Day 997. Last night I went to bed at midnight. Tammy joined us in bed at some point, and Emmy came at 6:30 in the morning. It wasn't long before he had woken up his sister, and then they were off to see what trouble they could get into today. Once Sammy made it very clear he wanted out of bed, he joined us and enjoyed a few minutes in bed with us, before he wanted to join his siblings. Just before 8 am I got up as well.
I went to the kitchen to make breakfast, then we sat down to eat. After breakfast they went potty, then I cleaned them up and dressed them, and we went downstairs, where we read a Bible story together. Then I went upstairs to work, and a few minutes later Randy went downstairs to spend the morning with them.
I made progress working, and at 10:30 I went to the kitchen to make chicken noodle soup. I was done by 11 and returned to my computer. At noon they came upstairs to eat. I already had their bowls in the fridge to cool the soup down enough for them to eat it. The boys ate well, but Tammy very little. They had dessert, then went potty, then we cleaned them up and dressed them and took them downstairs, where they stayed with Randy, while I went upstairs to clean up and then sit down at my computer to work. Just before 1:30 they came upstairs, and the kids went to bed. I sat down by them, and by 1:45 they were all asleep, and I was able to walk away. Randy had left to drop off our Covid tests.
Putting them all to bed at 1:30 has been one of the best decisions. They all slept two hours today, which is just amazing. At 3:40 they were still sleeping, and I decided it was time to get them up. I turned the ocean waves off and opened the curtains to let the sunlight in, and that woke them up. I opened the balcony door right by them, knowing how much they love to go outside and jump on the trampolin. They went outside, while I got them some snacks that I took to them. I sat down by them and watched them eat and jump. They started saying hello to the people who walked by, which they enjoy doing, and some people say hello back. Randy was on the balcony with them for some time, then they went downstairs to go outside and ride their vehicles. However, at first I had asked them if they wanted to go to the playground, but they were not too keen on that. But now Emmy wanted to go there and started crying hard, when I said no. He threw a fit, and nothing I did made him calm down and stop crying. I finally had to leave him there, outside with Daddy and his siblings. It took him quite a while to get over it.
Sammy was in his walker, and Tammy immediately started riding the little car she likes so much. Randy found a way to distract them and pointed out the ants on the ground to them. After that Emmy was fine. They both rode their cars and bicycles, and after Sammy had been in the walker for a while, he also got to ride a car and a bike. Then I heard Emmy cry again. I looked down from the balcony and was called downstairs. Emmy had fallen and scraped his knees. I put some oil on them and comforted him. I also told him I'd get them some knee protectors so that won't happen again.
They wanted to blow bubbles, and I gave them the big bubble set. Tammy had the wand that made many small bubbles, while Emmy had the one that made one big bubble, and they both had fun with it. I left them again, but by that time I had no more time to work. It was time to go to the kitchen to make their dinner.
I had just started, when the doorbell rang. The kids had just come inside and heard it and thought a package was being delivered. However, it was a grocery delivery, our first since February. As the gate downstairs was open, I told them they could come upstairs, and they were excited to do so. Once the bags were delivered, they started getting the food out and handing it to me to put it away. They clearly enjoyed themselves. A few minutes later their omelet was done, and they wanted to eat it right away. There was no point in having them go back downstairs, and so they sat down at the table and started eating the omelet. Tonight they ate all of it, which is usually not the case. Maybe because I was still cutting up their fruit, and so they didn't have much else to eat on their plates yet. I kept bringing more fruit to their plates from the kitchen, and cut the orange while sitting at the table with them. Tammy was the first one up, went potty, and then into the bathtub. Emmy stayed longer, eating, and then joined her, while Sammy came last. They had fun in the bathtub, then came out one after another. Tonight they were in bed early; it was only 6:50 pm. As they had slept long and late, I expected them to need some time to fall asleep. Tammy wanted to be rocked first, as usual, and so she was on my chest, while Emmy to my left was holding my hand in his bed, and Sammy to my right was holding my other hand in his bed. After Tammy went to bed, Emmy wanted to be rocked, and then Sammy. After that it was holding hands with different kids at different times. At 8 pm I was able to walk away.
I got myself something to eat, ate, and then went back to work, and tonight I've been working a little later again.
