34 months 20 days

Day 1054. Once again they were up way too early, just after 6 am, and nothing I said made any difference. I stayed in bed as long as I could, not able to get any more sleep, and forced myself up just before 8:30. It was so late after breakfast and cleaning them up and dressing them that I did not go downstairs with them. I was so tired, and I had work to do, and it was already pretty late.

I got straight to work and was able to work until just before noon, as I only had yesterday's leftovers to warm up. After having eaten rice with chicken and vegetables, they only got pudding for dessert today, as they had not eaten enough of the main dish, but the pudding needs to be used up anyway. I cleaned them up and dressed them, and then I had them help me clean up, where they had sat, as they had made a big mess. They were fighting over the little broom, and I helped them use it right. Then I gave them a cloth each to wipe the table. They were so motivated! If only they stayed like that forever.

Then we all went downstairs. Sammy wanted the piano, while Tammy and Emmy wanted to do the Peppa Pig sticker book. Randy told me today that Sammy now kneels on all fours and can crawl a few steps like that. After we had done some stickers, Emmy was the first one to want to go in the swing. Tammy was looking at photobooks, while Emmy was swinging, then they switched. And Emmy wanted to look at the photobook of Mommy's childhood or rather pre-triplet years. It was really funny, when they were jealous every time I had a Malian child in my arm. They kept saying, "This is MY Mommy!". And then it was already time to go upstairs and to bed. Once again Tammy threw a fit, while I took Sammy and Emmy to go upstairs. She then followed us. They fell asleep pretty quickly, and I was able to return to my computer.

I wanted to take a nap, but never did. I continued working instead. Sammy woke up first, and Randy went downstairs with him. Surprisingly the other two continued sleeping and slept a long time. At 3:15, after nearly 2 hours, I decided it was time to get them up. They had some milk, chose a squeezie, and went downstairs. I returned upstairs to get ready for my 4 pm lesson. It was a first lesson with a new student, and it was a great one. It was a lady who was older than me wanting to improve her English for her job, and I had lots of fun with her. She said she wanted to continue with me.

After I was done, Randy got some clothes for the kids to take them outside our apartment. I went out on the balcony a few times to watch them. They were blowing giant bubbles at first, and then riding their vehicles and had lots of fun.

At 6 pm I stopped working and went to the kitchen to make dinner. At 6:30 they came upstairs to eat. They ate some at the table, then continued eating in the bathtub. Sammy ate everything, but not the others. They were having fun playing with their water squirters.

By about 7:45 they were all in bed. I sat down by them, but once again their nap had been too long, and Tammy was giving me a hard time. Like yesterday I'd finally had enough and got up to leave, and Emmy followed me into the bedroom. He lay down in bed with me, while Tammy was crying on the other side of the door. After a few minutes we returned to their bedroom, and then things were much better. Tammy was soon asleep, only Emmy was still up and ran crying after me, when I tried to leave. He finally accepted Randy sitting by him, so I could get myself something to eat. After having eaten, I went back to work. Now it's midnight, and I'm just thankful that he has not woken up yet tonight.