17 months 2 days

I went to bed at 3:30, and they woke up as usual at 8 am. I made their breakfast, while Randy was changing their diapers, and we started feeding them. Then the doorbell rang, and Caritas helper Christine arrived with a trainee. They took over feeding Tammy and Emmy, while I went back to bed. I later found out that Sammy went to bed at 10:30 as usual, but Emmy kept on playing with them instead of going to bed. Usually he doesn't last until lunch, but he did today. Christine was cooking pasta with meat sauce for everyone, and at noon they started feeding them. What a blessing that I was able to stay in bed as long as I needed to! I did wake up from the noise and could hear everything going on. At 12:30 I crawled out of bed. Christine and the trainee had just left, and our friend Sonja had just arrived. The little ones were pretty much done eating, so I cleaned them up and we dressed them. Tammy has really been sticking to me recently, and again, she wanted me to hold her and was crying and holding on to my dress so I'd pick her up, when I set her down. She was really tired, and I put her to bed.

The food for the adults was also ready, and so I plated it, and Sonja and I ate downstairs with the boys, while Randy stayed in his spot in the kitchen. Emmy hadn't slept yet either, but I wanted to give the girl a little time to fall asleep, plus Emmy seemed perfectly fine. He and his brother were happily playing. Sammy seemed to get tired first, and so I put them to bed at 1:30, and then returned downstairs, where it now was just Sonja and I. It's rare that they all sleep, but they all slept until just minutes before 3 pm. Instead of working, I ended up talking with Sonja and resting, as I was still tired.

Once we heard the little ones, we went upstairs, where we found all three awake in bed. We got them out for their afternoon meal. Tammy does NOT want to go in the high chair right after waking up, but wants to me hold her. And I have to stand up and cannot sit down; she's pretty cranky. So I fed her standing up with her in my arm. I ended up holding her for a long time, and even though I shifted her to my other arm, my arms were getting pretty tired. She had eaten well at the end, and so had Emmy, who was in his chair being fed by Sonja.

We then all went downstairs and had fun. Sonja put Emmy on a nursing pillow and dragged him up and down in the living room - to his greatest delight. And at one point they both sat on the green car, though Tammy did not appreciate it when Emmy held on to her hair, sitting behind her, so it didn't last long. Sammy was happily playing, crawling to toys around him, as well as to me. I was playing with him and making him laugh, whenever he was getting cranky. Emmy and Tammy have shown a new interest in books, which is great, and so we looked at a few together.

Today Sonja was wagging her finger at Emmy one time, and then he started doing it. It's hilarious, as he now often wags his index finger, and I have yet to capture it on video.

As the kitchen and dining room were a big mess, not having had a chance to clean it up yet, I left a little earlier to go upstairs and take care of that before making dinner. They got to eat as usual at 5:30, as everything was ready by then. Tammy was tired, plus when she wants something, she throws a fit. Sometimes I just wait it out and then she continues eating. Sometimes I give her the desired object that she sees on the dining room table. Tonight I didn't know what she wanted, so I ended up taking her out of the chair. In the end, they had eaten all their food, even though they had their last pieces of fruit in the bathtub.

They always have lots of fun in the bathtub. Sammy came out first and I put him to bed, when I heard Tammy start crying aloud. She likes holding on to the side of the bathtub and jumping up and down. Well, tonight she got hurt. Somehow she hit the edge of the bathtub hard just above her left eye. I was shocked how bad it looked so quickly, when I came running to find out what was going on. It was sprung open a little, and already blue around it, right above her eye. I guess you'll see the picture tomorrow; who knows what it will look like then. I held her and comforted her and put some disinfectant on. Surprisingly her smile returned pretty quickly. Now that Emmy's nose is nearly healed, it was her turn.

I then put Emmy and Tammy to bed. Emmy fell asleep after a short time, Sammy had some milk, and I gave the leftovers to Tammy. As always, I had to come back a few times, before she was happy enough to fall asleep, even after I had walked away.

I then had some food, and had started working, when Emmy started crying. Yesterday that happened, and he just wanted me to hold him, not milk, as if he had had a bad dream. Tonight I smelled a dirty diaper and decided to change him, then I held him, and he accepted the milk, as he had not had any when going to bed. I was able to put him back in bed while he was drinking.

And then I got to do something rare - talk to my brother on the phone, which I greatly enjoyed. We haven't seen each other or each other's families since the triplets' birthday in August. It was time well-spent. And then I did all the necessary house work, before returning to office work. And, I have a new office chair! The old one lasted a long time but was already in really bad shape, tilting more and more, so it was time. It arrived today, and Randy put it together for me.