18 months 20 days

After a 4-hour night, as always, we got up at 8 am to make breakfast and feed them. I was looking forward to having Christine back, who was last here last Friday. When she didn't come, I looked at my phone and saw that she was sick and not coming until next week, which is her last week of helping us. I was disappointed and had to change the menu for the little ones, as I had counted on her. It made everything more difficult, especially with me having to leave with Sammy. Now Randy was gonna be alone with the other two.

I cleaned them up and dressed them and was hoping to get at least one hour of sleep, but I guess it wasn't meant to be; it was only half an hour or so before I had to get up. I had asked Randy to put Sammy down for a nap at 10 instead of 10:30 today, as we had to leave at 10:45, and I was glad that Sammy actually slept until I woke him up just before we had to leave. I dressed him and put him into the stroller, and off we went.

We had to take two subways followed by a walk to get to the office of this private physiotherapist. The hospital has asked us to find another place for Sammy's physiotherapy but so far all the centers where the insurance covers is have no free spots. My Mom found this physiotherapist, but we'd have to pay a third of the cost. However, if we can't find a spot for Sammy, this would be an alternative for the time until we do. So I decided to give it a try and see how he does with another therapist.

We got there on time. The therapist was really nice, and it was quite a relief not to have to wear a mask, which is rare these days. We sat down on her mat, and at first Sammy was wondering what was going on and eyeing her suspiciously. He was close to tears or crying at first, and we had to get started slowly. By the end of the session, he loved her, loved the toys, and just had so much fun he didn't want to leave. I have never seen him like that at the hospital physiotherapy sessions and was amazed!

And the therapist showed us another way for him to sit that he does a lot better at - crossing his legs. She was even able to let go of him, and he sat all by himself for a short time. It was great to see him sitting! So it was a really positive experience, and I'd like to continue going there with him from time to time.

The session was 45 minutes long, and then we left to return back home. We took a little detour so I could stop at the bank, and so it was already 1:30 pm by the time we got home. Emmy and Tammy were both asleep. As Sammy had had plenty of snacks while out and about, we didn't even try to feed him anything else. Instead Randy went downstairs with him to play, while I went to bed, and then only put him to bed at 2:30, after the others had woken up.

We then took Emmy and Tammy downstairs and fed them their afternoon meal. Sammy joined us later after waking up.

And as always we had plenty of fun. Randy has moved the corner lamp away from there, as Emmy was practicing turning lights on and off, and the light bulb had come out when he touched the light. And yesterday he climbed from the couch onto the shelves. And so he put this construct up today to keep him off. Emmy thought it was a gift from Daddy and just loved it! And while I was filming him enjoying the new barrier, he put his foot on the bottom railing and stepped up! (Video uploaded.) I guess it's not safe after all.

Tammy is very caring - with Sammy, but also with Emmy. And she's organized like her Mommy. When she eats, she organizes her food, and today she was taking jars and putting them on another shelf. The drinking cup always gets put back in his spot downstairs in the play area. Today she gave Sammy a toy, when he had none. And she did Sammy's legs exercises with him that she has watched Daddy do with him countless times.

Emmy also played with Sammy for a short time. They're now interested in the race track their uncle gave them last year, and are able to put the cars on top so they can slide down. Sammy was also interested in it.

Emmy likes being in the swing, when he's tired, and went in there again. He also discovered the fun from playing with the swing from the ground. Of course Mommy read books to them, and they enjoyed tearing the paper apart. Plenty of action!

At 5 pm I went upstairs to get their food ready, and a little later they came upstairs, once I had the bread and cream cheese ready so they could eat that while running around, while I was still cutting up the fruit. Then we sat down to eat, and at first they're so quiet, as they go for their favorite food first, which is banana for Emmy, and watermelon for Tammy. Once they start throwing food, it's over, and I take the remaining food to the bathroom, where they have no problem eating it in the bathtub. And so did Sammy.

From the bathtub, they went to bed, first Sammy, then Emmy, and Tammy. I had to come back when Emmy was messing with his brother, and I just put Sammy back into his spot, and he was okay. I found both Tammy and Emmy up and having taken their sleeping bags off, so I put them back on and put them back into a horizontal position and walked away. I didn't have to come back after that.

Then it was time to make my food, eat, and do office work. As we're planning on going to the zoo in the morning, I should probably go to bed early, but knowing myself, it will probably not be much earlier.