17 months 10 days

Last night I was working hard and went to bed at 3:30 am, and they woke us up at their usual time of 8:05 am. Amazing how that's always the time on the clock, when I open my eyes. We fed them, cleaned them, dressed them, and I was cleaning up while Randy got his breakfast ready and then took them downstairs, while I went back to bed. I fixed my alarm, and it woke me just before 11:30. The boys were still in bed sleeping, while I got to work cooking lunch. I made Randy's and Sonja's meal, and then my separate meal for my diet. The kids ate leftovers from yesterday, and I added some apple sauce with pumpkin. Sonja arrived before noon, when I already had the boys in my arms who had woken up. Randy came upstairs with the girl, and then we started feeding them. They ate pretty much all of it, and I brought out some fruit as well. Tammy is our melon girl, as she loves melons of any kind. She finished the cantaloupe today, and I cut open the watermelon which she can't get enough of. To my greatest surprise, Emmy ate watermelon today! The whole time in Mali he refused to eat it, and since we've been back, he'd only eaten it one time and then refused again. We'll see what he does tomorrow.

I was glad they were done eating a little earlier than usual today, as there was little time for Tammy to sleep; she ended up having just under an hour, before I had to wake up. She went to bed, and the boys went downstairs, while I cleaned up. I actually never got to go downstairs, as it all took so long. The boys came back upstairs, and we dressed them, and I woke the girl up last to give her as much time as possible to sleep. We put them into the strollers, and left the house.

We walked to the bus stop right by our house, and the bus came right away. We rode four stops, and the bus stopped pretty much right in front of the medical center that also housed the eye doctor they had an appointment at. We arrived just after 2 pm, 15 minutes before our appointment. We took the elevator upstairs and entered the waiting room, where we spent some time waiting our turn. As it was their first time there, I had to fill out three separate sheets with their medical history. The reason we were there was primarily because Sammy is cross-eyed, but the other two also got checked.

They greatly enjoyed the waiting room, especially having chairs their size. As it was time for their afternoon meal, I got out what I had brought. One was a semolina-milk drink, and it had a straw. I realized they had never used a straw before, so it took them a few times of trying before they figured it out. I also had some cereal bars that they all ate. Randy was holding Sammy, and he put him on his feet, which he always likes, though they physiotherapist has said it's not good for him. Emmy went around, going from person to person and making friends, as he always does.

Finally they called the first baby in, and I went inside with Emmy, while the others stayed in the waiting room. I sat down with him, and the doctor did all her tests from her seat, never getting to close or touching him. He still stayed very alert the whole time, and when she got closer, he started whining. They don't trust doctors any more! Then Tammy went in, and it was exactly the same situation. Sammy came last, as he has the challenges, and she tested him more.

Then we were back in the waiting room, waiting to be called in to the doctor. We had already been there quite some time, and especially Sammy was getting really tired, as the boys would normally be sleeping at that time. We were finally called in, all of us at the same time, and then the doctor spent most of his time at the computer. He did another quick test with each one of them that was pretty much the same as what they had already done, and then said he was sending Sammy for an eye exam to the university clinic, where they are experts. They said that it's good that he's not cross-eyed all the time, as it would be dangerous for that eye if he was (losing his sight). All three were far-sighted, which is normal at that age, and Tammy the least. The boys also had astigmatism, which is also nothing unusal at that age, they said.

We finally left there, getting an appointment for the mandatory exam when they are 2 years old. As the bus home goes out of the way and stops further away from our home, it was faster to walk the 1.2 kilometers. The boys were so tired, they fell asleep in the stroller. Tammy enjoyed sitting in the front and being able to see everything. It was already after 4 pm, when we got home. We woke the boys up and all went downstairs to play. We had fun there. Emmy is a great dancer, and I wished I could capture his moves on video. When I ask him to twirl, he actually does. Their dance class is starting in March (let's hope). Sammy was crawling around quite a bit, always trying to crawl to me, so I'd move away to keep him crawling, though not all the time.

Just before 5 pm I went upstairs to get dinner ready; they were definitely all tired. We fed them half an hour later, and they ate mos of their food in their high chairs. I've got two videos of how much fun Emmy had with Sonja. I finally captured on video how Emmy wags his finger, which is so funny. We still don't know who showed him that. They sure copy everything we do now.

Then they went into the bathtub, where they ate the rest of their remaining fruit, including Sammy. When Tammy saw the cup with the leftover breakfast cereal with milk, that's all she wanted, and she drank nearly all of it.

They were so tired, they all came out at the same time. And once I had put them to bed, it was one of the very rare nights, when they pretty much all fell asleep right away. Even Tammy allowed me to walk away immediately, instead of staying, which was pretty much a first. Some of them did wake up earlier than usual and cried for milk. The rest of the night was the same as usual, eating, cleaning, and office work.