21 months 13 days

Day 652. Last night the kids went to bed at 9 pm, and I had so many pictures from our trip, it ended up being 2:30 before I got to go to bed. As you can imagine, I was very tired today. But so were the kids. We got up at 8:15 today, so later than usually, and Emmy was the only one I was hearing. While Tammy was awake as well, she did not get up but stayed on her belly the whole time, until Randy got her to change her diaper, which is very unusual. Sammy was wide awake and crawling until his turn.

After breakfast, I went downstairs with them, but it was nearly 9 am, so no time to worship and read the Bible today. I just opened all the blinds, when Randy came with Sammy and his breakfast, and I was able to go upstairs. And just in time, as the Mobile Therapy support lady rang the door bell at 9 am. She was surprised to hear that Sammy can start at the new center in September, as she had thought he'd have to wait over a year to get in.

I did the cleanup, and then went to work on the computer. At 11 am I stopped to cook lunch for all of us, and at 11:30 they all came upstairs to eat. And they all ate really well, pasta with egg, bacon and corn, and then dessert. I had to get the handheld vaccuum cleaner out to vaccuum all the pasta on the floor, and Emmy is really scared of it, so he was not happy. I then cleaned them up and dressed them. While waiting for Sammy, I handed them a pineapple to explore, and when I said the German word "Ananas", Tammy repeated it, saying "anas". They were also pointing at the running fan every time they saw it, saying "late".

I got Sammy to clean him up and put him to bed, and Randy went downstairs with the other two. I got Emmy 5 minutes earlier than usual to put him to bed, because Randy said he was so tired, but it didn't help. He just fussed 5 minutes longer, and so I put Tammy to bed at her regular time.

After having eaten and cleaned up, I got so very tired, having slept so little last night, I had to close my eyes for a little bit, which helped already. Sammy woke up after about an hour, which is typical for him, and I got him out of bed and put him on the floor. I watched him crawl all over the place and exploring everything he could get his hands on. At 1:45 pm Randy went downstairs with him, and I took Emmy to him, when he woke up a little later. The girl was sleeping well, catching up from the tiring weekend. I called the boys back up at 2:15, and let Emmy wake up his sister at about 2:30. By then Emmy was already dressed. I got Tammy out and dressed her so we could leave on time at 2:45 pm. Emmy and Sammy had already had some food to eat, and she got it on the train.

We took the subway, and then a tram, to get to the pediatrician's in our old neighborhood. It was a new way to go because the subway is not going as far any more as it used to due to construction. We walked to their office, and went into the building to take the elevator up to the pediatrician's. As soon as we entered the building, Emmy started whining. He knew exactly where we were. And he was not happy, when we went inside and to the welcome desk. My Mom wasn't there, which was unusual, but she arrived a little later, while we were already in the waiting room.

And they immediately started having fun together, with Grandma tickling them and playing with them. We were there for a while before we were called into the office. We took their clothes off right away - finally not as much as it used to be, without the winter clothes - and Emmy was getting frantic, clinging hard to me. It was the nice doctor lady who is the top boss who came to see us today. But that didn't change anything. Tammy and Emmy were crying really hard, were tense and clinging, as he tried to listen to their lungs, looked into their ears and mouths. Only Sammy didn't cry the whole time, but wasn't happy when she got closer. And when they got their shot, they screamed even more. I walked as far away as possible with Emmy, trying to calm him down. My Mom had Tammy, and Randy Sammy. We dressed them again, as we were already done for the day, and left, much to their relief. They happily waved and said "baba" (bye-bye). We paid, made the next appointment for October, and left.

Back on the street, we had to say good-bye to Grandma, and walked back to the tram station and the icecream shop there. My grandfather already went to that icecream shop as a kid, and I grew up with it, living closeby. It has great icecream, and so we got some to take home with us. The kids all got a little spoon with a sample of vanilla icecream. Tammy loved it and wanted more, Emmy refused to try, and Sammy enjoyed it as well. Tammy got Emmy's spoon. When she bit the plastic spoon into the pieces, we took it away. Sammy also broke it, but Emmy enjoyed playing with the empty spoon.

We got back on the tram, and then the subway. Emmy did not want to be in the stroller any more, and so I had him out on the subway, and Tammy wanted out too and was with Randy. We FINALLY got home. It was late, 5:50 pm, so they were eating later than usual tonight.

Randy went downstairs with them, so I could get their food ready, which takes half an hour. When I heard Tammy crying so very hard, I called them up a little earlier than I would have. Randy was concerned about Tammy who was crying for no visible reason. And she was crying hard and would not be comforted. Emmy was in his chair eating, while I was holding Tammy tight, who refused to eat and just cried. Randy thought it was connected to the shot. Looking back now, I think it was psychological, like being traumatized by being hurt like that. Every time she'd see the bandaid on her thigh, she cry again. She finally stopped crying, but only for short moments at the time. Randy found a way to make her laugh, which stopped her crying for a little bit. She had hardly eaten anything, when we went to the bathtub. She started playing as usual, but that didn't last either. Her emotions were still raw. She first started eating her favorite food, watermelon, and as time went on also bread and other fruit. In the end all the food was gone, so I'm glad she got to eat a bit. She was alright after all. And I had removed her bandaid in the water, so she had nothing to remind her of what had happened.

Emmy was the one who came out of the water first, which is unusual, as Sammy is usually first, but Emmy is often impatient to come out. Then the other two came out, and I weighed Sammy who is now 8.5 kilos (not much). We put their pj's on, and I put them to bed. It was half an hour later than usual, 7:30 pm. But they all fell asleep fast tonight, no crying or fussing. They still have some making up to do for the tiring weekend.

I got to make and eat my food and start working, but I was getting very tired really fast. Randy was so kind to clean the high chairs for me tonight, so I only have the kitchen the clean. It's midnight now, and as soon as I'm done with the kitchen, I'm going to bed as well. I can barely keep my eyes open.