Day 947. Last night I went to bed at 12:25, having had a rough few hours with Emmy who needed me constantly. The last time he had agreed to wait in my bed for me, and when I went to bed, I held him for a minute, then agreed to go to his own bed. A few minutes later he returned, we did it all over again. Then the girl came, lay in our bed for a few minutes, and then I took her back against her will but she stayed. They both came again later during the night, and I both returned them to their beds after a few minutes. Then they returned in the morning and stayed. At 7 am Emmy was up for good, but he was the only one. He came and went a couple of times. Soon Sammy was up but not crying so hard that we'd have to get him. Tammy was still fast asleep, until just after 8 am, and at 8:10 we got up. Emmy had already been trying to get me to get up for a while. Since we had the Mobile Support Lady coming at 9 am, we needed to be ready by then.
I made breakfast, and we sat down to eat. Emmy ate all his bread, and Tammy surprised me, when she ate one piece of bread. Sammy though did not want bread today and had little fruit, just oatmeal. Then I cleaned them up and dressed them, while Randy was tidying up downstairs a little, as we had not been home yesterday afternoon to do so. Randy had sorted some clothes we were given last night, and Emmy was all excited to find a new "captain's" body that he wanted to wear, of course. Tammy has been pretending being a cat, and she was happy to put a cat body on. I was just putting the stockings on the last kid, when the doorbell rang. We then all went downstairs with her. Emmy found himself a laundry basket he sat in - his boat that he was steering. I went back upstairs to clean up and work.
I was tired, but I'm so behind on office work right now. I was able to finish the French version of our newsletter and send it, before I had to go to the kitchen to cook. Thankfully it was an easy and quick cook today. At noon Randy and the kids came upstairs, and we sat down at the table to eat. At first they were eating well, but then Emmy and Tammy started playing and it didn't end well. There was no more eating then. And so Sammy ate the best. Tammy and Emmy went potty, only Emmy successfully, then we cleaned them up, dressed them and put the boys to bed. It was 12:35. Tammy wanted peanuts from Daddy, and Emmy heard it and wanted some too, but I said no, he'd get them after his nap. He was really upset, but let me hold and rock him. After a while I was able to put him to bed, where he rolled over and slept. It was 1 pm. As for Sammy, he was NOT asleep, but having fun. Our neighbors gave us two good quality kids mattresses, and last night Randy put them on top of Tammy's and Sammy's mattresses, making them lie higher in their bed. It seems that Sammy has seen this as another challenge Daddy set him. He was on his belly trying hard to get to the top of the bars that suddenly seemed in reach, but weren't quite. I tried to encourage him to sleep, and as soon as I had left he did. Tammy came up 5 minutes later, at 1:10 pm. She still had a bowl of peanuts that she took to bed with her, even though I was not happy about it. Then she wanted milk; I guess that was her lunch. I walked away, but still heard her for a while. She fell asleep around 1:30 pm. I was already at work by then. At 2 pm - which seems to always be the time - Emmy walked into the room. I picked him up and lay down with him, and we both fell asleep. At 2:20 he woke up and got up, going downstairs with Randy. Five minutes later Sammy woke up, and I took him downstairs to the other boys. I continued working. At 3:15 Tammy woke up, and I took her downstairs, together with a plate of fresh fruit. Emmy wanted me to stay, to put him in the swing, and then to go outside. And so I had no choice but take my office stuff downstairs in the hopes of being able to work next to them.
But that was not to be. Emmy wanted to swing, so I put him in, and Tammy wanted to draw, so I got the table, paper and crayons out. Then Emmy wanted to join her and his brother and also draw. After they were done drawing, it was Tammy who wanted to swing, and so it was her turn. Then we decided to go outside so they could ride their vehicles. Tammy had not had a chance to use her new helmet in action yet. I left to get some more clothes and shoes for them, as the warm weather was already on the way out. They were impatient to go outside. Tammy was very happy to wear her new Peppa Pig helmet. They grabbed one of their vehicles and started running up and down the path. Randy got Sammy's walker out and put him into it, and he ended up walking around a bit, with Daddy's help. Tammy came up to him and gave him a kiss, which was so cute.
Randy has just repaired the tire on one of their two bikes without pedals, and so he got them both out, and they rode them. Emmy has had more practice and is better at it. Tammy has not been as motived to ride it, but did today. Last time she had not sat down on the saddle, but I told her to do so today, which helped a lot.
The kids wanted me to go get the bubble, and I did. Tammy and Emmy were taken turns blowing them and loving it. It was windy and so the bubbles were really carried up high and away. For the longest time Tammy couldn't blow, but now she can. I let Sammy try as well, but today he was not able to blow.
The kids found some sticks in the grass and started using them as drum sticks, tapping a beat on the ground or tarp. At 5 pm I went inside, used my last 15 minutes to do office work, and then went upstairs to make their dinner. Thankfully the kids were happily playing downstairs without asking to come upstairs or asking to watch Peppa Pig. At lunch time Tammy had thrown such a fit that I had told her she was not gonna watch Peppa Pig today. Maybe she remembered that.
After I was done with their dinner and it was on the table, I went downstairs to tidy up and have them help me. It was a lot easier with me not having to turn off their video. Tammy immediately joined me tidying up and was very motivated and thorough, but I could never get Emmy to do so as well. So far I've not had them both tidy up the same night; one of them always refuses. And so I opened up Emmy's piggy bank and took a coin out, while Tammy received a coin. After we were done, we all went upstairs and sat down at the table to eat. I had some leftover potatoes from yesterday and was surprised, when they liked them so much that they ate them all. At lunch time I'd never had the impression that they care much about potatoes. They ate some food, but still had a lot left, when they decided to leave the table. But first Tammy put all their leftover food into the bowl that I then took to the bathroom for them. Sammy had eaten well and the little that was left over went into another bowl. Both Tammy and Emmy went potty before going into the water. And they surprised me tonight, when they ate ALL their food in the bowls, with nothing left at all! That's rare. Sammy even ate some of his siblings' food. And they were having lots of fun in the water at the same time. Sammy wasn't too happy to be the first one to come out of the water. We got them all ready for bed, and by 7:15 they were all in bed.
I sat down by them, with Tammy on my chest, and holding hands with Emmy. We talked for a bit, then I sang for them, then Tammy returned to her bed. She was the last one to fall asleep. When I left their side at 8 pm, she was nearly there.
I went to the kitchen and started making my time-intensive salad, then went downstairs to eat. After that I started working, and worked until late. As is so often the case, Emmy showed up at the top of the stairs asking for me. I went upstairs, and he agreed to go lie down in my bed and wait for me. Tammy also woke up and came running. I put her to bed and gave her the milk she requested. Sammy had also woken up, wanting milk. And finally Emmy had some milk. Then I went back downstairs to finish working. It's gonna be another late night.
