28 months 23 days

Day 875. Last night I headed to bed at 11:20. We had a kid-free bed at first. Tammy joined us at some point, and Emmy came later. It was 8 am, when Emmy woke up first, and then we all got up. I wouldn't mind if they continued getting up at 8 instead of 6:30.

I made breakfast, and we sat down to eat cereal, banana, salami, and bread with cheese. Then I cleaned them up and dressed them, and we went downstairs, where we read the Bible. Then Tammy wanted to look at a photobook. When Randy came, I went upstairs to clean up and then start working on the computer. At 10:30 we got a food delivery, as we're still in quarantine and are not allowed to leave the house until Thursday. Emmy and Tammy were at the bottom of the stairs, when I went to the door, and wanted to come up, and so I let them. They welcomed the delivery guy, and then curiously emptied out all the paper bags, with me putting away what they got out. Then I took them back downstairs.  Some time after 11:30 I turned the stove on to warm up yesterday's soup, and with noon approaching, I could already hear them calling up upstairs that they wanted to eat, and so they all came upstairs, and just before noon sat down to eat.

Tammy immediately pushed her plate away. She wasn't gonna eat anything and didn't. Emmy ate some, enough to get some cake, and so did Sammy. Tammy has had a runny nose and has been coughing, and so I gave her some cough sirup. As a reward for drinking it she got a piece of cake after all. Then I cleaned them up and dressed them. Randy went downstairs with Tammy, while the boys went to bed. By 12:50 they were asleep, really quickly. At 1 pm Tammy came upstairs and she also fell asleep quickly.

However, Emmy only slept 50 minutes. Randy tried to rock him back to sleep, but he was calling for me, and when I lay down with him, he wouldn't sleep either but wanted to get up, and so Randy went downstairs with him. Sammy had woken up as well, and so I took him downstairs as well. The boys were all downstairs, while I was upstairs working and waiting for Tammy to wake up.

And she also woke up earlier than usual. I held her for a while, and then we went downstairs as well, with some jars to eat. Tammy was rather cranky all afternoon. Both she and Emmy had diarrhea again today.

I had told them that our last suitcase was arriving today, and it was nearly 4 pm, when the guy finally arrived with it. Randy was already upstairs, while I was downstairs with the kids, and he went to the entrance of our building to get it. Three days after arriving we now have all our luggage! The kids were excited as well.

But they were more excited about the two little Amazon packages. One contained balloons, and the other one gummi bears. I let them talk me into giving them a gummi bear each, and they also got a balloon each.

Once again they spent most afternoon near me and in the office area. My old office chair is still sitting here, and they enjoy sitting on it, with me spinning them. And today I did peek-a-boo with them on it, which Emmy thought was hilarious.

And of course they all went into the swing, which they love. Another task that takes me away from the desk as I have to push the swing and make it turn.

Sammy once again was so very content playing - so unlike what he was like in Mali. He seems so much happier. And I got to throw him around for a while, as well as his siblings, which they love.

Tammy likes looking at photo books, and she likes drawing, and she did both today. They never stay with drawing for long though. Then they tilted the table and got the throw for the couch and put it on top. I helped them to create a nice little cave, which they loved. As always, there was also a lot of fighting. They played with the bendable sticks from the airline again, which they really enjoyed.

And by 5 pm they started asking for food. There's just no way we can make dinner later now. By 5:30 we all went upstairs. I started cutting up food and giving some to them right away. Thanks to the food delivery we had some more fruit tonight. By about 5:50 we all sat at the dining room table. Thankfully they all ate more or less food, but they ate. Then I took them to the bathtub, where they were having fun. It was the second day I got the shower head down, and they really enjoy playing with it, when water comes out. Then we got them out, put their pj's on and put them to bed. It wasn't 7 pm yet, when they were all in bed. I sat down with them first, then Randy took the chair for a while, before I returned. Emmy fell asleep first, then Tammy, and Sammy last. Then I got myself something to eat, before returning to work.

I was working, when Emmy woke up crying for me at 11 pm. Randy had already gone to bed and tried to comfort him, but he wanted Mommy. I went upstairs to comfort him, and left again, and did that a few times. He keeps crying for me, even as I'm writing this. I just took him to my bed and told him to wait for me there, that I'd be there soon. It was the only way to get him to stop crying.