16 months 13 days

We had a great first day back in Vienna, especially the babies who were just so happy all day long. As for Mommy and Daddy, we were pretty tired. I thought they'd be missing Barbara and the other kids, and the sheep and cats they're still talking about - especially Emmy - all day long, but I guess the excitement of having all their toys and the familiar environment back was the only thing that mattered today. Whenever Emmy brought up the cats ("kake"), I asked Alexa to make cat sounds, and a huge smile came over Emmy's face, sometimes with a little puzzlement as he could not see any cats anywhere. Unfortunately Alexa can't make sheep sounds. One time I showed them a video with sheep that they watched with interest. We'll have to find a place with sheep where we could go with them. Any suggestions? A place with cats would be nice too.

Last night we gave them their antibiotics just after 11 pm, when Randy was going to bed. So the alarm woke us just after 7 am to give them their next dosis. I had only gone to bed after 3 am. I held the babies while Randy gave them their medicine, then I went back to sleep. My alarm went off again just 90 minutes later to get up and make them breakfast and feed them. No more Barbara to do that! I made the food and went downstairs to bring them up to eat. With much joy they were climbing up the stairs again. And Randy told me that Sammy had crawled all over the place again. He hadn't crawled in Mali. Maybe the cheap carpet we had bought there was uncomfortable to crawl on.

Having heard that they were eating a lot for breakfast, I had made 3 portions, which ended up being too much, even though they ate really well. They finished it as dessert later. Then I cleaned them up and put their clothes back on and waited for Randy to be done with Sammy; he then took them back down one by one and I went back to bed. There is only 1-hour time difference to Mali, but that already makes a difference. So it was better to wait a little and let them get tired before putting them down for a nap.

So I went back to bed, but I left the bedroom door open, as Randy sometimes doesn't hear the doorbell downstairs, and we had a grocery delivery coming that we needed bad. In the end I didn't hear that doorbell or Amazon's, but Randy got it all.

I woke up when I heard Emmy cry on the top of his lungs. I got up and went downstairs, thinking he was really tired and ready for bed. Instead, he had fallen off the couch, now that they climb up by themselves. But it was also true that he was tired and that it was naptime, so all three went up and to bed. At first Emmy wasn't happy, but the boys fell asleep fast. I lay down with the girl, and it took her a while, but then she also fell asleep, and everyone slept really long, until after 12 pm. I guess they're also still catching up on sleep.

Once we were all up, Randy took them back downstairs while I went to work cooking lunch. All they ate in Mali were homecooked meal, and I had decided to start that way in Vienna as well, even though there are still jars that need to be eaten. I still had some food in the freezer, even without the grocery delivery. And so I made meatballs with fries and carrots and peas. I also had one baby food jar of mashed potatoes with spinach left, that they loved eating. Once everything was ready, I went downstairs to get them again. They weren't too crazy about the meat balls and fries, but enjoyed the vegetables. And then I got some bananas and yoghurt, which is their favorite foods. All in all, they had eaten well. Not so much Sammy who ate so little that he needed a bottle of milk.

And then we went back downstairs where it was finally my chance to stay with them, which I greatly enjoyed. I loved seeing them so happy and playing joyfully. As they had eaten lunch around 1 pm, it was around 3 pm when we went upstairs for their afternoon meal. I got out one of the cereal-fruit jars they like so much, and they were empty in no time. Again I had to bring out some other food (bananas and yoghurt) to top it up.

And then we went back downstairs. Do you see the pattern? 🙂 It was playtime again, and much fun. Daddy was sterilizing baby bottles, and then we ended up doing a video call with Grandma and Grandpa, which was great fun. They were getting tired, and so we went upstairs for a nap after the call. The boys went to sleep, but the girl was not ready to sleep. She wanted to play! As it was also pretty late, I decided to go back downstairs with her to play instead, and even by herself, she enjoyed playing and laughed a lot.

I have to say, I really enjoyed the day, just the five of us, no pressure, no schedule, no demands on me, just enjoying our little ones. Quarantine is not so bad after all! 😄

After a while Randy brought Emmy down who had woken up, and then Sammy. All five of us were together playing for a while, before I left them at 5:30 to go upstairs and make their dinner. When they ate at 6 pm, it was 5 pm in Mali, which is when they'd always have dinner. They had bread with cream cheese again, which they love now (they didn't that much before Mali), bananas, grated apple (which they loved, contrary to before Mali), and tonight I also had some fresh berries that had been delivered. Emmy did not like the strawberries, but Tammy liked it all and ate everything on her plate. I also had the rest of yesterday's jar of lentils they nearly finished. And then I went to get the yoghurt, and Tammy cheered for joy when she saw it! She loves her yoghurt! I was wondering where all that food was going that went into her mouth! They ate (I had a few spoonfulls) a full half liter of yoghurt today!

Then it was bathtub time, which they all enjoyed. I couldn't even tell that Tammy hadn't had an afternoon nap, as happy as she was, no crankiness whatsoever. But when they went to bed, it did not take her long at all to fall asleep, which was a blessing. Emmy was tired too, but Sammy was having a hard time. He was crying for a very long time. I held him, Daddy held him, I gave him dental cream, more milk, but he really just wanted to be held and started crying when we'd put him back to bed. Finally he fell asleep. At 11:15 we gave them all their medicine again. Tammy doesn't even wake up and simply drinks the syringe in her sleep and then continues sleeping. Emmy resists hard, and much of the medicine comes back out, but then he's happy when he gets his milk. Sammy doesn't want the medicine either, and much of it comes back out of his mouth as well. I then sat down to give him his milk.

When I had given him his going-to-bed-milk at 7 pm, I was so tired, I was falling asleep while he was drinking. I then had something to eat, which gave me some energy, and so I took advantage of it and went to work. I cleaned the baby chairs, did the dishes, and then started unpacking all our suitcases. I was pretty tired, but I just powered on and on. It just had to be done. By the time everything was done and I could take my tea and sit down at my desk, it was already 10 pm. Randy was also very tired, and went to bed after we gave them their medicine. I'm planning to go to bed earlier tonight and try to get some more sleep. After all, everything that HAS to be done tonight, is now done, even though I should write a new email newsletter and there is always office work to be done.