Day 1003. Last night I headed to bed just after 12:30. Tammy joined us during the night, and Emmy came early, already around 6:30. He soon had his sister up, and together they got up, doing all kinds of things. There was no more sleep for me, as they kept coming to me, wanting me to let them open the new package, or when they were fighting and getting hurt, or when they asked me to get up or give them food. Just before 8 am I finally got up. Sammy had already been in bed with us for a couple of minutes at that point.
I made breakfast, and we sat down to eat. Then they got up, Emmy went potty, and then I cleaned them up and dressed them. The Mobile Support lady was supposed to come at 9 am and called me to ask about Randy's test result. He should have had the result yesterday afternoon, but because it was still not there, she told us she couldn't come. It's gonna be a whole month from now before we'll see her again.
We went downstairs, where I read a Bible story to them. Sammy did NOT want to be with me, he wanted to be with Daddy. It's been a while since I've seen him this unhappy with being with me and this determined to get to his Daddy. He crawled across the room to get to him.
I went upstairs to work, looking forward to a long morning of getting things done. We're leaving for Mexico on Monday, and there's just SO much I still have to get done before! I was so into my work that I lost track of time, and suddenly it was 11:30. I quickly went to the kitchen to put the lasagna into the oven that we had planned to eat yesterday. It was already open, so it had to be eaten. Then I returned to my computer.
They all came upstairs just before noon, and went straight out on the balcony, as I had the doors open to let the fresh air in. It had cooled off considerably, which was nice after the couple of hot days we'd had. They started jumping on the trampolin, which was great, as the food wasn't quite ready yet. Then I got it out, portioned it, put their plates into the fridge for a few minutes to cool it down, and then we sat down at the table to eat. Sammy really likes lasagna, and Tammy even had seconds. Then they all had icecream and pudding, before getting up. I cleaned them up, and before I could dress them, they had their new swim wests in their hand, and so I offered to put them on them. They looked great! At first they wanted to go downstairs with them on, but then they took them off after all and put their clothes back on. I took them downstairs, then I went back upstairs to clean up and get their bedroom ready for nap time. I sat back down at the computer to get Randy's test set up; he had never received the result of Tuesday's test. At 1:15 he came upstairs with the kids, a few minutes later they were in bed, and I sat down by them, while Randy did his test. He then left to drop it off. The kids were all wild at first, and it took some doing for them to finally calm down. By 1:45 they were asleep, and I was able to return to my computer to work.
At 2:40 Sammy was the first one awake, Tammy woke up as a result, and then Emmy was up too. They wanted to go on the balcony with the bubbles, and so I let them. Unfortunately Tammy poured out most of her soap, and I had to change her clothes for dance class. Randy had to return Sammy's try-out walker, and so he mounted it to the stroller, as we were walking right by Sammy's center. At 3:25 we left the house - Randy pushing the single stroller with Tammy and Emmy and the walker, and I was pushing Sammy in the double stroller.
We walked to the subway in the rain; it was so much cooler today than it has been. We took the subway and then still had a long walk, which was not fun in the rain. We put the stroller roofs over the kids, but Tammy's legs were still out. And I had to carry my umbrella, which made it pretty much impossible to push the heavy double stroller and keep it straight, but I managed somehow. We finally made it to the center that takes care of Sammy and where he goes to physiotherapy, and Randy started getting the walker off the stroller. He had tied it down well. The lady from the reception was already standing in the door and waiting for it. We handed it to her and walked on to the school, where we arrived early.
I took Emmy's and Tammy's shoes off, as well as my own, and then we went inside, where other children and parents were already waiting. The teacher put a mattress on the floor for us right by her. Normally we're sitting at the other end of the room. I took advantage of the waiting time to tell her that we were not coming next week. She asked where we were going and then told us that she was actually from Mexico. She's really a sweet lady.
Then the class started with the greeting song. She had a rabbit, and Emmy got it first. He could say what he wanted to do and he chose drumming on the floor. So she did the song with everyone drumming on the floor. Sammy was next, and I picked clapping for him, as he can do that, and he did it. Tammy chose jumping, then she passed the rabbit on to another little girl. One kid chose turning, and it was just the funniest thing to watch Emmy turn around and around with his hands in his pockets. Unfortunately I started my video too late to capture it.
She then had a bag with stuff inside, making it really mysterious what was inside. A little girl came first, Emmy second. She gave Emmy the bag and then walked through the room with him and back to the starting point, where he could take one item out of the bag. It was a train, and it was a train for every child. Sammy also got to go around with Daddy's help. The teacher got a violin out which grabbed Emmy's interest. He walked right up to her while she was playing, and actually grabbed the bow out of curiosity. The class is all about discovering music, so she let him, and moved his hand holding the bow across the strings. I then told her that their great-grandfather had been a violinist and played in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. She then did a few train songs, walking in a circle while playing. One picture shows Randy with Tammy in front of him and Emmy behind him, as they were trains going to Italy.
Then it was drawing time. Every child got a picture of a train, and she put some crayons in the middle for them to use. Tammy loves drawing and put her all into it. Emmy was also more into it today than usual. Sammy took his paper and crumpled it up. While they were drawing, the teacher sat down and continued playing her violin. Sammy was very interested and crawled over to her. He crawled all the way to her, looking up with interest, and even put his hand on her thigh as if he wanted to pull himself up. Randy stepped in and took him away, but the teacher told him it was okay, and so Sammy crawled back to her and kept watching her play. Then she put the violin away, and checked on the kids drawing, and many kids showed her the drawing they had made.
Then she got her ukulele out for the good-bye song, and once again Emmy walked right up to her and touched the instrument while she was playing. After she was done, Tammy also moved her finger over the strings. Then the class was over. The teacher had noticed me taking pictures all the time and asked whether I could send her some. She gave me her email address, and tonight I sent her all the pictures I had.
The kids went back into the strollers, and we left the school to go back out into the rain to walk back to the subway. At least I could now push the single stroller, which was a lot easier. The kids were hungry, and so I gave them some snacks. We got to the subway, and Emmy kept asking to watch Peppa Pig. He simply does not accept it, when I say no, so I simply ignored his request after having denied it. We only had two stops to go. Sammy had been holding my hand while walking to the subway, and then I got him out of the stroller, which he was really excited about. I had him sit on the stroller handle, and so I pushed all three kids home. It was still raining, and everyone got a little wet. At 5:35 we were back home.
The kids were STILL (or again) asking to watch Paw Patrol or Peppa Pig, and I still said no, that they had not behaved well enough. I went downstairs with them, and they went straight to my chair, where they always sit to watch on the Echo Show. However, I closed the gate and went back upstairs without turning any videos on. It did not take them long to notice and they started crying. They came to the gate, crying and asking to watch Peppa. I told them no, that they had not behaved well enough, and then said no more, while making their dinner. Emmy actually succeeded in climbing over the gate, and I took him back downstairs. Once they realized their tears were not making a difference, they stopped crying and starting playing with Daddy. Just before they came upstairs, they were laughing and having fun, which I only know from when Sonja is here. By the way, Sonja has found a job and is working now. Randy later told me that he was blowing up balloons and then letting go, and they were laughing as the balloon would fly all over the place.
Just after 6 pm they came upstairs to eat, but nobody ate much. I guess they'd had too many snacks on the way home. They went potty, and then into the bathtub, where they were having fun role-playing with me. After some time Sammy came out first, and then the other two. By 7:05 they were in bed. I sat down by them, and Tammy came to lie on my chest. It wasn't long until Emmy wanted to be on my chest, and he had no patience to wait for his turn. I told them I was leaving all the way if he didn't lie down, and then lay Tammy down and left. After a few minutes I came back, Emmy lay on my chest for a little bit, then went to bed. Sammy had already been on my chest in the very beginning before the other two were ready for bed. It finally got quiet, and at 7:45 I was surprisingly already able to leave. I went to the kitchen to get something to eat and then went to work. There's quite a lot I'd like to still get done before we leave for Mexico on Monday. At 11 pm I got Randy's test result, which was extremely fast for a test handed in at 2 pm. The result for Monday's test had never come. I was very relieved, when the test result said negative. Thank God! Now we're ready to travel!
