1 year 23 days

I guess 2 am will just remain my bed time. Last night I set two alarms and the timer when I went to bed, as the timer has never failed me. Until today. All three were silent, therefore not waking me up. What's the point?!?

Instead Randy woke me 10 minutes later than when the alarm would have, which was too late. I quickly made their cereal with milk and we fed them, then we put the clothes on I had chosen last night and put them in the stroller. Then we had to get ready ourselves, and make some milk bottles for the road. It all took way too long and we left 20 minutes later than planned.

We had two subways to take, about a 50 minute trip, and it was their nap time, so I was hoping they'd sleep in the stroller on the way there, but not one of them did!

We met my Mom at the entrance to one of the biggest swimming pools of Vienna, a thermal spa. They gave us plastic to put on the wheels of the strollers, which took a little time to do, then we took the elevator down to the changing rooms, where we changed. Then another elevator up to the pool area. The pool the baby swim class was in was right after getting off the elevator. It was nice to be able to roll the stroller right to it, and we then changed the babies into their swim trunks right there on the beds. It's too bad I did not take a single picture there today!

The class had 9 children in it, so it was bigger than the last one. The pool itself was also bigger, and I liked the class better. I think they'll be learning a lot more in this class. I had Emmy today, my Mom Tammy, and Randy Sammy. Emmy loved it as always, having fun the whole time, and smiling most of the time. Tammy enjoyed it, but she does not laugh of smile hardly ever in the water; she stays serious. And Sammy did not like it at first, but then relaxed and also enjoyed it.

I loved how they were practicing holding on to the side of the pool, and Tammy and Emmy could even do it without us holding them! They also practiced swimming on their backs, which the teacher told us they don't like much any more at that age, and Emmy definitely didn't. They also practiced swimming on their bellies. The half way went by way too fast. Of course there were action songs again as well, and they had to grab swimming balls and bring them back to the teacher. A lot of fun!

The shortest time you can be there is 3 hours, so we had a 3-hour ticket each and received a 15% reduction because of the swim class. We were still all really shocked to find out we had to pay 50€ ($60) for the three of us for this one time and will have to every week! That's a lot of money! And we're not even staying for 3 hours, as it's lunch time, and they are tired after the class. Today they had not had a morning nap, so Tammy and Emmy slept on the way home. I was shocked that Sammy was tired but did not fall asleep. It took us a while to get back home. The swimming pool is at the end of the subway line, and only every other subway goes all the way there, so the intervals between subways are longer.

As we approached our home at 1 pm, our friend Sonja was already there waiting for us. The class had been from 11 to 11:30; so we'd been gone for 3.5 hours.

I was so thankful she was there. I put their food into the warmer right away, and she went downstairs with Emmy, while Randy took Sammy. Tammy woke up just a few minutes later. We then fed all three, each of us feeding one, and then I cooked our meal. It was after 2 pm before we got to eat.

Sonja had fun with the babies, but Sammy was still tired. The first time we tried to put him down, he did not want to sleep and just cried. A while later he finally fell asleep. The other two did not have another nap. With the swimming their food schedule was changed, and so was their sleep schedule. They were just playing with Sonja all afternoon. Sammy needed a lot of holding again - but by one of us, not Sonja - so I had him on my arm a lot, which restricted how much work I was able to do. It was so cute how his hair in the front was sticking straight up after swimming. This morning Randy saw Sammy turn from his back to his belly all by himself on a flat surface for the very first time! Good job, Sammy! What a milestone!

Tammy and Emmy walk a lot now, holding our hands, and today Emmy walked a bit with this walker, with help. They just love being able to go "everywhere", being outside the play area.

We fed them their middle meal, cereal with fruit, and at 5:30 pm (half an hour later than usual) their third meal, so we had made up some time, shortening the intervals between meals so their bed time would not be too much later than usual. Tonight they had bread with cream cheese, ground beef, bananas, strawberries and raspberries. They love the fruit, but they're also getting used to the bread. They are Austrian after all. 😉

They were pretty tired by the time they were finally going to bed. Sammy fell asleep immediately, Tammy needed a little time, and it was Emmy who needed the longest, even though he had been rubbing his eyes for quite some time. We chatted a little more with Sonja before she went home. What a blessing to have friends help us!

Then it was time for us to eat, clean up, do household chores, and Randy finished the hangers in the entry area, so it's all done there now. And then office work for me. Hopefully I make it to bed by 2 at the latest again.