15 months 6 days

I went to bed earlier, but then ended up falling asleep rather late. And at 4:30 a baby was crying for milk, waking up another one, so both boys ended up drinking. At 8:50 I got up as always to make their food, though I had already been up for a while, as I heard them cry this morning, which most of the time I sleep too well to hear. So my night ended up shorter than necessary.

After they had eaten, Sammy went to bed for a nap, while I took Emmy and Tammy downstairs to give them a little more time to get tired. Randy was eating his breakfast upstairs in the meantime. They were getting tired earlier than I had though, so I already put them to bed half an hour later. Well, I put Emmy to bed and lay down with Tammy. She fell asleep on me 20 minutes later, at 10, while Emmy was STILL awake, even though he had seemed so tired. For some reason he wasn't falling asleep. So at 10:15, I gently slid Tammy onto the bed, as she was sleeping well, and picked up Emmy and sat down with him in the rocking chair, having slid it really close to our bedroom so I could see when she wakes up. For some reason it didn't work, because Tammy woke up. So I ended up putting them both into their beds and trying to get them to sleep in there.

Randy left the house with Sammy at 10:30, as he had his last physiotherapy session before our Mali trip. And it was special too, as he got to go into the swimming pool for the first time. The therapist wanted to see what we had been telling her, how moves in the water and loves it so much. Daddy stayed outside, which he didn't like much, so he had to be close to comfort him a couple of times. After half an hour he'd had enough, so they came home earlier than I had thought.

At 11 am Emmy FINALLY fell asleep, but not so Tammy. At 11:15 I lay down with her, but ten minutes later I put her back into her bed, and then Emmy woke up. She never got more than 15 minutes of sleep, as I went downstairs with them at that point.

The three of us played together. Especially Tammy is now starting to get more interested in books. Emmy loves balls. And then we ended up having a video call with Paul. He was excited to see them, and soon he'll get to see them in person. He's been pretty discouraged with all the sickness going around (not Covid). Not only was Amadou operated, but Sarata has pneumonia and malaria and was at the clinic for the second time today. Soon we'll be able to encourage him in person.

He was clarifing the new testimonies for me, and we were talking necessary business. The little ones were fussing and crying, so I let them out of the play area, which they always love, as they get to explore a new area. Right now we have two suitcases in that area that we've been throwing stuff into to take with us, so there was lots to explore!

After about an hour we went back upstairs to go eat. I put the finishing touches on the adults' food, and then fed them just before 12:30. We were still up there, when Randy and Sammy arrived at 1 pm. Randy fed him his lunch, while I was eating mine and the kids were running around. Yesterday we put the first child safety things on drawers, so they can't open them, as they love opening EVERYthing right now. After I was done eating, and so was Sammy, they all went to bed. Earlier than usual, as they were all so tired, having slept little. Emmy fell asleep pretty fast, and so did Sammy. Tammy as well, and she ended up sleeping just over an hour on me. I was so tired myself that I also slept.

When we girls got up, we found the boys downstairs, and called them up for the afternoon meal. It was 3 pm. Then we all went downstairs. And for a while, all three played happily, without whining, or needing us. I was even able to work for a little while, which NEVER happens any more. But, especially Emmy was getting tired and cranky before I had planned to go upstairs to make their food, so I went upstairs earlier, and we already fed them just after 5 pm.

Again, the girl would not eat the bread, only the soup and bananas. Emmy just puts one banana after another into his mouth, so they're gone really fast, but he also ate some bread, but hardly any soup. Nobody wants berries any more! Good thing that Mali has LOTS of bananas and no berries!

At lunchtime, Emmy would let the food I had just put into his mouth come back out so that he could pick it up and put it back into his mouth. I guess it's time to give him a bowl and a spoon! We'll do that in Mali, when it's easier to clean up. He ended up being so dirty that he got a sink bath.

After dinner, they all went into the bathtub, and Sammy enjoyed it as much as always, even though it was his second time in water today. During swim class he did NOT like going into the bathtub the same night.

They went to bed in their regular order, and I walked away right away again. For a few minutes I though Tammy was actually gonna fall asleep tonight without any problems. Yeah, right. It ended up being a long evening of trying to get her to sleep. In the end they had all had milk. I also gave her dental cream, but she was still crying, even when I was sitting with her. I finally changed her diaper, and that's what had bothered her. I guess she didn't want to go to sleep with a dirty diaper. How frustrating it must be not to be able to talk yet to tell your parent what's wrong with you!

8 days until we leave for Mali, and none of our 9 suitcases packed. And now is the last chance to order anything we need, so I hope I've thought of everything.