19 months 23 days

I went to bed at my typical time of 3:30 am. This morning we were surprised to find it was already 8:40, when we woke up, not 8 as usual. I was even more surprised that Emmy was still sleeping. However, once I got the girl out of bed, she went straight to him, touched his head through the bars, and woke him up. I got Sammy out of bed, as he was crying hard. I took his sleeping bag and braces off and put him on the floor, where he was free to move. Then I started making their breakfast, and Randy changed their diapers, one after another.

Obviously it was also later before I got to go back to bed. I only had just over an hour to sleep, and it always takes me a while to fall asleep in the first place. I did not want to get up at 11, and actually fell asleep until the alarm went off again 10 minutes later. I forced myself out of bed and started cooking. Sonja arrived a few minutes later and went downstairs, while I finished up. It was chicken and potatoes day, and I added a vegetable food jar to use it up. I was surprised how fast they ate, and that the plates were empty. They had fruit and yoghurt for dessert.

I cleaned up Sammy first and put him to bed. He was really tired. Then I put Emmy to bed. I thought he was gonna sleep fast, but that was not the case. He got back up and was pretty active, unwilling to sleep. He ended up crying he was so tired, and needed me to stroke his head. That's all he needed, as he was asleep moments later. But his crying had already woken up Sammy, and he was not gonna back to sleep unfortunately, so I took him downstairs to Sonja. Tammy then went to bed, and she was active also for a while, before falling asleep. She had barely fallen asleep, if she even had, when Emmy woke up. He was crying. Sometimes he goes back to sleep, and other times he doesn't. He didn't, and so I picked him up and lay down with him. He fell asleep on me for a short time, and I was getting really tired myself. When he woke back up, I took him downstairs as well.

Randy had gone to the grocery store after lunch. I still had lots to do to prepare for church - get their clothes and food ready. Still, I lay back down and fell asleep. Once Randy came back, he took the food jars down to the boys and they fed them. The girl joined them after waking up.

It was after 3 pm, when they all came back upstairs and we started dressing them and getting ready to leave at 4, which we did. And so we got to church before the service started and sat down in the back. They always start out slowly, just standing there and looking around. Sammy was really tired, and just rested on me for a while. Emmy and Tammy ended up standing on the chairs, which they enjoy doing, and interacting with people around them. Then Tammy started climbing into and around the stroller sitting next to the chairs. I helped her back out a few times, and she climbed back in. Then Emmy did the same.

After half an hour of worship, as it was coming to a close, we left to go to the baby room to feed them. Sammy was pretty cranky by then, but it was their typical time of 5:30, when they are used to getting dinner. There was a baby in the room at first, and Tammy went over to it, stroking his head and giving him a kiss, just like she does with Sammy. Emmy stood at a distance and refused to get any closer to the baby.

The baby left, and we started feeding them, while they were playing. While we were there, the baby returned a few times, but Emmy always kept his distance.

Emmy went into the baby activity chair today and really enjoyed it for a while. Sammy was playing on the floor for a while, including with rings. Tammy put those rings on her arms, which she likes doing.

As the service was coming to an end, we returned to the sanctuary, where they enjoyed running around and connecting with the people around us. They never went far, though, which has been a new thing recently. When the service ended, we put their coats on and put them into the strollers and left.

And the ride home was pretty bed. When we got to the subway, I ran to the door to make it on, but Randy wasn't behind me, so I stayed in the door so he could catch up and get in. I later found out that Emmy had had his hand stuck in the wheel, and Randy was getting it out. While I stood in the door, the driver came out and cursed me out, telling me to get off the train, so I did. That was a first for me, and not a nice experience.

We took the next subway to the train station, and had to take a train with stairs home. This time it was a customer cursing us out (but Randy doesn't understand German), telling us we were not carrying the strollers into the train correctly, and she stayed near us, continuing her rant. It was pretty annoying.

I was glad to be home. We got them ready for bed, and put them to bed right away. Emmy wanted me to stay and stroke his head. While I did, and he was falling asleep, Sammy was crying. I figured he was hungry, so I left to get him some milk. Emmy had just fallen asleep. When I returned to feed him, Emmy opened his eyes enough to see me and started crying, so Randy made him some milk too. He didn't even finish it and was crying again. I think he was jealous of me holding Sammy. When he was done, I put him back to bed, and stroked Emmy's head again, which is all he needed. Tammy finished off the rest in her brothers' bottles. I stayed a little longer, until Emmy was asleep. It's funny how it was Tammy who for so many months needed me to sit by her so she would sleep, and now it's Emmy.

It was pretty late before I got to start making my food, and late before I was done eating. So I'm behind tonight. It's 1 am, and I have not cleaned up yet.