11 months 25 days

This morning my alarm went off early, and it was hard to get up. The babies needed me, so I sat down in their play area with them and did not want to get up. But I had to leave the house at 10:45 as I had an appointment to get another paper that the government is asking for for Randy's permit.

So I left everyone at home and walked to the tram stop, then took the tram a few stops, and then had to find the building. There was a line outside, but it did not take long. Because I had an appointment, it did not take long at all before I got to see an employee, and it only took a few minutes to get the paper.

I was right next to a shopping center and found a grocery store to buy some cake mixes. The babies' first birthday is on Tuesday! Then I took the tram back home and got there at noon; Randy was already feeding the third baby at that point, so I went straight to cooking for us adults.

Just a little later our friend Sonja arrived again; it's been a blessing to have her help us once a week. And she stayed a LONG time to help.

Randy and I went to work, being able to get a lot done thanks to her. Randy put up our mirrors, the little drawer shelves that are our bedside tables, and finished the living room TV shelf. She also started unpacking toys and children's books, and got some of my stuff, adding stuff to do to my list. I took care of all this after eating dinner and worked until 1 am. Now it looks so much better! It sure feels like progress!

We fed the babies their middle meal a little early as they seemed to be hungry. They kept playing until they were getting tired. I tried to do what my friend recommended, and so we took them to their beds upstairs. Tired or not, they were crying when we put them in their beds at day time. Only Sammy was okay with it, as he often takes his naps in there.

Our friend went downstairs with Emmy, where he fell asleep with her, while I had Tammy who fell asleep on me. Once she was sleeping I put her into her bed.

It was weird for all three of them to be asleep at the same time, as it's so rare. I ended up chatting with my friend, until Tammy was the first to wake up. She hadn't really slept that long. The others didn't sleep much longer either.

So more play time, until I made their dinner. Tammy would not eat again, as is often the case when she's tired at night. We took them all upstairs for them to go to bed.

That's when the 2-hour ordeal started; what a night! At first I tried to follow my friends' recommendation, and just walk away and let them cry. Emmy and Tammy were both crying. When I heard Sammy cry as well, I had to go there; it's unusual for him to cry. Now that he has a big bed where he can turn over, he keeps turning onto his back when he's not tired, but he only sleeps on his belly. I don't know how many times I turned him over before he finally fell asleep (after drinking milk).

After two hours my friend said her good-byes. Tammy and Emmy were both still screaming. After she left, I turned Bethel worship music on, and I was shocked when the crying immediately stopped. I stood and listened, but no crying. After a while, I could hear Sammy being unhappy and figured he was on his back again, so I had no choice but to go there. Tammy was standing in her bed, looking around. Highly unusual! I turned Sammy back onto his belly so he could sleep.

After I walked away, Tammy did complain a little bit, but nothing like before. The music was still going, and a little while later, she was asleep like her siblings. Wow! I'll have to try this again tomorrow.