17 months 23 days

It's been later again before I made it to bed, but the babies get up (or we wake up) at 8 am every morning. Then I make breakfast, while Randy changes them, and we sit down to feed them. Then I clean them up, dress them, and hold Sammy, until Randy has finished making his breakfast and taking the other two kids downstairs. Then it's my time to catch up on sleep. Today I only had about 15 minutes, before the doorbell rang, as the technicians arrived early.

The same three guys who had come twice before arrived with Sammy's new chair and braces. We went downstairs, I picked up Sammy, and they put him into his new chair. Well, three strangers taking Sammy away from his Mommy equaled a nightmare come true. Sammy started screaming at the top of his lungs, while the guys fiddled around, working on putting him in right and strapping him in. I tried to comfort him, held his hand and stroked his head. Amazingly, he did calm down after a while, which I had not expected at all. The tray for the chair did not fit, and they'll bring it back tomorrow. Then the guy put his leg braces on, that he'll have to wear at night, and they fit. He showed me how to do it, and how to operate the chair. And then they left.

Caritas helper Christine had just arrived to stay until 4 pm, so that was great timing. It was nearing 10:30, which is when they lie down for a nap. The guy had told me to put the braces on during the day to try them out, so I put them on right there and then, and then put Sammy down for his nap. He did not seem to mind them at all and fell asleep right away.

Then I went back to bed myself, happy that Christine was gonna cook lunch for everyone, so that I could sleep. She was also the one feeding Tammy and Emmy instead of me, while I was sleeping. I woke up a few times, and got up to help with stuff, but ended up staying in bed until 2 pm, which I had needed. Christine was outside our apartment with Emmy for a little bit at that time. At 2:15 we usually feed them their afternoon meal, so Randy fed Sammy, while Christine fed Emmy downstairs, while I was eating lunch there too. Neither boy ate much. Then I put them to bed for their nap, and picked up Tammy who had just woken up from her only nap a day.

I took her downstairs, and she finished her brother's jar. Then Christine took her outside to the nearby park, and - how rare and miraculous - I was without a child and could actually work for a while! Wow!

Just before 4 pm the boys woke back up, and I took them downstairs. Christine left us at that time. Sammy hadn't been back in the chair since this morning, so I put him in again, and I have the cutest videos of how his siblings reacted to him in the chair. It's like he was suddenly visible to them, being at the same height as them. I was amazed again at how empathic and loving Tammy is. I uploaded the cutest video of them interacting and Sammy loving. She kissed him, stroked his head, and hugged him. And one time she bit him, and he started screaming. She also gave him a pacifier twice, which was so cute. And while Sammy was sleeping, she sat in his chair to check it out. Sammy seemed really happy sitting in the chair, having freedom to use his hands. Randy is not so happy about the chair. We took him out after a while, so he'd keep moving and crawling and exercising, and he crawled all over the floor. Randy said he crawled up those little steps all by himself today. We'll have to find the right balance between him being in the chair and on the floor. We do want him to learn to crawl properly and to learn to walk, and not put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Tammy and Emmy were very cranky, and so I took them upstairs with me to make their food. However, Tammy wanted me to hold her and was screaming while holding on to my legs. I gave Emmy some bread which stopped his screaming, but Tammy was too worked up to accept food. It was really hard to do anything that way. Randy came upstairs as well, and so I gave them the bread that was already ready. Tammy was too upset to sit in her chair, so she sat on Randy's lap, while he was feeding Sammy. But she didn't stay there, but started walking around. And Emmy was throwing food, so it was rather stressful. I'd bring them food as soon as I had cut it, but they definitely didn't eat as much as usual. There was no time to grate an apple. And the bathtub got too full because it didn't turn the water off in time. I finally put them in there, and they finished the little food that was left, and drank the cereal and milk from the morning.

Then Sammy came out first, I put his pj on, and then his braces for the first night. For now they are big enough to go around with legs with the pajama on. He needs them so that he flexes his feet instead of having them outstretched all the time. He went to bed first, then his siblings. Once again, Emmy was wide awake, as he has been the last few nights, and he was messing with everyone, walking around and throwing animals and pacifiers. I had to leave and return several times, as the girl needed me to come back to sleep. She finally fell asleep and I could walk away, which is what Emmy needs to fall asleep.

Then it was time to eat, clean up, and start working. Just another day in Vienna.