Day 628. I wished I could say I had a great birthday, but it was just a day like any other, even more difficult than most because all three kids have runny noses now, some cough, and so they were rather cranky. The highlight was definitely my brother and nephews coming to visit with us outside our apartment for a few minutes. I see them way too rarely.
Last night it was 20 after midnight, when I finally made it to bed. Sammy still needed milk before I did. This morning it was 8 am, as usual. When I walked into their room, both Emmy and Tammy were naked, pj's and diapers off. Most of the time it's just Emmy. They'd both had pj's that button down in the back on. One diaper they threw on the ground, the other into Sammy's bed. Thank God they were just pee diapers.
After breakfast I took them downstairs and played with them until Randy arrived with his breakfast. Tammy and Emmy went on top of the baby bed that Randy put their to use it for Sammy's exercises and started dancing. Emmy was even singing at the same time! (video uploaded). And at the same time Sammy was crawling to me from where Randy had put him on the floor (video uploaded).
After Randy had come down, I went upstairs to clean up and get to work. It was already late, and my brother and nephews were supposed to arrive at 10 am, so I really didn't get anything done. They came quite a bit later. I had put pants on the boys today, and we put shoes and jackets on them, as it was rather cold outside. We went outside our downstairs door before they even arrived, and they were eagerly looking to see them coming. Once they reached us, they sang "Happy Birthday" to me, which was really sweet. Then my nephews started playing with the kids, as Emmy had brought a ball outside with him. It was so much fun to watch them. I had Sammy at first, and then Randy took him, and he put him on the floor and he was able to stand by himself for a short time, holding on to the edge of the sandbox. At 11:30 we said our good-byes, and I went upstairs to get their lunch ready. It was already later than usual.
It was still before noon, when they came upstairs to eat. I needed to use up some food jars, so they had rice with vegetables out of jars, plus freshly cooked chicken, which they love. And of course banana, watermelon and yoghurt. I cleaned them up and put the boys to bed, while Randy went downstairs with Tammy. Because it was my birthday, we had food delivered from a restaurant for lunch, and it arrived pretty quickly, before they were done eating, which was good, as the doorbell couldn't wake them up. The boys were pretty awake and it looked like it would be a while before they'd sleep. I didn't want Randy's food to get cold, so I put a very tired Tammy to bed before her brothers were sleeping. Even though I know that's a mistake and say every time I won't do it again, I still do it at times and then regret it. Tammy's sleepiness was gone! And Sammy was awake again before the other two ever fell asleep. Once they did, Sammy was bored - no more entertainment - and wanted out of bed, so Randy took him downstairs.
I never got to start working. First I was eating, then cleaning up, and then Emmy started crying not long after finally falling asleep, and he wasn't going back to sleep. I finally picked him up and lay down with him, and not only did he fall asleep, but I did as well. I woke up when he did. I took him downstairs to the other boys, but he was crying, when I walked away and kept crying. I finally went back downstairs and sat down on the couch, and Emmy lay down on my chest, no more crying. He stayed there for quite a while, and I loved every minute of it. Even though I had not worked at all yet all day.
At 3 pm we went upstairs to eat, even though the girl hadn't woken up yet. Emmy took care of that, running right over to her bed. I got her out, but neither one of them wanted to sit in their high chairs. Instead Tammy showed me she's a big girl and can sit on an adult chair, and Emmy copied her, so I fed them there. I told them not to stand on the chair, and guess what Emmy was doing.... The picture speaks volumes. I told him he'd go into the high chair if he stood up, and so he did, and he was not happy about it. Once they were done, I cleaned them up and dressed them, and we went downstairs again. As it was already 3:45, I didn't see any point in working for 15 minutes, so I stayed downstairs with them right away, until 5 pm, while Randy took a break upstairs. I had lots of fun with them, as always. We were reading books, and doing some chasing. Sammy crawled under the baby bed, and the others looked through the bars at him, having fun.
At 5 pm Randy took my place and I left to get their food ready. Randy came upstairs with them long before it was ready. Sammy was really crying hard, and I held him and comforted him while preparing their food, then put him on the floor, where he happily started discovering the surrounding. Finally I was done, and we could sit down to eat. Once they started playing, I removed their plates, combined the food on one, and they finished it in the bathtub. Sammy did not finish his food today. They had fun in the bathtub, and then went to bed, but I had to return and stay for a little bit. I wasn't hungry anyway, having had a big lunch. I finally walked away, and they were happy. It wasn't long before Sammy started crying, and I was unable to comfort him. Randy had better luck - until he put him to bed. Then I took over again, stroking Sammy's head and singing to him. The singing immediately stopped his crying. And when I left after a while, he was okay and fell asleep. It seems that it's pretty much Tammy who's doing all the coughing, I hear her even now.
I've been working on the computer tonight, but now I have yet to clean the kitchen and dining room, so I won't make it to bed by midnight.
