Day 981. Last night I was going to bed at 1 am and found Emmy asleep next to Randy. I took him back to his bed and went to bed. A few minutes later Tammy came to join us, and I took her straight back to her bed. Now Sammy had woken up to, and I gave him milk, then Tammy wanted some too. Then I finally got to go to bed. Tammy and Emmy came in the early morning hours and never went to back to sleep. At 6:50 they already got up, way too early. After several short nights, I was so very tired and didn't want to get up. At 7:30 am I forced myself up.
I emptied the dishwasher and made breakfast, while Randy gave them new diapers. We sat down to eat, then they got up to go potty. We cleaned them up and dressed them, then we went downstairs, where we read a Bible story together. A few minutes later I went upstairs to work, and a little time later Randy went downstairs to be with them.
At 10:45 Sonja arrived, thank God. The kids were happy to see her. Randy took advantage of it and went to the grocery store. At 11:20 I went to the kitchen to cook, and at noon everyone came upstairs to eat. Randy was also back. We all sat down at the table together. Emmy ate lots of pork, but little sweet potatoes, while Tammy ate lots of potatoes and little pork. Sammy ate both, with Sonja's help. Then they all had pudding before going potty. We cleaned them up and dressed them, and I put Emmy to bed. It was 12:40. Just over 5 minutes later he was asleep. Randy put Sammy to bed at 12:45; thank God that I was able to walk away, as he was having fun and playing, and once his audience is gone, he goes to sleep.
I was so exhausted I was hurting and knew I had to get some sleep, and so I lay straight down. At 1:15 Tammy came upstairs and went to sleep. Then Randy had to leave again to go to another grocery store. At 1:50 Emmy already walked into the room, and I opened the gate so he could go downstairs to Sonja. I lay back down. At 2:15 Sammy woke up. Randy was already back and took him downstairs to Sonja. Just before 3 pm they all came back upstairs, and the noise was enough to wake up Tammy. We dressed them and got everything ready for us to leave on time at 3:15.
Tammy was pretty cranky, as she usually is after waking up. It was another warm and sunny day, which was great. We took the subway, then walked to the bus stop and rode the bus to the dancing school, where we arrived a few minutes before the class was to start. There were a few other children there today. Tammy and Emmy were both not participating as much as usual, but the three of us sure kept trying to get them to, and at times they were into the movements and actions. A few times Emmy wanted me to hold him, and so I danced with him, doing the song as best we could that way. We also all had Sammy at different times. He also enjoys it wild, and I made it as fun for him as possible. The kids enjoyed the fabric once the teacher handed it out, and the "flying" song, where you hold hands and dance with someone at different points of the song. Tammy ended up with a teacher, and another girl joined them later as well. Then it was already time for the goodbye song, and we left to put their shoes back on, then walked downstairs again, where we had parked the strollers. We left and started walking towards the bus stop.
Randy has been having a hard time finding diapers and wanted to check in the Hofer we were passing. I walked in through the exit to show the cashier what we already had with us, but then I ended up leaving it in the area there. The kids spotted small, kid-size shopping carts and ran to them with excitement, and so we had to get coins out so they could each get a cart. Then we walked through the actual entrance.
We headed to the fruit section, but there was no cantaloupe. We got a few other items, and I made sure to split them between their two carts. After we had everything together, we went to the end of the very short line to check out. Tammy was there first, and I told her to put the items on the conveyor belt. I was glad, when she actually did so rather than wanting to keep everything. But the problem was after the items were scanned. She wanted them back in her cart, while I put them on the bottom of the stroller. And so she threw a fit. We returned the kid carts, Emmy went back insto the stroller, and the only place where Tammy would go and calm down was my shoulders.
We walked the few stops to the bus stop and didn't have to wait long for the bus. Once on it, there was a free double seat, and so I put them there right away. They wanted to watch Peppa Pig, and given how tired especially Tammy was, I turned it on for them. They didn't like it, when I stopped the video for us to get off the bus. We walked to the subway and just missed one, then took the next one, and they continued watching on it.
At 5:45 pm we were back home, and I was glad Sonja was still with us. The kids went downstairs with her, where they were having lots of fun together, while I started making their dinner. Some time after 6 pm I was done. They came upstairs, we took their clothes off, and they sat down to eat. Sonja sat down and gave Sammy some food and had fun with Emmy. It wasn't long before Tammy got up to go potty, while Emmy was having too much fun with Sonja. Then Sonja said her goodbyes, and everyone went into the bathtub, where they continued eating. After Sammy had finished his food, he continued eating - his siblings' food, and they were not too excited about that, but they never finished their bowl. They came out one after another, and we got them ready for bed. It took until 7:50 before they were all in bed, because they always drag it out now by asking for cake. And when Randy came to give them a kiss, he kicked over my tea, pouring boiling hot tea over his toes. We had to clean it all up before they went to bed to stay.
Tammy wanted to lie on me, as usual, but soon returned to her own bed. She has Peppa Pig bedding, and it's worked for me to say that Peppa was waiting for her in her bed. It wasn't long before Emmy wanted to be rocked, and so he lay on my chest, but Sammy was fussing too, wanting me to pick him up and hold him. I put Emmy back to bed and got Sammy out, which caused great protest from Emmy. After a few minutes I put Sammy back to bed and got Emmy again. After I put him back to bed, he soon fell asleep.
But the other two were still awake, and Sammy wide awake and having fun. He needed me to walk away to sleep, but Tammy wanted me to stay. I tried leaving several times, but always had to come back for her. At 8:25 I was finally able to walk away without any reactions from them. I made myself something to eat, ate, and went back to work. I'm falling asleep while writing and just have to go to bed earlier tonight to catch up on sleep a little.
