Day 831. Last night I headed to bed just after 11:30 pm. I was just too tired to go on. It was hot and so I opened window and door. It wasn't long before kids starting coming to bed with us. It wasn't even 5 yet, when Tammy woke up and sat up because of the cats that had come into the room. Soon all three were awake. I closed the door to get the cats out, and then it took a long time before they finally lay back down and fell asleep. It was 7:45 when they woke back up, and we got up. I was just so very tired!
The kids were still looking for the cats and wanted to feed them, so I gave them a little bag of wet food. Then I went to the kitchen to make some cereal. I made two portions today to see whether they'd eat it, but they didn't. Emmy ate the last banana, and they wanted sausage that I had brought with us from Vienna and will probably all be gone by tomorrow. They also had some watermelon.
After breakfast we opened the three advent calendars. Doing them first led to us not reading the Bible, so tomorrow we'll switch the order again. Randy came a few minutes later with his breakfast, and I left.
I was very tired but decided to work and not sleep. After some time Amadou came over, and as we had a lamb born on our base yesterday, he went to get it, since especially Emmy loves sheep so much. It was really cute, but Emmy was scared and kept a big distance. Tammy was not scared and touched it. Sammy was scared as well, when Daddy brought him closer. I could not get Emmy to touch the lamb. After a few minutes Amadou returned it to its mother.
I returned to work, while the kids have their play area in the living room. However, the kids kept coming to me, which made it a little hard to get things done. At 11:30 I put the soup I made yesterday on the stove to start warming it up. The kids were getting cranky again, and we already sat down to have lunch before noon.
Tammy was eating, but Emmy was cranky, especially after he spilleld his soup on his belly. His torso is covered in a rash, and the warm/hot soup must have hurt. I then held him, but he didn't want to eat. After a while he did sit down in his chair and ate some food. And then I gave them a yoghurt each, which they all ate, and Tammy had some watermelon.
I took them to the dry bathtub and put them in, turning the water on. We didn't stay long, just washing them all off, then getting them out, dressing them, and putting them down to sleep. Of course they did not want to sleep in their own bed again but in our bed. However, it's so much harder to get them sleep here than in Austria! I hope that will change over time. Emmy was on one side of our bed, and Tammy on the other, but they wouldn't stay lying down. It took both Randy and me, and holding them down against their will at times, and doing that for a long time, frustrating us at times. Sammy was also wide awake, all alone in the big bed. He likes destroying pacifiers by biting the silicon part off, but we only have a limited supply with us and can't buy more, so I took it away from him. I gave it back to him later, when he was ready to sleep and just sucked on it.
Randy ended up holding Tammy while sitting in the chair, and I sat by Emmy who was on our bed. FINALLY they fell asleep. After a while I moved Tammy to her bed. I was really tired myself, but continued doing office work.
Sammy was again the first one to wake up, just before 2:30, so he'd only slept for an hour. He crawled over to Tammy and pulled her hair before I could stop him. Thankfully she turned around and continued sleeping. I took Sammy to the living room, where Randy was. Emmy woke up next, and I also took him outside. After over 2 hours, at 3:45, I picked up the girl and took her to the living room. I also got them some snacks.
It wasn't long before Fanta and her two youngest Esther (3) and Amaga (1) showed up. They were all playing together. Margit came too. Randy was busy doing stuff, and Sammy cranky, so I picked him up and tried to do what I had to do with him on my arm. The kids enjoy their freedom to run around without barriers everywhere, and they also enjoy having access to Mommy all the time, which is not the case in Vienna. I blew up a few balloons for them, as Amaga had taken Emmy's balloon which made him unhappy. They then all ended up on the couch, jumping up and down with their balloons.
Later Margit let them watch kids worship on her phone, while I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready. Fanta had bought plantains, cooking bananas, that I was frying. The kids were already cranky, and I had already given Tammy some of her bread with cream cheese. We sat down to eat at 5:45 already. Neither Tammy nor Emmy ate anything. Emmy wouldn't even try the plantains, nor did they eat the other food on their plate. They did eat the yoghurt and left over cereal from this morning.
I reminded Emmy of what he'd said in Vienna that he would give food to the kids in Mali whose bellies are aching from hunger. We put their food on some foil and called our kids over, and he got to hand it to them, making him happy. I just hope they won't not eat to do that every night from now on.
Then it was time for the bathtub, where they had fun, though not as long as in Vienna. We were singing all the action songs from their dance class, which was much fun. It all ended, when Tammy pooped into the water, and everyone came out. I put some essential oils on Emmy to help with his rash. I have 3 different ones now that should help, even though I don't know whether it's a heat rash or allergic reaction.
We put them all to bed before it was even 7 pm. And then the usual struggle to get them to sleep started. Emmy and Tammy were on our bed, and Sammy in their bed, and nobody was sleeping. One of us was with Tammy and the other with Emmy, and we switched several times. Sammy also stayed awake a long time. Just before 8 pm they were finally asleep, and I got my food.
But they didn't stay asleep for long. Emmy's had a real tough evening, waking up constantly and wanting iether me or Randy. Later it was Tammy who woke up and wanted to return to our bed and then needed different things for a few minutes before falling asleep again. As for me, I started falling asleep before 10 pm, while writing my update, because I was so tired. Now I'm hoping to make it to bed very soon.
