16 months 22 days

After less than 5 hours of sleep, I got up to make their breakfast, feed the, clean them, dress them, and then Randy took them downstairs, while I went back to bed. I had set my alarm, but it was a silent alarm, so no use, and I got up about twenty minutes after 11, later than I wanted to. I went straight to work, making lunch for the 6 of us. Six because Sonja arrived at noon. I made pork chops with sauerkraut and dumplings, a very Austrian dish. When we sat down to eat after 12 o'clock, everyone was hungry. However, they had never eaten it before, and didn't care for the pork or dumplings. I had not given them sauerkraut, thinking they wouldn't like it, but it turned out they loved it! They also had sweet potatoes with corn and vegetables - a baby jar I needed to use up - and apple sauce with pumpkin. I don't know why they didn't like the pork or dumplings. So I got some banana, apple and yoghurt, and they had lots of that.

Then everyone but Tamara and me went downstairs to play. The boys had had a morning nap, but not the girl. I lay down with her, but could not get her to sleep. So I put her into her bed again, like yesterday, thinking she'd just cry and cry, and after a few minutes I'd pick her up again and she'd sleep on me. That's what had happened yesterday. To my greatest surprise it got quiet, and when I looked, she had actually fallen asleep on her bed. A miracle! I cheered! I thought, finally some time when I could do something during the day!

I went downstairs and turned the computer on. The boys were starting to get tired, and so we took them upstairs and to bed for their afternoon nap. However, neither boy was falling asleep. Twice I picked up Emmy and tried to lie down with him to get him to sleep - so much for getting work done - but he wouldn't sleep, and he didn't want to be in his bed. In the end neither boy slept. And then the girl woke up as well. Everyone was back downstairs to play, and I never got to work, as they wanted me with them. C'est la vie!

Sonja is actually really great with Sammy, and she can hold him and play with him without him crying, which is something no one but Randy and me can do. She also had lots of fun with the other two. She put the cube together, and Emmy stepped into it again, like he has done before. And the three of them had lots of fun with balls in the afternoon, but I didn't get to take any pictures of videos.

At 3 pm we went upstairs to feed them; the cereal and fruit jar was not enough, I had to again get out some fruit and yoghurt. Sammy has been eating a lot; he was the only one eating EVERYTHING at lunch time.

After eating we went back downstairs. I got this stacking toy out where you put pieces with holes on it, as they should be at an age where they can do that, and it's good for them. Emmy did pretty well, putting some pieces on a few times, more often than Tammy.

As time went on, especially Sammy got pretty tired, not having had a nap, and so I went upstairs just before 5 pm, and we fed them before 5:30. They were eating pretty well. A few days ago Emmy started shaking his head , when he doesn't want something, and today Tammy started doing that as well. When they don't want a food, they just shake their head. It's really cute! And Emmy has been laughing in a new way, with the air going in instead of out, and it's pretty funny as well.

After eating, they went into the bathtub, where they had lots of fun as well. Recently Sammy has been wanting to sit on his knees in the bathtub, rather than lying on his back, and he's really been enjoying it. As soon as he sat up today, his sister turned to him and gave him a kiss and a pat. That's what the physiotherapist had talked about, that he'd be included if he was on the same level as his siblings, which is why she thought he should have that special chair.

Sammy was not happy when I took him out of the water. Neither was Emmy who came out next. They enjoy playing in the bathtub too much. If only the swimming class could resume! The swimming pools were closed because of Corona.

Then they went to bed, and the boys had some milk as usual. Sammy was asleep fast, and is the only one who's not had milk since. As for Emmy and Tammy, I gave them dental cream again. Emmy fell asleep in his bed tonight, and I sat by Tammy's bed so she could fall asleep. I actually fell asleep myself sitting there because I was so tired. When I got up and left, she was still awake, but she didn't complain about me leaving and fell asleep shortly after.

I went to work doing housework, and got some food. I ended up spending a lot of time taking inventory of the baby food we have left and restacking what was still waiting to be unpacked. There's still a lot of jars to use up!

I have started writing our latest newsletter which is going to be a little longer than usual, but I'm only progressing slowly, and there's so much other stuff needing to be done as well. But I know I'm saying this pretty much every day. 🙂