30 months 26 days

Day 940. Last night I went to bed at 12:45 am. The girl decided to join us in bed at the same time, but I took her back to her bed, which is easy with her as she never fights it. She did join us in bed at some point during the night. At 6:15 Emmy came as well and also fell asleep. Then it was Sammy who started crying. He cried and cried, the only one awake. At 7:15 Emmy woke up, and then Tammy, and Sammy joined us in bed, making him happy, having achieved his goal. At 7:45 I got up to respond to their more and more insistent demand for food.

I went to the kitchen to make breakfast. When we were out of milk the other day, I had found two packets of powdered baby milk and made it with warm water. Today Emmy surprised me, when he asked for warm milk, as they always drink their milk cold. I put it into the microwave, and he enjoyed the warm milk. Then we sat down to eat. They all ate little, but at least Tammy ate some today. Then Emmy went potty, while Tammy has no interest right now, and I cleaned them up and dressed them. Then we went downstairs, where we read a Bible story. Then I went upstairs to work.

I made good progress working, but I'd been hearing Sammy cry for quite some time, and so I finally decided to go downstairs around 11 am. I picked up Sammy and comforted him, and then I ended up reading a book with all three of them. Just before 11:30 I left them again to go upstairs to cook lunch. At noon they all came upstairs, and we sat down to eat. Emmy ate well, Tammy very little, and Sammy has not had much appetite either. Emmy had pudding as dessert, but not Tammy. Then I cleaned them up and dressed them, and the boys went to bed, while Randy went downstairs with Tammy.

It was 12:50, and I sat down by their beds. Emmy didn't seem to eager to sleep, even though I told him we would not be able to go to the circues if he didn't sleep soon. It took until 1:15. I had already asked Randy and Tammy to turn around once, but now they were coming upstairs, just at the right time. I sat down by the girl for a minute, then I left her. I heard her play for a while, but by 1:30 she was also asleep.

I was at work on the computer and never got to close my eyes. At 2:05 pm Emmy already walked into the room. He hadn't even slept an hour! As Randy couldn't go downstairs with him right away, he ended up staying with me. I tried to keep him quiet, but at 2:30 Sammy woke up. I got him out of bed, and we started dressing the boys. At 2:40 Tammy woke up from the noise, and as always, she was very cranky after waking up, crying and wanting Mommy. I dressed her anyway. It was the first warm day today, which we confirmed by going on our balcony for the first time in months, and so no winter coats were needed, just light jackets.

We left the house on time at 3 pm. We had a new setup because we were heading to the tram that runs old trains much of the time. I knew that the other single stroller fits through the doors of the old tram, and so we only took that one. We put Sammy in first, and then Tammy behind him, but it was much tighter than the other stroller. Then I put Emmy on my shoulders, where I carried him. It was quite a long walk to the tram stop, but it came right when we got there, and it happened to be a new tram too, which was convenient. Both Tammy and Emmy sat on seats next to me. We had a 20-minute ride on the tram, then we got off, and we still had a long walk ahead of us. Even though they had never been to a circus, they were very expectent from what I had said. I had shown Emmy some pictures from this circus, and he was most excited about the motorbike riding inside a sphere. They even had a picture of it on their posters, but it was not part of the program today, much to Emmy's disappointment who kept waiting for it.

After our long walk we could finally see the circus tent and the long line of people out front who were waiting to buy tickets and go inside, and the line was growing. It was 3:45, and the program was to start at 4 pm, but in the end it only started at 4:15 pm. We stood in line for a while, and the kids were on the ground, looking at the other kids around them and the posters of the circus. The line was moving pretty quickly. At the end you had to go up several steps to the ticket counter, and then the same amount of steps back down on the other side. I held Sammy and had the other two with me, while Randy carried the stroller up and then down. I was thankful we were able to buy only 3 seats for the five of us. It was a low cost day, which is why we went, as the regular ticket prices would be way too high.

Our stroller joined the many other strollers outside the tent, then we went in. It seemed that all the seats were already taken. Were we that late? We followed the masses of people to the seats that were not as good but still available and walked up to the top, where we found four seats right on the aisle, with no one behind us. The seats were absolutely perfect for us! The kids could stand on the seats safely, with no one behind them, and Emmy stood the whole time. We could also leave easily if necessary. I wasn't sure the kids were actually old enough for a circus. I was wondering whether they were gonna be scared and we'd have to leave early. I was also wondering whether Sammy was gonna cry so hard that Randy would have to leave the tent with him. None of that was the case, quite the opposite. I was amazed at how much they enjoyed it! Even Sammy never cried; he just wanted the other parent at times, and so we passed him back and forth. While he was not interested in what was going on on the stage, he really enjoyed the music and was rocking his head and moving his arms with it. Emmy kept saying that it was too loud, which was true.

Right from the beginning it was a joy to look at their mesmerized faces. I was wondering how it all was gonna work inside of them while sleeping tonight, so many impressions! They loved the animals most, not so much the acrobatics. There were quite a few acts that were high up in the air doing their stuff there, and Emmy kept saying that they should come down.

They also enjoyed the clown who was pretty funny. During one act he was looking for a balloon that had gone up to the ceiling, and all the kids in the tent, including Tammy, pointed at the ceiling and shouted "up there". It was so much fun!

There was a break where they invited everyone to go visit the animals in the back. Definitely! The crowd made its way there, and we had to pay again. The horses came first, then the other animals. We had not bought animal feed, but there was food on the ground that Tammy picked up, and one time someone gave Emmy and Tammy a carrot to feed the ponies. Tammy gave it to them, while Emmy was too scared.

The camels were there too, and one camel bit Randy into the arm. He said that it didn't hurt. Sammy, who was in his arms, got scared though. The camels were pretty big and able to get way outside over the fence. The kids were having so much fun with the ponies, the donkeys and the goats.

Then the crowds thinned, and it was time to return to the tent. Time-wise the break was over, but it wasn't quite yet. Children were standing in line to take pictures with the dinosaur. The dinosaur had been the most scary part of all the performances. He simply walked around, and walked around among the audience. I think the kids were just a little fearful, even though we had told them there was a man inside. Emmy did not appreciate it too much, when it walked through the audience and was approaching us.

Then the break was over, and the acts started again. It was getting pretty late, but we were still waiting for the sphere and the motorbike. All the kids were doing well, even though it was after 6 pm already. And then all the artists came out to walk around and wave good-bye. We decided it was time to go before everyone was up on their feet. We still got into the crowd anyway, as we had to cross pretty much the whole tent to get to the exit.

It was 6:30, and the sun was already setting. It was already much cooler, and we put their light coats back on. Then Sammy went into the stroller that Randy carried over the steps with him. On the other side we put Tammy into it with Sammy, and Emmy went back up on my shoulders. They were definitely getting tired, but they were also still very excited. Emmy giggled, when I hopped like a horse with him. We had that long walk back to the tram stop again, then had to wait. We were lucky again that a new tram came. Once inside, Tammy, Emmy and I sat down on a double seat, and I let them watch Peppa Pig during the long ride home. It's the best thing for them to do, when they're this tired.

After we got off the tram, we still had that long walk to our building, but Tammy did not want to go back into the single stroller with her brother. However, her walking would take too long, and so there was no other option. It took both of us to manage to put her into the stroller, and she still continued her screaming fit. I finally held her hand while walking next to her, and that's what calmed her down.

At 7:20 pm we got back home. Emmy already knew that a package for him had arrived, and on the way to our apartment we picked it up from our neighbor. When she opened the door, her dog who loves children came outside, much to our children's delight who petted him. Then we walked into our apartment, where they wanted to open the packages right away. They knew that one was for Emmy and one for Mommy, and that Tammy's was coming another day. Emmy was really excited to see his new Paw Patrol helmet; now he won't hurt himself again, when he goes down the hill on his car. He carried it around with him until bedtime, when he agreed to leave it out.

Tammy was very tired, but at least Emmy still wanted to eat, and so we sat down at the table, where they had bread and ham and watermelon. We sat there for a while, before we got up to get them ready for bed. No bathtub tonight. It was 8:20 before they were all in bed, and Tammy STILL wanted me to rock her, which I did. After a short while she went back to bed. She and Sammy were long asleep before Emmy. Emmy was still talking about the circus and saying that he wanted to go to another circus as there had been no motorbike. At about 8:40 I was able to leave and get myself something to eat. I ate and then went back to work. And so it's once again way too late before I make it to bed.