Day 938. Last night I went to bed at 12:30 am. Tammy still had a restless night and joined us in bed, was returned to her bed, then joined us again and needed milk from time to time. Emmy came as well in the early morning hours. He was up around 6:30, and so we were all soon up, but the alarm only went off at 7 am. Tammy had left our bed all upset for who knows what reason a little earlier, and now she came running because of the alarm.
I got up, got Sammy out of his bed, and went to the kitchen to unload the dishwasher and then make breakfast. We sat down at the table to eat, and I was feeding Sammy. Tammy would not eat even one bite of food this morning. After we were done eating, I cleaned them up, chose their clothes, and we dressed them to get them ready to leave. We left the house a little late at 8:40 am.
We took the subway to the end, then had a little walk to the school. As always it was very windy there, and it was a cold morning, just above freezing, even with the sun shining bright. When we pulled up to the gym, they were just doing the first song. Two other kids were there besides us. We quickly took off all coats and shoes and went inside. After the initial song she got out the big balls again that they just love. They had to roll them around and stop them on command, as well as drum on them. She also made them give them a shove so they'd roll to someone else, as well as catch them, when they'd come back. Then she put up the cones in the middle, and all kids were to shove their balls so they'd push them down. Emmy was already asking to jump on the balls, and that's what we did next. I have to push my legs against the balls to keep them in place while they jump. I still managed to take pictures, and you can see my great position in the mirror.
Next she did something new. She got ropes out, and everyone took a rope they were supposed to run around with and wiggle left and right like a snake. Then the adults put the ropes around their bodies, making the kids horses. Next she put the ropes around them while sitting and started pulling them around the room, which worked surprisingly well. As Sammy could not do that, she had the idea of putting him on a mat and pulling him around the room, and another kid copied him and did the same.
She had set up some tunnels again, including creating one with hoola hoops and a mat. But Emmy wanted to have a hoop, and so she gave him one to play with.
Then she set up the two benches with a gap in the middle and got the rolling board out they sat on and then pulled themselves through with. Emmy loved it so much he wanted to keep doing it and did not want to give his board to another kid. Thankfully there were two boards. And Sammy got to lie on it, and then I pushed him through, which he enjoyed.
She had set up a thick mat and a trampolin, and the kids jumped on it for a short time. Sammy likes lying on it with my foot making it move up and down.
Then she put the two benches upright and behind each other and had the kids pull themselves across, which was easy. So easy that she put a ball between Tammy's legs, and she kept it there and pulled herself across, no problem at all.
The teacher once again put the wooden box on top of the boards on wheels, and Emmy couldn't get in there fast enough. His sister joined him, and one of the little boys wanted to push them, which he did with his Mom. Then it was already time for the final song with the drums. Once again Emmy was the first with his hands in the box to pull out the biggest drum. Then they hit the drums, while the teacher was playing the good-bye song.
We put their coats and shoes back on, gave them snacks and something to drink and made our way back to the subway. My phone had dropped once during the glass and the screen protector had shattered. That's what screen protectors are for, right? We got off the subway again and walked all the way to the other school, where we arrived perfectly on time. We took their coats and shoes off again and went inside the room. It was full with everyone in attendance. Our kids were visibly tired already. The teacher started with the greeting song, going from kid to kid, then Tammy went over to her and sat on her legs for the song, where we move our legs. I had Emmy on my legs who laughed every time at the end, when he fell between my legs. She did another song, and then Tammy came back to us. She handed out rattles and did songs with them, where they had to put the two rattles together in different ways.
Then got up and did a dance, where we walk in a circle doing different things. After that it was "free dance", and the teacher grabbed Emmy to dance with him. Tammy wanted me to pick her up, and I danced with her. She then did the song where they have to turn, but Emmy was already too tired and wanted me to hold him, so I turned with him.
I'm always taking pictures, and suddenly a piercing pain went through my finger. I looked and there was a small piece of glass sticking out of my finger. It had come from the broken screen. The teacher noticed something was wrong and took me to the school's office, then returned to her class. The guy there got his first aid kit out and a needle and started poking around, trying to get the glass out, but he was not succeeding. I kept putting my finger in my mouth, hoping to suck it out, but in the end I bit it off. I thought it was all out, and he gave me a bandaid. Later in the day it was hurting more and more, and at one point I was pushing and a long, thin piece of glass came out. It's been fine since.
I returned to class, where Tammy was playing an instrument with everyone else singing and watching her. She passed the instrument on to the next kid on her left, even though Emmy wanted it real bad. It then went around the circle, and so Emmy was gonna be the last kid to get it. The whole time he kept saying he wanted it. I had Sammy who played it just before Emmy. But then I found out that Emmy had been the first one to play it, so he had already done it, while I was outside. Today I noticed again how lively our kids are, while most other kids just sit quietly with their mothers.
The teacher did the good-bye song, and then it was time for the stamps. It was the 6th of 7 sessions. They were really excited when they got a rabbit stamped into their cards. Tammy and Emmy kept holding their cards nearly all the way back to our home, refusing for us to take them and put them away.
We put their coats and shoes back on and started the long walk to the subway. Sammy's eyes kept falling shut, but we kept him awake, so he'd still sleep at home. We rode the subway for two stops and got home just before noon.
I had set the timer for the oven to cook a lasagna to be done by then. I got it out right away and put it on everyone's plates. Then we undressed them and all sat down to eat. I had not put much on Emmy's and Tammy's plates, and so they actually both ate it all. Sammy also ate well. Then they all had pudding. I cleaned them up, we dressed them, and then the boys went to bed, while Randy went downstairs with Tammy. It was 12:40. Emmy was singing and moving. I then held him for a while, then put him to bed, and by 12:55 he was falling asleep. Tammy came upstairs just after 1 pm. I had just removed my glass screen protector from my phone, only to find out that the phone screen itself was broken, and not the protective glass. I've only had this phone for one month! I put Tammy to bed, then spent some time looking for solutions to my screen problem. I was pretty tired but powered on.
At 2:13 Emmy walked into the room. He lay on me for a minute, but that was it. Then I could already hear Sammy five minutes later. I picked him up, but Randy wasn't ready yet to go downstairs with the boys. And so I took them downstairs to keep them from waking their sister up. I gave Sammy the drumset he loves playing so much, and then Emmy wanted the drum/tambourine to play. After a few minutes Randy finally came, and so I went upstairs to return to work. At 3 pm I closed my eyes as I was just too tired to go on. At 3:30 I woke up, when Tammy walked into the room. I got some snacks and took them downstairs with Tammy. Then I returned to my computer, hoping to work a little before they'd be calling for me.
I removed the cracked screen from my phone, only to find out that it was the phone's screen itself that was cracked, not the protective screen. Great! I contacted Amazon, but found out I could not get a replacement. I had to order a new phone, and can then mail the old one in to be repaired.
And I ended up working longer than expected. At about 4:45 pm Randy added his shouting to Emmy's crying, and I finally went downstairs. I had hoped to stay upstairs, knowing it would be hard for them to let me go again. But when I picked up a crying Emmy I found out that half his nail had come off but was still attached a little. A week ago he got his finger into the elevator door, and that was the result. He was crying, and crying even harder when I got a bandaid out. For some reason they are terrified of bandaids. I put it on his finger, with Randy holding him, while he was crying, and then I put a kid's one on top, with an image, to keep the other one in place. He was still crying, but he and Tammy were asking to watch Peppa Pig, and I let them. That way I was able to leave them and walk upstairs without any protests. They were happy and quiet.
I made dinner in the kitchen, with no kids around, and changed it up a bit. We had two eggs left, and I made an omelet with it. In Mali I had made an omelet most nights and most mornings as well. I also gave them three different types of bread - one with salami, one with ham, and one with camembert. After I had put the plates on their place mats, I went downstairs.
I turned Peppa Pig off and had Alexa play the "tidy up" song. As you can imagine they were both crying and did not want to help tidy up. And so I was doing all the work, continuously asking them to help. Then I had an idea. I told them that instead of me giving them money for tidying up, they would give ME money to tidy up for them. That worked for Tammy. When I opened Emmy's piggy bank later to take a coin out, he was so upset that I think he'll tidy up tomorrow.
After tidying up we went upstairs and sat down at the table. Tammy didn't really want to sit or eat. Emmy ate well and ended up eating most of the omelet all by himself. Sammy did not want to eat at first either. It wasn't long before I started putting their food into bowls to take to the bathtub. They ate some more there, but Tammy only had some cantaloupe, currently her favorite fruit. Then they came out one after another, and by 7:05 pm they were all in bed. I sat down by them, and Tammy lay down on my chest, or at least sat in my lap. She did not seem tired at all, which wasn't surprising as she had slept over 2 hours at nap time. We were all talking for a while, then I was singing, and then I put Tammy back into bed. Emmy fell asleep first. I tried to walk away at one point and started making dinner, only for Tammy to start crying and asking me to come back. I did once I had the soup going on the stove. It was just after 8 pm, when I was able to walk away without her protesting.
I got my soup ready and went downstairs to eat, and then to work. However, I got sidetracked with some stuff that was also important, and so it's later than it's been in a long time tonight as I finish writing today's report. And I had to comfort Emmy and sit with him at one point, and so did Randy, and I hear him even now.
