18 months 22 days

I made it to bed at 3:30 am last night. However, Randy already got me out of bed at 7:15 to make breakfast. We fed them, cleaned and dressed them. After cleaning up, I went downstairs with Tammy and Emmy, while Randy left with Sammy to go to his weekly physiotherapy session (that is on a different day and time every week). And so we started playing, and reading books, and putting different shapes through holes. I could tell that they had been up longer today, and so at 10:15, I decided to put a tired Emmy to bed for a nap. He fell asleep without complaining. So now it was just Tammy and me, and the lack of sleep suddenly hit me bad. Still, Tammy came with books for me to read to her, which became more and more difficult. The girl was not tired!

At 11:15 the boys returned. Emmy woke up shortly thereafter. I went upstairs to get their food ready, and they were hungry, coming to me to give them something. I knew I wouldn't have time to cook, so I warmed up a baby jar side dish and added leftover chicken from yesterday. And they LOVE chicken! They couldn't get enough of it and wanted the chicken they saw on my plate. There's enough left for them to eat one more time tomorrow. And of course, there was banana, watermelon and yoghurt after the main dish.

Sammy was so tired he had a hard time staying awake while eating. He always lies down to sleep at 10:30, but didn't get to today. So it was him and Tammy who went to bed for a nap, while Emmy went downstairs with Randy. I cleaned up and went to bed myself - finally! I could have slept much longer, but was woken up when the kids woke up. Randy took them downstairs, and a little later, at 2:30, he woke me up to come help feeding them their afternoon meal. Hard as it was, I got up and we all sat down at the dining room table for another meal. At first Tammy did not want to see in the chair, but I finally forced her in against her will, and once I put the box full of watermelon in front of her, she was happy again. They haven't been very keen on the cereal and fruit jars, so we had previously opened jars we were finishing up, plus the fruit and cereal bar and cookies.

Now it was Emmy's turn to go to bed. Everyone is on a different schedule! It was already after 3 pm, so there wasn't that much time left for him to sleep. I took Tammy downstairs and played with her, until Randy came with Sammy as well. Then I went back up to clea up, which took me nearly until 4 pm. That is when I woke up Emmy and took him downstairs as well. He wasn't too happy, but he won't sleep at night if I let him sleep any later than that.

I sat down with him, and it always takes him a while to wake up. He's sensitive and cranky at that time. Tammy came to him and took his pacifier, which he did not appreciate, only so she could bring it back and put it into his mouth and get praised for it. She also brought him something to drink. She's very helpful, always trying to help and comfort her brothers.

Somehow they overturned the slide and found out that you can also climb up when it's upside down - though there is nowhere to go then.

Tammy wanted to swing, so she did by herself, until I put Sammy in there with her, as he really enjoys the swing as well, and he laughs much of the time while he is in it.

One time Tammy was sitting on the floor, while I had Sammy sitting the way he is supposed to, and he leaned over, grabbed his sister, and gave her a kiss. So sweet!

We had lots of fun until 5 pm - including reading more books - when I left to get their food ready. They came up a few minutes later, after I had some bread with cream cheese ready for them to eat. As Sammy had so enjoyed being in the floor yesterday and getting to explore the upstairs, Randy put him on the floor again. And he loved it, crawling around exploring everything. He ended up by the shelves, where we measure their height and I put stickers of flowers and animals on the bottom to make it look nicer - exactly at his eye level. He was looking at it, when Tammy came over and lay down right next to him, and they were looking at it together. It was so sweet to watch! Sometimes I find myself wondering where they'll be in 20 years, what they'll be doing, and what they'll be like.

We finally sat down to eat, and at first it is so very silent, as they are hungry, and picking their favorite foods out of what's on the plate, eating one bite after another. Once they start playing and throwing food, it's over. I then combine Tammy's and Emmy's leftovers on one plate and take it to the bathroom, followed by the kids. They finished their food in the bathtub, as did Sammy. Then they drink the leftover cereal with milk from the morning. Sammy comes out of the water first, and it takes a bit longer to get him ready, since I have to put his leg braces on. In the meantime the other two brush their teeth in the bathtub, and I brush Sammy's. I then put Sammy to bed, while Randy gets the next kid out of the water, and when I return, we finish dressing them, and I then put them to bed after praying for them.

Sammy fell asleep fast, but I already knew that Emmy was gonna be active, having had two naps, and he was. He and his sister were having fun. When I finally went over to them, Tammy handed me her sleeping bag, and I put her back into it and put her in sleeping position. Then Emmy handed me his, and I put him back in. I walked away, and after some time of them having fun, it got quiet. It's definitely nice that it's getting rarer and rarer that I have to sit by their beds for them to sleep. Praise God! However, they all did have milk again last night.

I made my food and ate it, and then got to work on the computer. It's now earlier than usual as I write this. Tonight I HAVE to go to bed earlier, as I'm doing a Zoom workshop from noon to 1 pm tomorrow for a missions conference. A time when I'm usually very tired, so please pray for me!