32 months 3 days

Day 976. Last night I was working so well that it was 2 am before I went to bed. Emmy came at some point, I held him, and he returned to bed. Another time he came to drink some milk, then amazingly returned to bed without me having to hold him. Tammy joined us some time in bed, and Emmy came back in the early morning. At 7:15 he got up and went back to his bed. Sammy was crying pretty hard, so I finally picked him up and took him to our bed. Emmy then got up as well and came, but there was no more room in our bed. He could only lie on me which he didn't want to do. Soon Tammy was awake, and then she got up like her brother, and I got up as well. It was about 7:30.

Today I decided to do something different and made an omelet, like I did every morning while in Mali. It worked out well, all three eating some of it, while they have not been that interested in the bread I've been giving them. They also had watermelon, of course, with much of the one we bought yesterday already gone. Then we cleaned them up and dressed them and went downstairs, where we read a Bible story together. Then they saw the face paint kit and wanted me to paint their faces. I hesitated because of the time it would take, then tried to do something, but it was not working well at all. So I did a few little things, then left to go work. I'm still waiting for better stuff to arrive in the mail.

I made much progress working until I had to go to the kitchen to cook just after 11:30. They came upstairs before noon, and just after noon we sat down at the table to eat. Emmy once again would not sit down, when we told him to, and so he missed out on dessert. After having eaten, Tammy and Emmy went potty, then we cleaned them up and dressed them and the boys went to bed, while Tammy went downstairs with Randy. It was 12:45.

I sat down by the boys, and once again they were wide awake and could not lie still. It is so frustrating and aggravating, when you try to get a kid to sleep and are not succeeding. Sammy finally fell asleep around 1:15, when I walked away from Emmy who was crying as a result. At 1:30 Randy and Tammy came upstairs. Randy sat down by the kids' bed, and Emmy was soon asleep. He then left, and I helped Tammy a little, who was asleep by 1:45. Time to go back to work for me.

At 2:10 Sonja messaged me that she was at the door. She hadn't been here since last week, in about a week, so a long time for us. I called to Randy to go open the door for her, as the buzzer does not work when you don't ring the doorbell. Unfortunately that was enough for Sammy to wake up who hadn't even quite slept an hour yet. I picked him up, and together we greeted Sonja who had missed us, as we had her. We went downstairs, where we talked for a while, catching up on what she'd been up to. Sammy was on my chest the whole time, resting and enjoying being with Mommy. Then I handed him to Sonja and went upstairs to return to work. Randy was just leaving to go to the grocery store. At 2:45 Emmy walked into the room. He asked about Sonja, and I told him that she was here. He immediately ran to the gate to go downstairs and was very excited to see her. I returned upstairs to work. Around 3 pm I suddenly heard Tammy by the staircase, shouting downstairs. She had already heard Sonja and wanted to go downstairs to see her. I opened the gate, and she went downstairs by herself, then I heard her run to see Sonja. I got some snacks and took them downstairs to them, then returned to work. Randy returned from the grocery store at 3:15, and then left with Sammy at 3:45 to take him to a physiotherapy session at the private physiotherapist's office. Then I took shoes and light coats downstairs, as Emmy had already asked to go outside. We put them on them, as well as their helmets, and I opened the door for them to go outside. I asked Emmy to close the gate that people always leave open; it's supposed to keep people away who don't live here. Then Tammy and Emmy started running their cars, and also asked for the bubbles before I left. I returned upstairs to work, knowing I still had one hour left to make the most of.

Just before 5 pm I went back downstairs and found them busy with the bubbles. I decided it was time to go inside, even though they were not very excited about that. We had to say good-bye to Sonja, and then they were excited, when I told them they could watch Peppa Pig. I turned it on for them, then sat down to work until 5:15. Then I went upstairs to make their dinner, knowing they were watching Peppa and not hurting each other or doing anything stupid. I was able to cut up food peacefully and could hear them the whole time downstairs, or rather the video. At 5:50 I went downstairs and turned the video off. Emmy was upset, and Tammy was crying. I then encouraged them to help me tidy up, and surprisingly Emmy started right away, and soon Tammy also joined in. They both did a great job today and got 20c each for their piggy banks instead of 10c. After we were done, we walked upstairs, and just then Randy and Sammy walked through the door. It was about 6 pm. We undressed them all and sat down by the table to eat. After they were done, I put the rest into bowls that I took to the bathtub, and Tammy and Emmy went potty and then into the water. They all ate quite a bit more, then came out one after another so we could make them ready for bed. Recently they've been asking for cake just before going to bed, and we've been giving them some. They also all drink milk before going to bed. Today it took until 7:30 before they were all in bed.

I sat down by them as usual, and Tammy lay down on my chest. We were talking, then Tammy went to bed faster than usual. She kept saying she was tired, but was not falling asleep. Sammy fell asleep first, then Emmy by about 8 pm, but Tammy was still awake and tossing and turning. I walked away to start making my soup, and she started crying and calling me. Randy sat down by her, but that didn't help any as she wanted Mommy. After a few minutes I returned to her side, tucked her in and stroked her head. She quieted down. I tried to leave a few times, before I was able to actually walk away. It was already 8:20. I finished making my food and took it downstairs. I ate and then went back to work. Now it's after midnight and I'm starting to feel it that I went to bed so late last night.