13 months 23 days

Last night I actually went to bed earlier, around 1 am. And it was the first time I reduced their milk amount again, from 140 ml to 100 ml. Amazingly, they didn't even need it until 3:30 am (their second milk). They complained a little that it was less, but only for a moment. Tammy woke up again at 4:20, but it wasn't milk she wanted. Emmy woke up because of it, and so he had the 200 ml breakfast milk we had made for Tammy. So it was a busier morning than usual.

They did get up at their usual time of around 7:30 am. I got up at 8:50, tired as always, made their food, and we fed them at the dining room table. Then it was nap time. The plan was to put them into their beds and leave them alone, so that they learn to fall asleep on their own, instead of needing to lie on my chest. I decided to do it today and not react to their crying. Sammy is the only one who has no problem falling asleep in bed.

I went to bed nextdoors, while Tammy and Emmy were crying - on and off for the next 90 minutes. Thankfully I fell asleep anyway, but neither one of them did, even though they were tired. So much for having them fall asleep on their own.

Randy finally took them downstairs, and I had some more sleep, until we fed them at noon. Then I cooked our food and got their clothes for church ready, and we ate downstairs. Tammy especially was extremely tired by then and just crying, and so I ate as fast as possible so I could put her to bed. I took her upstairs and decided to put her into her own bed instead of lying down with her. She was so tired that she fell asleep fast, and I was able to walk away and go back downstairs.

Emmy was tired as well. It was 1:30 pm, and their next meal was supposed to be at 2:30. I was hoping he'd make it to the next meal, and so we fed the boys at 2:15, and then put them to bed. Emmy was so tired, that he also fell asleep in his bed. It's so rare for them all to be sleeping and for me to be able to do something else!

I started doing housework, but only for minutes before Tammy woke up. As I had stuff to get done, she stayed with us upstairs. I tried to put her down so she could crawl around and explore, but she wanted me to hold her most of the time, which made it harder to get things done.

I had just put their bowls out to put their dinner food into it to take to church with us, when Emmy woke up. I guess we had made too much noise. It was 3:15, so he'd only slept half an hour, way too little, and so I decided to lie down with him, the only way he'd continue sleeping. We only had 45 minutes left until we had to leave, so I knew that I would not be able to cut up their food, as that takes half an hour. So I decided to warm up soup in jars and take those to church with us instead.

Emmy slept another half hour on me, while Tammy was with Randy, and then Sammy woke up as well. Once we were all up, we went into high gear to get ready to leave. The trains only go every 30 minutes, so we do need to leave on time. We left a few minutes later than planned, but still caught the train. That way we got to church before the service started, after having taken a tram.

Right after the service started, we all went to the baby room to feed them their dinner. The soup was in a warmer, so it was just the right temperature. We put bibs on them, and there was even the same IKEA high chair as we have at home, so Emmy went into it, and then we fed them. Sammy always wants to involve his hands, so it got a little messy and Randy had to restrain his hands. That's why we take their clothes off at home! Emmy and Tammy finished their food, but while walking around.

We stayed a few more minutes to play. It's toy paradise, with so many new toys, and Tammy and Emmy were emptying out the shelves. Emmy loves the slide, so he went down a lot of times, and he did not need any help at all sitting up while going down and landing softly. Sammy also got to go on the rocking horse and cow.

Then we returned to the sanctuary, where Tammy and Emmy walked all over the place making friends with everybody. Much of the time, they walked just holding one of my hands. It was Emmy who did the most walking, while Tammy wanted to be carried more. They were drawn to all the other babies we saw. And today I counted 15 steps when Emmy walked on his own, and it could have been more as he might have taken some steps before I started counting.

Their friend Anna was there as well and took some cute pictures with and of them. However, they were getting tired, and the only person they wanted to be with was me. And of course being picked up was what they wanted most. And so they did not spend much time with Anna, but ended up with me, walking around or being carried. Finally they were getting so cranky that I took them back to the baby room, where all the toys distracted them and made them happy again.

When the service was over, I returned to the sanctuary with them so we could load them all up into the strollers. It's cold outside, so we put their warm winter coats on, and off we went.

Emmy fell asleep right away, and Tammy only just before we got home. Sammy never slept, which seems to become normal for him. We were lucky that the tram came fast, and the train as well. Still, it was 8 pm when we got home. Sammy went to bed first, but he wasn't happy; he needed some milk before he slept. Then Emmy woke up, so he went second, and then I picked up sleeping Tammy to get her ready for bed and put her down. They fell asleep fast, with no complaints.

Tonight again they'll be getting 100 ml of milk only, and as time goes on, I'll continue to reduce the amount. And I'll go to bed without feeding them, waiting for them to wake up and ask for it. It looks like I'll be going to bed at my regular 2 am or so time tonight.