20 months 24 days

Day 633. Last night it was 1 am before I made it to bed. This morning we got up at our regular 8 am time, after already hearing them whine for an hour. Emmy still had his pj's on, though he had managed to get an arm out of the sleeve. Emmy had quite a cranky day today and needed a lot more time on Mommy's shoulder than usual, and that started right in the morning. He was helping me unload the dishwasher, as usual, and often Randy picks him up at that time to give him a new diaper, which he does not appreciate. Today he was crying so hard after Randy put him into his chair, that I took him back out and fed him while he was on my lap.

After breakfast I cleaned them up and dressed them and then took them downstairs. Randy brought Sammy down after he was done with him and then made his breakfast. Once he came downstairs with it, I could grab my computer and go upstairs - first to clean up, and then to do office work. I have to close the bedroom door so that I cannot hear them cry, or I want to constantly check on them.

Today I had to cook, so I stopped working at 10:45, after just over an hour, and went to the kitchen to cook lunch for us. In the kitchen I cannot help but hear them downstairs. Once again Emmy was crying a lot, but I knew that if I went to get him, he'd want me to hold him the whole time, and I needed both my hands to cook. At some point he finally stopped crying.

Just after 11:30 I called everyone upstairs to eat. It was pasta with meat and tomato sauce. Tammy and Emmy ate a lot, Sammy not so much. He was still sick today, and had nearly as much fever as yesterday in the afternoon. Please pray for his healing!

I knew I had to do better regarding nap time. After Tammy and Emmy were cleaned up and dressed (after apple, watermelon, banana and yoghurt), I went downstairs with them, where I played with them while waiting for Randy to finish up with Sammy and put him to bed for his nap. Then Randy took my place and I went upstairs to clean up, and to check on Sammy from time to time to see whether he'd fallen asleep. That's when I went downstairs to get Emmy. It was already 12:45, when I put him to bed, so a good time for him, and I stayed and helped a little, and he fell asleep rather fast. No audience for our comedian. Once he was asleep, I went to get Tammy and put her to bed. It didn't take her long either to fall asleep, at about 1 pm.

After I was done cleaning up, I went back to doing office work, though I was rather tired myself. When Emmy was the first to wake up, crying, I went to get him and lay down with him, but he did not want to sleep any more. His sister also woke up, and Sammy was awake as well, so we all got up and sat down by the table for the afternoon meal. It wasn't quite 2:30 yet.

Tammy is always having a really hard time after waking up, being really cranky, and she cried hard, when I put her into her chair. Only peanut butter was able to end her fit. She sure likes her peanut butter! After the meal, I took them downstairs, where I waited until Randy came with Sammy. It was after 3 pm, and I had meant to go to the post office to mail the letters, but it was dark outside and about to rain, so I postponed it. That meant I still had until 4 pm to work, but by the time I'm done cleaning up, so little time is left that it's hardly worth it.

At 4 pm I went downstairs to play with my little ones for an hour. Emmy was still cranky, and Sammy sick and needing more attention. I tell you, it's sure tough, when they're not feeling well, making it even harder to go through the day. All three still have runny noses. I was thankful when Randy didn't leave for the whole hour but stayed a big part of it. He came when all three were crying because all three wanted to be held by me, which is really not possible any more. I can hold two in my arms at once, but not three. He got some new rattles out somebody had given us, and they greatly enjoyed them. Even though Sammy was sick, he still enjoyed the swing, and me swinging him around.

At 5 pm I went upstairs to make their food. They did not last until 5:30, as they were all crying or cranky, and came up earlier. Sammy enjoyed the baby swing, and the other two were running around happy, coming to me for pieces of bread from time to time. Until the food was ready, and we all sat down by the table. Once they started playing with the food, I took it away, combined it on one plate that I took to the bathroom, and they finished their food in the bathtub, no problem at all. Sammy again did not have much appetite. They had lots of fun playing with all the suction cup animals in the bathtub. They were on the wall to start with, and they started throwing them all out on the bathroom floor, encouraged by me playing the animals not wanting to be thrown out. There's about 15 of them. And we did it twice, as Randy returned all the animals to us at one point. They so enjoyed it!

What was cute too was when Tammy picked up food from the plate and put it into her brother's mouth, who ate it. They also like putting food into my mouth, but didn't do so today.

Then they all came out, brushed their teeth, put their diapers and pj's on, and went to bed. I walked away, and when I returned to check on them, Tammy had taken her pj's off again. I then put another one on her, and so far she's still wearing it. I had to return one more time and found Tammy already asleep. Emmy had just woken his brother up. I put them both back into sleeping position, and from there it didn't take long for everyone to sleep. No sitting by their beds tonight.

I got some food, ate, and went to work. Now I still have to clean up the kitchen and dining room. Hopefully I make it to bed by midnight tonight, but it's been a few days since I did.