32 months 17 days

Day 990. Last night I went to bed just before 1 am, but it took nearly an hour before I had the chance to fall asleep. The girl had a runny nose which made her sleep restless. She came running several times, but we put her back to bed. And then they came both running. I held Emmy for a few minutes, then he was willing to go back to bed. With Tammy we finally gave up and let her sleep with us, as she kept coming back. Emmy returned in the early morning, and by 7 am or so they were up and running and getting into stuff they shouldn't once again. I was just so tired that it took until 8:15 before I crawled out of bed.

I made breakfast, we sat down to eat, and soon they were already done and gone. I cleaned them up and dressed them, then we went downstairs. Normally we read a Bible story, but today the kids wanted me to  paint their faces again. It was already late and I wanted to go work, but they pleaded enough that I gave in. Today Tammy came first and she wanted to be a monkey. Then it was Emmy's turn, and he wanted to be a rabbit. It was 9:30 before I was done and able to go upstairs to work.

I was making good progress but just after 11 am I got so tired that I set my timer for 10 minutes and closed my eyes. When the alarm went off, I got up to go to the kitchen to cook. Everyone came upstairs at noon, and we sat down to eat, and they ate pretty well. They all had pudding, then we cleaned them up and dressed them. The boys were in bed by 12:35, and by 12:50 Emmy had also fallen asleep, and I returned to my computer to work. Tammy came upstairs at 1:15 and went to bed. I sat down by her and ten minutes later I was able to leave her side and return to work. Sammy woke up early today, at 1:45, and Randy went downstairs with him. Emmy walked into the room at 2:15, and the noise he made before going downstairs woke up his sister a few minutes later. Then they all went downstairs with some snacks. A few minutes later I took my computer and went downstairs as well, as Randy was coming upstairs with Sammy to go to physiotherapy with him.

The walking aid model we wanted cannot be delivered in Europe right now, and so we have the get the other walker we liked less. Yesterday they fitted it for him, and today he was given a model to try out for a week again. The therapist put Sammy in both ways - facing forward so he can walk, and facing backward where he has the freedom to stand and use his hands to play or do whatever.

I walked downstairs and thought we could try play the memory game again. And so I got the Peppa Pig memory out and picked six pairs to play it with. I explained to them how the game worked, and we actually played it that way. They both won and both lost, but Emmy did not like losing at all and got upset. In any case, they did pretty well playing it.

Then Emmy wanted to swing and Tammy to draw. Then I asked them if they wanted to color and printed out Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol coloring pages for them. They were just drawing all over the page, and so I showed them on one page how you color. Tammy then tried to actually do it and did a good job for her first time. Emmy not so much.

Sonja texted me that she'd soon arrive at our house. She hadn't been here since Friday, and so I was looking forward to having her with us. I got the kids' shoes and put them on them, opened the door downstairs and put their cars and bike outside. They started riding them. I also got the big bubbles out that we hadn't used since last summer. We were doing those, when Sonja arrived at 3:45 pm. The kids were really excited to see her. We talked for a few minutes, then I left them to go back to work. They were doing bubbles and running their vehicles. Randy and Sammy returned at 4:30 and joined them downstairs right away. Randy put Sammy in his walker and left him with them, then left to go to the grocery store.

I continued working, but was very tired. By 5 pm I had no choice but to close my eyes and set a 12 minute timer as that was all the time I had. After it went off, I went to the kitchen to make their dinner. I was too tired to tidy up with them today, and so I called them upstairs to eat at 6 pm. They sat down at the table and got started, while I was still cutting oranges, and then Randy returned from the grocery store, and Sonja said her goodbyes. The kids weren't eating much at the table as usual, then got up and left to go potty before going into the bathtub. I put the rest of their food into bowsl and took them there, but tonight I was really fed up with it as the bowls sometimes fall into the water and told them we were not doing this any more. Tomorrow they'd have to eat at the table. We'll see how that goes.

They had fun in the water, then came out one after another, and we got them ready for bed. By 7:20 they were all in bed, and I sat down by them. Tammy lay down on my chest as usual. She and I both had the hickups, and every time one manifested, all four of us were laughing as if it was terribly hilarious, and we did that for several minutes. It was fun. After Tammy went to bed, Emmy wanted to be rocked. I had already rocked Sammy in the beginning before the others had gone to bed, but he was still upset when Emmy lay down on me. After I rocked him, I picked up Sammy again, and he was still upset, when I put him back to bed. He stayed active for a long time. I knew if I left, he'd fall asleep, but every time I tried, Emmy protested. He finally agreed to let Randy sit down in my place. Tammy was already asleep, thank God, as she would not have accepted that. It was 8:15 pm, and I went to the kitchen to get something to eat. After having eaten, I went back to work and worked the rest of the evening. At 11 pm Emmy woke up and asked for me to sit with him, and I took my computer and sat down by him. That way I was still able to continue working.