise it was a quiet night, with the girl only coming in the early morning hours, around 6:30. A few minutes later Emmy came as well. He never went to sleep, and by 6:50 he was up for good and soon he had his sister to where they were both getting up and going on exploration. I got up at 7:15 to make their breakfast.

After breakfast we went downstairs, where I got their Bibles out, and we sat down to read them. After a few stories we stopped, and Emmy went into the swing, where he loves being. Then I started walking up and down and praying, and Tammy immediately stretched her arms out to me so I'd pick her up and pray for her, and so I did. She lay in my arms and just received. Then Emmy stretched his arms out, but I prayed for Sammy first, and then for Emmy. All three melted into my arms and enjoyed the prayer. I should really do this every day!

When Randy came, I went upstairs, finished cleaning up and then turned the computer on to work, even though time was short. At 9:45 Randy came upstairs with the kids. We dressed them, and I finished filling their lunchbox to take with us. We left the house on time at 10:15 and took the subway to the end. As we were heading to the tram, we ran into Sonja who was meeting us there. We got on the tram together and rode it for quite some time. Tammy and Emmy were sitting on a bench with Sonja right there with them. We finally got off and walked all the way to the pediatrician's office.

We got there at 11 am, so half an hour early. We registered, received a number, and sat down in the waiting room. There were a few things to play with, though not much, and it seemed like the waiting had no end. There were mainly babies in the waiting room, as kids were in school and this place was only for healthy kids. They had some interactions with other kids. I got their lunchbox out, and they all ate their salami bread - even Tammy ate her bread - and they would have eaten more. From the beginning they were asking about Grandma, as Grandma would always meet us there to help. We finally ended up doing a video call with her. Even though we couldn't really hear her, they were excited to see her.

Finally we were called inside. We were told to take all their clothes off. Tammy and Emmy did not want us to take their clothes off at all. Then they weighed them. Tammy was skeptical and refused to step on the scale, so Emmy went first. He had no problem stepping up, and after Tammy had watched him, she stepped up as well. As for Sammy, we had to put him on the baby scale. Then the lead doctor came, a nice lady, and asked who was first, and it was Tammy. She listened to her lungs, which Tammy let her do, but she cried, when she looked into her ears and mouth. Then it was Emmy's turn, and Emmy never cried at all! Brave boy! Sammy was last, and he didn't mind either.

She told us to put their clothes back on and left. A few minutes later she returned for the shots. One shot was a nose spray, so that was easy. The second one was a needle, and now they are getting their shots into the arm instead of thigh. It must have hurt less as they cried less than they used to. The doctor still wrote us a few prescription for stuff to take with us on our trip, and then we left. It was 12:35, so we had been there for over 90 minutes.

There were stores all around there so I decided to take advantage of that as it was easier to hop into a store than where we live. I first went into a grocery store, bought something for the kids to eat right there and then, and stuff to take to Mali with us. Next I went into the drug store to get some kid's cookies and a few other items. While I was in the stores, Randy, Sonja and the kids were waiting on the street. Then we all went to the pharmacy, where I picked up the prescriptions. Then we were finally ready to head to the tram station. They were drinking the last of the squeezies I had taken with us, and I'd had quite a few.

We got on the tram, and you could already tell that they were tired. They were still sitting on a bench. We got off and continued on to the subway, where they also sat on a bench. That at least kept them from falling asleep and made it easier to put them to bed at home, even though we had to continuously keep them busy to keep them from being cranky. Sammy actually fell asleep in the stroller but didn't sleep for very long. It was 1:45, when we got home, so REALLY late.

We took their clothes off and put them straight to bed, as they had all had plenty to eat. It was 2 pm and time to sleep, and it didn't take very long for them to fall asleep. But Sammy woke up after a few minutes, and he was done sleeping. He was crying, and so I picked him up and put him on the floor to play, so Sonja had some more time to finish her food. A few minutes later I took him downstairs. The other two were sleeping well, and I was able to work. After two hours, at 4 pm, I decided it was time for them to get up so they'd still sleep tonight, and so I turned off the ocean waves and made some noise. Emmy got up first, and then Tammy, and I took them downstairs, together with snacks. And once again I had to stay for a while, as Tammy was still lying on my chest, not quite ready to be awake. Sammy was cranky and also wanted to be with Mommy. In the end I had to leave my phone with them, as they were watching Barbapapa on it, and went upstairs to get some stuff done.

Not much time had passed, when Randy came with a crying Sammy. He was so very tired, and so Randy suggested we'd put him to bed early. And so I fed him as much of the soup as he wanted to eat and then a whole high-calorie pudding. Then he got to go into the bathtub for a few minutes to rinse all the food off. His pj's went on, and he went to bed around 5:30 and was soon asleep.

That changed the dynamic for the other two. They came up a few minutes later, at 5:50, sat down at the table, but didn't really want to eat. Instead they headed to the bathtub, and Sonja fed them in there, while I went back to work. I was surprised that they had actually finished their soup! Then I gave them squeezies, as well as puddings, and they were having fun together with Sonja. They took their time, as they had come upstairs early. But then it was time to come out, put their pj's on, I prayed over them, and they went to bed. It was going on 7 pm.

I sat down with them, and it looked like they were all falling asleep right away. Sammy woke up crying, but not for long. After a while they were getting more restless again, and so I asked Randy to take my place, while I got myself something to eat and went back to doing office work.

This has been the most restless night for Emmy, waking up every few minutes and wanting me to sit with him. In the end I took my computer with me to the chair by his bed, so I'd be able to keep writing my report. It just may be that he is in a deeper sleep now that I have stayed with him for that long. All three had a suppository (against fever), when we got home, as the doctor had told us to do so because of the shots. Now it's time to clean up and get some sleep.