Day 917. Once again I went to bed later than desired last night, at 12:50 am. Tammy was the first one up this morning, at 6:30 am, and she didn't even come to us but started playing. Emmy was in bed with us and soon woke up, then joined his sister after a while. Then he pointed in the direction of Sammy, seemingly worried, and so I got up to check on him. I don't know what had bothered him. I picked up Sammy and sat down in the chair with me, and Emmy also sat in my lap. Then the 7 am alarm went off, on two devices, and it scared Emmy at first, but I explained it to him and then it was fine.
I went to the kitchen to start making breakfast, while Randy started changing their diapers. Then we sat down at the table to eat. Nobody ate very much. Then I cleaned them up and dressed them. Randy was eating his breakfast, and then we got ourselves ready as well. We left the house on time at 8:30 am.
It was cold and windy, and we were glad to walk into the subway building. We took the subway and rode it to the end, the end closer to us and out of town. When we got off, the wind was so extremely strong, it was hard to push the stroller against it. We were glad to walk into the school building.
We got there just before the class started at 9 am. There was only one other child there today. We started off with small balls, then did a starting song. Then she got out the big balls that they love. They were supposed to push the balls around, then stop on command. Then she had them drum on them. Emmy was already asking to jump on them, and we did that next. We rolled them to the mirror, where I held them against the wall with my legs, while the kids held on to the bar and jumped. They had so much fun.
She then set up some cones in the middle, and the kids pushed their balls to hit them to make them fall. Emmy was very good at it. And Tammy stacked a third one on top of the second, which the teacher hadn't done.
She then set up some stuff to do - benches to walk across, the trampolin, and the tunnels to crawl through. Sammy also crawled through the tunnel, while his siblings crawled the opposite direction and right across him.
The teacher put the box on the rolling boards again, and Tammy and Emmy immediately sat down inside. The other toddler then started pushing them around, together with his Mom. Actually, that little boy had been going after them from the beginning, running after them to the point that it bothered them. After a while, they got out of the box and the boy went inside, and Tammy and Emmy pushed him.
The teacher did something new they enjoyed. She got a parachute that we all held in a circle, and we moved it up and down. They had to run through, when the parachute was high up in the air, and did a good job doing so.
As a final activity the teacher got out the drums and rattles, and they went for the big ones. They played the drums, while she played the good-bye song. She then let them keep drumming. She stood next to me , and her jaw dropped, when she watched Emmy. She couldn't believe how he accentuates the first note, keeps the rhythm, and then how he played with both hands. She said that that is very unusual at their age. Emmy is gifted!
Then the class was over. We put their shoes and coats back on and loaded them into the strollers to go back out into the cold. We walked back to the subway and then got on to ride a few stops, halfway to our home. After we got off, we still had a good walk to the other school building, where we arrived a few minutes before the class started. We took their coats and shoes off and went inside. We did much of what we've done the first two classes. A greeting song with their name, songs where we have them sit on our moving legs, songs where we walk in circles and do different things. She also got the wooden sticks out to tap, and the fabric to do different things with. I thought not going to church Sunday night would mean that they're rested, but they got pretty tired halfway through the class again, and then they lose concentration and the ability to participate in what is going on. At one point Emmy was much more interested in the garbage truck outside the window. At the end, they brought their cards to the teacher who put a new stamp on them for each one of them. Neither Tammy nor Emmy were ready to give them to me to put away, when I put them into the stroller.
It was so very cold and windy outside, as we started the long walk to the subway. We then rode two stops, walked a little more, and were home by 11:55. I put the leftover pasta from yesterday into the microwave and undressed them, and then they were already ready to eat. They ate pretty well, then had some pudding. Then we cleaned them up and dressed them, and Emmy was the first one in bed at 12:35, then Sammy joined him. He fell asleep around 12:45, and so I left, as Sammy falls asleep more easily, when we're not there. He still had his eyes open, but fell asleep shortly. Tammy came upstairs at 12:55, and just after 1 pm she was already asleep, which is very unusual. It really shows how tired they were, even though we had not been to church last night. Randy and I had some anniversary cake and sat down for a break. I enjoyed reading the free subway newspaper I had picked up while eating my cake and drinking my tea, and then got my computer to start working. I was falling asleep myself while sitting with the kids, but after the cake I had fresh energy.
At 2:10 Emmy woke up and went straight to Randy who took him downstairs. Sammy continued sleeping. At 2:30 I finally closed my own eyes and fell asleep. At 3 pm Sammy woke up and woke me up, I picked him up and took him downstairs with some snacks. I returned to the computer to work. At 3:15 I turned the ocean waves off so that Tammy would wake up as she'd been asleep for over 2 hours, but she was not waking up, which she usually does without the waves. At 3:30 I called her name, and she was still not waking up. Only after I started stroking her did she wake up. I carried her downstairs. Then I went to get my computer to take it downstairs to my desk to work there.
Emmy was playing with their little computer for a little bit, then Sammy after Randy put him down. Tammy got a shopping cart and her baby to go shopping with her. Emmy wanted to watch worship on the Echo Show, and I put on a service from Life Center. He really watches the musicians. Tammy also came by to look.
As expected, it wasn't long before they wanted to watch Peppa Pig, and I finally gave in and let them. After a few episodes I stopped it, and they were not happy at all. I played the video of them playing the drums this morning on my computer, and they enjoyed it. I ended up playing it on a loop, while pushing Sammy in the swing, who I gave a rattle to. Emmy had our drum in his hand and was playing it. Once Sammy came out of the swing, Emmy went in.
Randy was fixing the gate at the bottom of the stairs, and Sammy crossed the room to get to him and pulled himself up on his leg. Emmy and Tammy were also curious and came to see what Daddy was doing.
Just after 5:30 pm we all went upstairs. They pulled up chairs to the kitchen counter and started eating the food I put on their plates in front of them. After it was all ready, I moved their plates to the dining room table, took their clothes off, and they sat down. However, they did not eat much more, and Emmy was up and gone again pretty quickly. He tried to go potty, then wanted to go into the water. Tammy was up by then too, and in they went, while I put the rest of their food into bowls. They ate most of their food in the bathtub, including Sammy. After having played a while, we got them out one after another, and by 6:50 pm they were all in bed.
I sat down by them, and Tammy lay down on my chest. Then they started talking about the day and more. They were talking about Sonja sitting in the chair last night, and asked for her to do so again. I told them she was coming tomorrow, but that she wasn't gonna sit in this chair any time soon. Tammy lay down in her bed, and I encouraged them to go to sleep. I don't know what time it was, when I walked away, but all three were still somewhat awake, though not for much longer. I got myself something to eat, ate, and then went back to work. I have also been watching a lot of the reporting on the Ukraine, when I do something that does not require a lot of concentration. The Ukrainian border is only 770 miles from Vienna.
Emmy has already been awake and wanting me to stay with him and just cried again. I'm hoping for a good night's rest for everybody.
