20 months

I succeeded in going to bed at midnight again last night, third night in a row. This morning, Sammy was crying so hard that I got up to get him at 7 am. Of course Emmy started crying because he was not the one who got to come out of bed, so in the end, we all got up and had breakfast early. Then I took them downstairs, while Randy was getting his breakfast ready, and until he came downstairs to take over.

I went back upstairs, and normally I'd be working, which is the whole point of going to bed so early. However, I was so very tired that I ended up lying back down and falling asleep. I just really needed it. My alarm woke me at 10:45, and I started making lunch - cremed spinach with potatoes and eggs. Emmy was pretty hungry and/or tired and crying by the exit of the play area that was blocked. I finally went to get him and had him with me in the kitchen. Tammy protested at first that she had to stay behind, but not for long. Every time I had to set Emmy down so I could do something, he started crying. It was after 11:30, when I called the others upstairs to eat. They all emptied their plates, and of course, they were quite green in their faces, hands and bodies. Then they had watermelon, so Tammy added the watermelon juice to the green on her tray. What a colorful piece of art!

Tammy still shows off how she can nodd her head, which is too funny, as it's a new skill. Emmy tried it again too, but he's still not able to do it, moving his neck forward and back instead. And Sammy is still saying "mama" a lot, which is just too cute. I'll have to try to record it.

After cleaning them up and dressing them again, the boys went to bed, and fell asleep rather fast. Tammy actually never went downstairs, but went to bed a few minutes later and also fell asleep fast. It was close to 12:30 by then. Randy had already eaten at the same time at the kids, but I was too busy feeding them, so now I finally had a chance to eat myself. Then I cleaned up the green everywhere, before I started working on the computer. I was getting pretty tired, but I never lay down to sleep. I had to work some time, having slept in the morning! Sammy woke up first, and Emmy right after him, and the boys went downstairs with Randy. I stayed behind waiting for Tammy to wake up and started working in the kitchen, getting their dinner-to-go ready, as well as the clothes they'd wear to church. At 3 pm I called the boys upstairs, and Emmy went right to his sister who was immediately awake. It was time for their afternoon meal. Tammy did not want to go into her chair right after waking up, so she sat in my lap. Having eaten everything, I cleaned them up and we started dressing them for church. We left on time, right after 4 pm, to catch the train, and then we still had a tram ride.

I've been pushing the single stroller with Sammy, and he was in a very cheerful mood on the tram. He likes making a certain sound, and when I imitated it, he burst into laughter. That went on for much of the tram ride, and I recorded a part of it that I have uploaded. It's too cute!

We got to church before the service started. At first they are rather shy and reserved and stay close to us. A little girl that always comes over to see them came to greet them. Worship started, and we were having fun. Tammy was dancing a little. Emmy went to get the food out of the stroller, so I opened their bowls for them, and they started getting food out of them. Randy then started feeding Sammy as well.

At 5:30 I took Tammy and Emmy upstairs to the toddler room. There were more kids than I've ever seen there before. We sat down at the table, and they started eating their dinner, just like the other kids. They were watching the other kids the whole time. Just before 6 pm Randy brought Sammy upstairs, I took him, and Randy returned to the service.

At 6 pm a twenty-minute program started. It was the first time they were a part of that. I sat down on a little chair with Sammy, and Tammy and Emmy stayed close to me for much of the time. They sang a welcome song for each kid, and they were just standing there watching. Then there was a little teaching, with books, and toys, but you could tell they didn't really understand what was going on, though they were interested.

After the program, it was play time. Randy returned to get Sammy, as I couldn't have taken all three down the stairs, with the bag of food bowls. Tammy and Emmy went to the slide, and had the greatest time. Tammy went up the stairs, but never down the slide. She stood up there for a long time, until I took her down, so she wouldn't block the other kids. She then ended up on the bottom of the slid with the girl who sat there helping kids get out of the way before the next kid was sliding down.

Emmy went down the slide over and over again - sitting, on his belly feet first, and on his belly head first - and he greatly enjoyed it. At times he cut the line, and other times other kids cut in line in front of him. They were having so much fun that we weren't leaving yet. But then a song came, saying it was time to clean up and go, so we packed up and went back to the sanctuary.

It's a long staircase down, and going down the stairs is still hard for them. I held one hand of theirs each to help them. Then someone came to help me out, which was great, and so Tammy was downstairs quickly, where Anny picked her up, and then Emmy looked down at Anna and his sister, which he thought was hilarious.

Once back down, Randy and Sammy were right there. I took Sammy, and the other two wanted to be held by Daddy, and they had so much fun being both in Daddy's arms, they were laughing and gave each other a kiss. And then the service was over. We talked to a few people before leaving and on the way out.

We went home the same way, tram, and then the S-train that does not have steps, which was a blessing. Once home, we got them out of the strollers. I put Sammy on the floor so he could crawl freely, Randy got Emmy ready for bed, and I did the same with Tammy. I heard Sammy whining a little bit, so I went to check on him, and the last picture shows what had happened. I had to laugh out loud, when I saw him like that! He'd played with the kids' ladder that has a toilet seat attached for it, for kids to use the toilet when they get potty-trained. Our friends had given it to us yesterday. And Sammy stuck his head through the toilet seat and couldn't get back out! I kept laughing and laughing. It wasn't tight at all, so it was easy to take off.

By 8:10 they were all in bed. I had to sit down by their beds for Emmy's sake, but it wasn't long before I was able to walk away. Tammy fell asleep shortly after. So it was time to get my food ready, and I had lots of preparation to do for my salad, so it all took a while to make it and then eat it. I knew I had to work fast tonight if I still wanted to go to bed at midnight. At least I had already done the dining room cleanup, so just the dishwasher left to do. And now I have half an hour left until midnight.