Day 899. Last night I went to bed just before 1 am. At 2:30 Emmy came and started crying, when I would not let him lie down with me. I held him while standing next to our bed, and after a few minutes he went back to his bed. Some time later Tammy crawled into bed with us, but I was awake enough to pick her up and take her back to her bed, and she did not protest. In the early morning hours they both returned at some point. Just after 7 am they were up for good and found some cookies to eat. Sammy was crying, and so he joined us in bed. I asked Tammy to come back too and with all of them in our bed, we sang "Happy Birthday" for Randy together. Then we got up. It was 7:40 am.
I made breakfast, and we sat down to eat. We had Alexa play "Happy Birthday" a few times. Emmy asked, when his birthday was, and I told him it was still a long time until then. He started crying, when he couldn't have his birthday now. Randy said he could have his birthday, but that didn't make a difference. Emmy got up and threw a fit.
They went potty, then I cleaned them up and dressed them. I put a nice dress on Tammy for the occasion. They knew Grandma was coming and were impatiently waiting for the doorbell. And then it rang, but when we opened the door, it was a package delivery. Just after the guy had left, the doorbell rang again, and this time it was Grandma. They had not seen her in three months and were excited to finally see her in person again, even though she had a mask on the whole time. We all went downstairs, and they immediately started playing with her. I went upstairs and put candles on the birthday cake she had brought and took it downstairs. I lit them and took it to Randy, while we were all singing "Happy Birthday" for him. In fact, the kids did not sing allong, but they sing on their own, when they feel like it. Randy blew out the candles, and then I cut up the cake and put it on plates. The kids wanted their table and chairs out, and then they sat there to eat. Randy shared his cake with Sammy who was on his lap.
Then it was time for the gifts. The kids had made a drawing together, each one using his specific color. They gave it to Daddy and each gave him a kiss. Then they gave him my gift, which was a leather belt.
Then the kids continued playing with Grandma, having lots of fun. They were in the swing, and they got rocked on Grandma's lap, and she played grocery store with them. They also read books together. And Sammy was playing with a shopping guitar and then the guitar all be himself for a while. The two hours she was here for went by really fast. She said her good-byes, but they wanted to come upstairs as well to see her off. After she had left, they went back downstairs to play, while I took my computer upstairs. I didn't have much time anyway, as it was after 11 am. At 11:30 I went to the kitchen to start cooking, and just before noon they came upstairs to eat. It was all ready and on the table.
Tammy and Emmy did really well eating their rice with vegetables, but they did not eat much chicken. Randy calls Sammy "chicken wings", and he ate all his chicken. Then they went potty, and Tammy and Sammy had some pudding. I cleaned them up and dressed them, and Randy went downstairs with Tammy.
By 12:45 the boys were asleep, and I was about to fall asleep myself. Tammy came up at 1 pm, and after a few minutes I sat down by her, and once again was in danger of falling asleep. She needed until 1:25 before she finally fell asleep. I returned to my computer to try to work, but soon closed my eyes for a few minutes. It was way too short though. At 2 pm Sammy was fussing, and as Randy did not get him, I did and handed him to him. That noise was enough to wake Emmy up who came running. He did not want to lie down with me for more than a minute. I went downstairs with all the boys and then left them to go back upstairs.
At 2:30 pm Sonja arrived, and I went to the entrance to let her in. It was the first time seeing her in nearly a month. As we were walking back into the apartment, Randy and the boys were coming back upstairs. When Emmy saw Sonja, he was all excited and hurried to get to her. Tammy was still asleep so I tried to keep the noise down. Randy was getting Sammy ready to leave, and Sonja went downstairs with Emmy. We made too much noise after all. At 2:40 Tammy came running to us. The boys left five minutes later to go to physiotherapy.
When Tammy heard that Sonja was here, she couldn't wait to get downstairs. She was excited to see her friend again. I had snacks for them all, and then left them to play with Sonja, hoping to make good progress work-wise, knowing they were not gonna cry for me for once. And I was right. I heard them laugh a whole lot, but I did hear them call me a few times, but never for long.
At 4:30 pm Randy and Sammy returned, and they were not empty-handed. They brought home a walker for Sammy to try out for a week and then return. The next few weeks he gets to try out a few walkers and then it will be decided which one is best for him. Randy showed me the pictures from the physiotherapy session, and I think Sammy looks great in it. I can't wait to see him in it in real life. They both went downstairs to join the others.
Just before 5:30 I went downstairs and found them all laughing and having fun with Sonja. I told them it was time to tidy up, but only Tammy was helping me a little bit. Then we went upstairs so I could make dinner. They were still playing with Sonja for a while, who was trying to leave and go home, while I was cutting up food for dinner. Then she did leave, and we sat down at the table to eat. They didn't eat much before getting up again. Only Emmy went potty, and then they were eager to get into the bathtub that had more foam than usual in it. They ate much of the rest of their food there and had fun playing. Then they came out one after another, we got them ready for bed, and they went to bed. By 6:50 they were all in bed, and I sat down by them. Tammy lay on my chest, and we all talked about all kinds of things. Then Tammy went back to bed, and Emmy was holding my hand and either putting his head on it or my hand on his head, and that's how he fell asleep. I walked away at 7:30, with Tammy still calling my name, but a few minutes later she was asleep.
I made myself something eat, sat down to eat, and then went back to work. It's high time for me to get to bed a little earlier than I have been.
