16 months 5 days

 I would say today was a good day. The babies vomiting was a one-time thing last night (a mystery as to why). Today they were fine, just really tired for most of the day, and a lunch time, we couldn't get them to eat. After their afternoon nap, they seemed to have all their energy back.

This morning they got up a little later than they had been. They get milk, and at 9 am they eat breakfast, then Sammy lies down, and usually the other two an hour later when he gets up. Not today. I could hear Emmy crying and knew he was tired, so while Sammy went to bed as usual, Emmy came to sleep on me, and he fell asleep right away. With the girl always sleeping on me, he doesn't get to sleep on me that often, so it was a treat for me. However, Tammy was tired too and couldn't wait an hour for her turn, so she ended up sleeping on Barbara. Once Emmy was up, Randy brought her to me, and she continued sleeping on me for a while. They had all had a long nap.

After she woke up, we went to the living room to join the others, and there was still some time until lunch at noon. The past few days Barbara had been feeding Tammy (and Emmy), but today I was back. However, neither one wanted to eat. So it was play time again. Usually Sammy goes to bed about an hour after eating, and the other two another hour later. Not so today. Emmy was so very tired, that all three lay down at the same time, just after 1 pm. The reason they DON'T do that every day is that Emmy runs around the bed and keeps his brother from sleeping. Today he was so tired, that both boys just fell asleep where they were lying, while the girl was sleeping on and with me. And they all sleep pretty long again.

And it was perfect timing, as they woke up about 20 minutes before the doctor was scheduled to come. It was great to see Dr. Gabby again. She's a missionary doctor from Brazil, and they adopted a Malian boy, just before adoption was made impossible for non-Malians, who came with her as well. Gabby gave me an important shot in the process of conceiving the babies, and she came by to meet them last time we were in Mali, so she was happy to see them again. We talked at great length about their health, as we had done before, and she was not worried whatsoever. She said as long as they didn't have a fever, there was no infection or virus or anything to worry about. It was just the change of diet and not unusual. She told us to keep doing what she had already told us, and did give us a prescription of something else we could give them. She saw that the babies had no fever and were playing normally.

And then she started playing with them. They love looking out the front door, always looking for the sheep who sometimes walk by. Gabby ended up taking them outside with her, one by one, to walk closer to the sheep. They weren't outside for long, and didn't really seem to enjoy the hot sun very much. Sammy doesn't want anyone but Mommy and Daddy to hold him, so he returned pretty fast.

Her 9-year-old son, in the meantime, was enjoying the play area a lot, and played with the babies as well. They stayed with us for quite a long time before saying their good-byes. In fact, it was 5 pm and dinner time by then.

And surprise, surprise, they were finally eating, when we had not prepared any more food, but had leftovers. When everything fails, they will usually still accept bananas. I guess it's their favorite food. While the doctor was here, we gave them some snacks which they ate, and she encouraged us to give those to them, as it's better than no food. They still ate at dinner time. Bananas, of course, and some more of the cereal from the afternoon, and they really like just plain yoghurt.

Then it was bath time, which they always enjoy. I could tell, though, that they were pretty tired, having had their afternoon nap much earlier than usual. Emmy was the most tired, so he came out of the bathtub first tonight, and even fell asleep before his siblings were all in bed. He did wake up a little later to drink his milk. Tammy and Sammy needed a while, as usual, but it wasn't too bad. I was able to take care of some other stuff earlier than anticipated. And they have been sleeping well tonight, except for Tammy who was a little restless for a while.

Today Paul took 200 pairs of shoes and hundreds of toys (all we had) to the remote village of Sebela for a Christmas celebration. This was the first time there, as we had been going to another village the past few years. They were so very excited, and so very thankful! I think all the children of the village showed up, as 700-800 children came, and every one of them received a gift. Most of them had never owned a toy before. I've already uploaded two

short video clips that shows them rejoicing and thanking us. God is doing so much in that village! I still have to go through all the pictures and upload them, but won't be able to finish that tonight.