18 months

Today they are a year and a half old, counting from when they were actually born, even though biologically they are 2.5 months younger than that, which matters less and less the older they get.

This morning it was a little later, when we got up, though we had already heard them at 7:30. I believe it's we who don't wake up because we are so tired until a certain time. We could probably have gotten up at 8 am as usual, had we heard them.

After feeding and dressing them, Randy took them downstairs, while I went back to bed. I had my alarm set for 11:15 am today. It always depends on what's on the menu for lunch. Randy put Sammy to bed at 10:30, and it was the doorbell that ran at 11:15 that woke him up, while I had just woken up. When I opened the door, there was Sonja, but also the lady that finally brought the table/tray for Sammy's chair. I had to put Sammy in his chair - just having woken up - so that she could check whether the tray was fitting now. He wasn't too happy, but it didn't take long.

At 11:30 we sat down to lunch. I had finished cooking the meal last night, so I just had to warm it up today. I was the only one not eating it, as I don't like green beans. Tammy and Emmy both ate everything on their plate, and so I got yoghurt and fruit out as well. I actually handed Emmy half a banana, and he handled it perfectly, biting pieces off to eat. When I gave Tammy the other half, she put it all into her mouth. In fact, Emmy will only let you give him more food when he has swallowed what was in his mouth, while Tammy opens her mouth and will put more and more food in, even though she hasn't swallowed yet. How different they all are! Adding Sammy to that, the three of them ate two whole bananas as dessert. And our melon girl Tammy ate both watermelon and cantaloupe as well. Tammy and Emmy both had yoghurt, and they love holding their cups themselves and drinking it out of there all by themselves.

After having eaten, the question again was who to put to bed first, and it was Emmy. It took him a while today before he fell asleep. The other two were downstairs playing. At 1:45 Randy brought Sammy up to put him to bed, but he was not happy about that and just crying. I got him out of there before he could wake up Emmy. Emmy did wake up not long after, just before it was time for their afternoon meal.

So they all came upstairs to the dining room table for that, and after their cereal with fruit, they had more fresh fruit as well. Then it was time for Tammy and Sammy to sleep. Tammy fell asleep, but Sammy never did. He was just crying and crying, until I finally got him out of bed.

So we were downstairs, playing with the boys. Emmy is usually pretty cranky in the afternoon, and I kept swinging him around to keep him happy. Sammy did pretty well considering he hadn't slept. Emmy wanted to go outside again, so we were gonna wait for Tammy to wake up so they could just go outside our apartment. I asked Randy to start working on hanging up the swing, which is harder than you'd think.

When I looked at the clock, it was already 10 minutes after 4 pm, and I don't let them sleep after 4, or they won't fall asleep at night. I went upstairs and picked up sleeping Tammy and took her downstairs. When she saw her Daddy, she wanted to be with him, rather than with Mommy. Then we started dressing them to go outside. Thankfully it's really warmed up the last few days. I ended up standing right by the door with bare feet and short sleeves and was fine. I took pictures while holding Sammy who I had wrapped in my jacket. Tammy and Emmy had fun running around, and especially being pushed by Sonja.

I went upstairs to get their dinner ready before 5 pm, while they were still outside, and at 5:30 we sat down to feed them. Then it was bathtub time and bedtime. Emmy fell asleep right away. Sammy was crying hard again, and I picked him up and held him for a while. When I put him back into bed, he was fine and slept. Tammy needed a little more time, and I had to come back a few times before she finally fell asleep, but it wasn't as bad as I had feared because of her sleeping after 4 pm.

I was really tired all day today, since I've been going to bed close to 4 am every night. Tomorrow we have no helpers, and Saturday I can't sleep in the morning, so I should definitely go to bed earlier. However, I'm still trying to get some office work done tonight.