Day 841. I was heading to bed just before 11 pm, but it was close to midnight I was finally able to close my eyes and fall asleep. The girl had already joined us in bed and stayed all night, waking up rather frequently crying, though I don't know why. Thankfully Emmy only came in the morning, when it was pretty much time to get up. Today we got up a little later than usual, at about 7:20 am. And I got up quickly, as Paul was at our door ringing the bell. He came to take our shopping list for the grocery store.
After he had left, Emmy gave me the cat food to give to the cats, and then I started making their breakfast. We were out of eggs, and so I made a double portion of cereal. They also had watermelon and pineapple and salami. After breakfast I cleaned them up and dressed them, and then we went to the living room.
We read a Bible story together, and then we opened their advent calendars. One has a different German Christmas song each day. We play a lot of (English) Christmas music during the day, and they both sing "Jingle Bells" a lot, especially Emmy who seems to be very musical. Then we opened the Playmobil nativity one, and the one that has a little booklet each day, that we read right away.
Then Randy took my place, and I went to the back and turned my computer on to work. At first I closed my door, but not for long. I just want to be available to them, especially when they cry, and as long as I don't do any work that requires a lot of concentration, I can handle them coming and going.
Emmy wanted to see Amadou again, and so he came over to spend some time with them. Margit also came over not much later. And Amadou brought the little lamb with him. Today it was completely calm, and its mother was not outside our door crying for her lamb to return. The kids are getting more and more comfortable with it now and have no problem petting it. Amadou stayed some time to play with them, after the lamb had left, and once he left, it was Margit who occupied them. They were still coming to the back to see me from time to time, and one time Emmy came to do some drawing. As lunch time was approaching, and they were getting more cranky, I let them watch some animal videos, but Emmy never stays long to watch. Tammy has a greater ability to stay with it.
At noon we sat down to eat. The food was pretty hot, but the ceiling fan and an icecube helped, and then Tammy and Emmy ate everything in their bowl. Sammy did not want to eat and was crying, when Daddy tried to force him, and so I took over, and I was able to get him to eat everything on his plate, though he gets a lot less in the first place. I gave them a little gummi bear each, and Emmy liked it so much he would have liked another one. Then they all had yoghurt.
I took them to the bathroom to clean them up, then we dressed them and put them to bed.
Sammy fell asleep quickly, as it was already going on 1 pm. The other two needed some help, though Emmy fell asleep rather quickly today. It was Tammy who just wouldn't fall asleep. It took until 1:45 before she FINALLY fell asleep, when Randy sat down in the chair with her.
I continued working, but soon got really tired myself. Just after 2 pm I finally called it quits and lay down in bed, right between Tammy and Emmy. This time I set an alarm so I would not sleep too long. It went off at 4 pm, and I quickly stopped it. The kids were still sleeping, though Emmy had had his eyes open a few times, and I gently got off the bed to return to work. I just had too much to do. However, Emmy was up, and when Randy came by, he took him with him. He returned a few minutes later to change his diaper, and that commotion woke the other two up for good.
Tammy was still really sleepy and wanted to be with me, and then Emmy came too, and so I had them both on my lap, while continuing to work. They soon wanted to watch Barbapapa, and so I let them do so, while working.
Once Margit and Fanta's two youngest kids came over, they thankfully spent more time in the living room, playing with them. Hama, Fanta's oldest who is physically and mentally handicapped, also came over. The other kids were in school, and then had to do homework and chores. Today Margit left us to go help them with homework, as she's a retired school teacher, and I'm curious to find out tomorrow how it went.
Our kids had lots of fun with Esther (3) and Amaga (1). The two dogs (carry-ons) are very popular with them, and they like riding on them and pulling or being pulled by people. It's good to see that our kids and the Malian kids are getting better at playing with each other, and Esther is starting to open up a little and smile more often.
I also did the sticker books with our kids today, where they pick an animal sticker and then put it on a page. They enjoy doing it, though patience is not their strength, when they have to wait their turn. I took a picture of when Sammy put a fish into the aquarium.
Fanta came over to do some housework, and Emmy loves brooms, and he kept taking the broom, when Fanta leaned it against the wall somewhere.
At 5:30 I turned the slow-running water in the bathtub on and then went to the kitchen to get dinner ready. It wasn't 6 yet, when we sat down to eat. I turned a few electric candles on that are on our dining room tables, and Sammy was really intrigued by it, as you can see in the picture.
After having eaten - or not eaten - omelet, bread with cheese, pineapple and watermelon, I took them to the bathtub, where they started having lots of fun playing. After a while I got them out, and we got them ready for bed. Then we sat down for a Bible story. I've read those little Bible booklets to them so many times in the morning; now it's Randy who tells them those stories at night, just by looking at the pictures, as they are in German. It was hard to keep their attention.
We put them to bed, and then the challenge started. It was already just after 7 pm. None of them wanted to sleep, and they kept us busy. After a long time it was Emmy who fell asleep first, when I lay down on the bed, between him and Tammy. I thought Tammy was also about asleep, when I got up because Sammy was crying. That was not the case. And so it still took a while before she was finally asleep. Sammy, however, kept crying. I picked him up and held him a few times, but every time I'd put him back, he'd cry again. I finally called Randy who was able to get him to fall asleep. It was 8:30 before all three were sleeping!
I got myself something to eat, ate, and then went back to work. Now I'm looking forward to going to bed, and hope we'll be kid-free for a while. I have yet to move Tammy and Emmy to their own bed.
