29 months

Day 883. Last night I headed to bed at midnight, but of course I couldn't just go to bed. I tried to move Emmy to his own bed, but he did not want me to. I lay down, and he came right back and stood next to me crying. He then put his head on my arm and got quiet and stood like that for a long time. After a while I started asking him if he didn't want to go back to his bed. He didn't answer. Then I got up and walked him back to hsi bed, and he did not protest. He lay down and went to sleep. I guess he just needed to cuddle with me for a while. It was 6 am before Emmy returned to our bed. His sister came before that. By 6:30 they were up for good, and we all got up. It's a shame they went back to getting up so early.

After breakfast I cleaned them up and dressed them, and we went downstairs, where we read a Bible story. Then I took my computer and went upstairs to work. Before I turned the computer on I decided to change all the bedding, which was a lot of work for 4 beds. Then I was glad to finally sit down and start working on the computer, even though I had less than an hour. Just after 10 am I went to the kitchen to start cutting everything up for our soup that needed to boil for an hour. Once it was all done and on the stove, I sat back down at the computer.

I was working, when Randy and the kids already came upstairs at 11:45. Earlier every day! Randy said they didn't have any more patience to stay downstairs. I put the soup on their plates and put them in the fridge to cool off. It wasn't quite noon yet, when we sat down to eat. And I was pleased that they were all eating well today. Tammy and Sammy even ate everything on their plates and got seconds. Then they had pudding and cake. I cleaned them up again and dressed them, and the boys went to bed, while Tammy went downstairs with Randy.

It was just after 12:30. Sammy fell asleep quickly, and by 12:40 Emmy was also asleep. Tammy came upstairs at 1 pm, and I sat down by her bed. It took her until 1:20 to fall asleep. I was close to falling asleep myself, I was so tired. I returned to my computer and was surprised, when Emmy already walked towards me at 1:35, only minutes later. He hadn't even slept an hour. I picked him up and held him for 15 minutes, but then he wanted to go downstairs with Randy.  At 2:10 Sammy woke up, and I took him downstairs with the snacks. 15 minutes later Tammy already woke up, and she wanted to go downstairs as well, so I took her there. I returned upstairs to get a little more work done before going downstairs. And we had a grocery store delivery coming.

As soon as the doorbell rang, the kids were at the gate wanting to come upstairs, but it wasn't that much and was quickly put away. I then took my computer downstairs to stay with them. There was a mess on the floor by my desk, and Randy told me that Sammy had crawled there and emptied out the trash can. Great! I bent over to pick everything up, lost my balance, and sat down on my behind. Tammy and Emmy were right next to me and so scared that they started crying. I was laughing and trying to comfort them, telling them that everything was fine. I finished picking everything up, and found their big sheets of paper to draw on in the process. And so they wanted to draw. I set up the table and chairs, and all three of them started drawing, and they were doing a great job. They covered both sides of the paper.

In the meantime Randy had fixed the new piano, and then Emmy played with it a little. They wanted to go into the swing again, together, and so Sammy got to play with the piano for a while. Tammy and Emmy stayed in the swing for a long time, with me pushing them really high, which made them giggle with joy. I had to keep pushing them, until Emmy finally decided to get out, as it's getting pretty tight in there with the two of them in the swing. Tammy stayed in there a while longer, swinging by herself.

Emmy was pretty cranky and wanted to sit on the desk by me. And then he wanted to watch a service, more specifically worship time, so I had one going in a window on my computer screen. Tammy preferred watching babies, and did so on my phone for a while. Randy started tidying up once dinner time was approaching. Just after 5:30 we headed upstairs. Tammy and Emmy both pulled chairs into the kitchen to stand on by the counter, while I was getting the food ready and putting it on their plates. Today I had a white bread roll delivered with the food. They had enjoyed the French baguette in Mali so much that I decided to give it a try. They ate it, but I can't say that they enjoyed it more than the dark bread. Emmy always wants my camember rather than the cream cheese, while Tammy eats the cream cheese. And now that we can't get any strawberries - at least not delivered to the house - Tammy is fixated on blueberries, and tonight Emmy ate a lot of them as well. Together they finished a whole pack of 125g tonight.

After dinner they all went into the bathtub, where they were having fun. Sammy was upset, when he had to come out of the water. The other two followed, and we got them all ready for bed. By 6:40 they were all in bed, and I sat down by them. Tammy and Emmy immediately both climbed onto my chest, but they weren't ready to sleep yet. They wanted to talk about the day and all kinds of things, and it was fun to see them bring up the different things we had seen and done during the day. It's amazing that they can make themselves understood so well with their limited ability to express themselves.

After a while I put them back to bed, but they kept talking and moving. By 7:30 I was so worn out, all three of them still being awake, that I'd had enough. I left and asked Randy to sit down with them. They only needed a few more minutes to fall asleep anyway. I got myself something to eat and went to my office to eat and then go back to work. Now it's 10:30, and we'll see if Emmy comes again at 11 pm, crying for me.