Day 987. Last night it was nearly 2 am before I made it to bed. I moved Emmy from our bed to his own, then lay down myself. Tammy came to us at 7 am and fell asleep between us. At 7:30 the alarm went off. Tammy woke up screaming, and I calmed her down, telling her it's just the alarm. Emmy came running to me and said proudly that he had not been startled by the alarm. I was very tired but had to get up.
I made breakfast, and we sat down to eat. Then Tammy and Emmy got up and went potty. They were still running around naked, when Sonja rang the doorbell early, at 8:15. They opened the door for her naked! Then I cleaned them up and dressed them, and Sonja went downstairs with them, while I took Sammy downstairs. I gave Sonja their Bible, and she was the one reading the story to them today. I went upstairs, where Randy and I were getting ready to leave the house. Before we left at 8:45, I went downstairs to let them know we were leaving and would soon be back. Tammy was then standing by the gate at the bottom of the stairs crying and saying she wanted to come with us. Sonja said that she didn't cry for long after we left.
It's always strange for us to go somewhere together, just the two of us, as that hardly ever happens. We took the subway, then walked for a while to get to the center where Sammy goes to physiotherapy every week. His physiotherapist had asked us for a meeting without Sammy so she could talk freely with us. We showed our recovered-from-Covid status and were let in. We still had to wait a few minutes, then she called us into her office. And then we talked for 45 minutes. We talked about the walker Sammy was to get, talked about the Botox they want to give him to relax his muscles, and about getting a wheelchair, and a few other things. She said that he won't ever walk without an aid, and she thought he would have a wheelchair as an adult, just to be able to go long distances. That's why she already recommended it now. We left at 10 am to return back home. At 10:20 we walked back into our apartment, and I went straight downstairs to Sonja and the kids. They were all happily playing, putting round things into holes. Sonja needed to leave right away, and so we said our goodbyes. Especially Emmy didn't want to let Sonja go. Once Randy came downstairs, I went upstairs to get to work.
It was already 10:30, so I only had an hour to work before I went to the kitchen to start cooking. At noon they came upstairs, and we sat down to eat. Everyone ate really well, Tammy and Emmy clearing their plates and having seconds, and Sammy also ate a lot. They especially liked and wanted more sunnyside up egg; it was hidden in their cremed spinach, together with the potatoes. They all had pudding, then we took them straight to the bathtub before they touched anything to make it green. They had fun playing with the water coming out of the hose which they hadn't done in quite a long time. Once they were clean, they could go potty like they had wanted to do right away. Then we dressed them, and the boys went to bed. It was 12:45.
I sat down by them, and by 12:55 they were asleep, and I left to clean up the kitchen. Then I returned to the computer to work. At 1:20 Tammy came upstairs and went to bed. By 1:35 she was asleep and I left. I was so tired that I closed my eyes at 2 pm and woke up, when I heard Sammy at 2:35. I picked him up, took him downstais, and sat down by the computer to work. Just before 3 pm Tammy woke up. She wanted milk, then went downstairs to her siblings. A few minutes later they all came upstairs, we dressed them, and left the house just after 3:30 pm.
We took the subway to the end, then walked to the school, where we arrived just as the class was starting. We took their shoes off, went inside the exercise hall and joined the dance. We were running in circles and stopping ever so often to do different movements. Emmy was running next to the teacher for a while and was having fun with her. After the dance, she brought a box of ropes, and each child took one. They had to move the rope left and right, like a snake. Then she had the parents put the rope around their chests, with the kids being horses and running. It was hard having both Tammy and Emmy. Then they sat down on the floor, and we put the rope around their backs to pull them. Then they lay on the floor holding on to the rope, and we pulled them. I actually had both Tammy and Emmy hold on to the rope at one point.
Then she got the hoops out and put them in a row. The kids had to roll the big balls through, but they didn't care to. Then they got to jump on them, and suddenly Sammy was interested. I ended up with both of them jumping. Sammy also got to push the ball through with Daddy's help. Then the parents held up the hoops and the kids crawled through the tunnel; Emmy did not.
Then she put the big mattress down and made steps out of steppers. They walked up and jumped off onto the mat, again and again. Once again Tammy and Emmy had a hard time going to the end of the line. Sammy also got to jump with Daddy's help. Then they had to pull themselves across benches; the prints on their T-shirts made that a little harder, keeping them from sliding well.
The board with wheels became available, and as I had Sammy, I put him on it as I knew how much he enjoys it. I pulled him around a little bit, but he really wanted to move it himself, with his arms, and did a great job. Tammy and Emmy started seesawing, and after Emmy left, Sammy took his place. Then Tammy leaned forward to give Sammy a kiss, which was just the sweetest thing. She's nicer to Sammy than Emmy is. Emmy in the meantime was with the teacher on the big mat and having fun. He was doing something that resembled a somersault, and I helped him do a few more, which he enjoyed. Then Tammy came as well, and they were holding hands and dancing on top of the mat. Then they got on the rolling board together, and Randy pulled them through the room.
And then the box with drums and rattles already came out, signaling the end of the class. Emmy was first to get the big drum out, followed by Tammy, and I put Sammy by the box at first, then sat down on the mat with him. I had picked out two rattles for him, and he was having fun with them. Emmy was the loudest drum player as usual and having fun. Then the class was over. We put their shoes back on and left.
Even before the class Emmy had repeatedly asked to go to the playground, and he was still doing so. There was one right there, and so we went there for a few minutes. They were having fun climbing up a slide and then going down over and over again. I had Sammy, we did a few things, then he ended up in the swing, enjoying it. Tammy also came at one point to use the swing next to him, then returned to the slide. After about 20 minutes we decided it was time to go home.
Emmy didn't really want to leave, and he wanted to go see the ducks, but the ducks were not there, and so I put him into the stroller - against his will. He was crying and resisting, but then calmed down. They were asking to watch Peppa Pig, but I reminded them that I had said they would not get to watch anything today, as they keep messing with my desk, when I'm not there and Daddy not looking. They handledt that "no" better than expected. By 5:45 we were back home.
I took their shoes off, and they all went downstairs so I could make their dinner in peace. At 6:20 we sat down at the dining room table to eat. A few minutes later they got up to go potty, then went into the bathtub. I combined their food and took it there, and they ate some more in the water, while having fun. I washed their hair today, and they showed off how big they already are, by voluntarily tilting their heads back to get their hair under water and make it wet, and then tilting their heads back for me to wash the shampoo out of their hair. No crying today! Then they came out one after another. By 7:30 all three were in bed.
I sat down by them, and suddenly all three wanted me to rock them, which just doesn't work. For the longest time Tammy was the only one that wanted to be rocked every night, and now it's all three. And Sammy has no patience to wait for his turn, hitting his head on purpose while crying. I got Tammy to leave my chest and let Sammy be rocked because of that, then she came back. And then Emmy joined her on my chest. I was glad, when they both returned to their beds. I sang over them, then continued singing, hoping for them to fall asleep. I had to sit there until 8:20 pm before I could finally walk away. I got myself something to eat and went downstairs to eat, then returned to work.
