3 years 7 months 12 days

Day 1319. I haven't been writing about days, where we don't go anywhere, but decided to still talk about today, as I have a couple of pictures to share. The kids were up as early as usual this morning, not long after 7 am. Randy eventually got up to make breakfast and change their diapers, then I cleaned them up and dressed them.  Around 9:30 they finally started going downstairs, while I was getting ready for my 10 am student. I was pretty tired, but had a good time teaching. Then I put the soup on the stove and sat back down at the computer to do some work.

It was around 11:30 that the kids were close to the staircase, and I decided to ask them if they wanted to come upstairs to paint a few Easter eggs. Of course they answered with a resounding yes. I put the paper on the dining room table and gave them eggs and the acrylic pens to draw with. I sat down with them and also painted a few eggs.

Randy was still downstairs with Sammy, who was in his walker for the first time in a while, and he really enjoyed it. He likes going into the bathroom and turning the water on. With noon approaching, they came upstairs, which upset Sammy. I invited him to join us, but he did not want to paint any eggs.

Just after noon we sat down to eat, and I was surprised at how well they were eating. They had not had any mid-morning snacks. They did not want any icecream, as they wanted to leave the table and watch videos, but they did have some Easter chocolate. Sammy and I were still at the table eating our chicken soup. Sammy had been so upset that he would not sit down and eat at the table, and I had needed some more time to get my soup  ready. Randy had left for another toy pickup, and so the two of us sat at the table, while the other two were watching videos, and we were having a good time. Once he was done, I cleaned up and dressed Sammy as well, and put him into his bed to listen to children's songs, which he loves.

At 1:15 pm I put them all to bed. Soon the boys were asleep, and Tammy on her way, so I left them and sat down by my computer. I wanted to lie down as well, but kept going and never did. Sammy was already up just after 2 pm, and Emmy walked into the room at about 2:15 pm. I asked him to lie down with me, but he was done sleeping and only stayed briefly to cuddle a little. I would have liked for both of us to fall asleep.

At 2:30 Randy and Sammy left together for Sammy's weekly physiotherapy session. Emmy wanted to watch videos of himself as a baby, and so I pulled them up for him to watch. He was amazed at how little they were. At 3 pm Tammy also woke up and joined us. So we were all watching for a while.

But then they were asking for something to eat and drink, so we got up. Then I suggested we'd sit down for "school", a word I'm not trying to avoid as Tammy reacts to it negatively. I told them we were gonna paint more eggs and have fun. They started painting eggs, while I wrote the outlines of their names on their new binder. Then they got a page out of a coloring book each to color. Tammy is better at coloring and has been holding the crayon correctly for a while. I once again showed Emmy how to hold the crayon, and he was actually able to then use it that way. Still, he did not care much to color within the lines and soon stopped working on the page. I still gave them a star each.

Then we did some games using cards; games that had to do with counting and numbers. Emmy is a really sore loser and got upset every time his sister was the one getting the point. For the next game I had them come to the board and asked them to draw what I was saying - the different musical notes they know from piano class, as well as shapes. Finally I gave them their binders, so they could color in their names, but only Tammy did it. Then I let them both choose a sticker to put on their binders as a reward. Tammy chose a Peppa Pig sticker, while Emmy chose a Firefighter Sam sticker. That made them happy.

We ended our time at the desk; they were ready to watch videos until Daddy's return, so I let them. As for me, I sat down at the desk to work and get ready for my 5 pm class. The boys arrived a little earlier than usual today, before 4:30 pm. I had some fun with Sammy, until Randy was ready to go downstairs with the kids. Recently Sammy has been adding a lot of words to his vocabulary again. One of his favorite words recently has been "U-Bahn" (subway), so that he says it a lot. I asked him whether he had been on an old subway (with a lever) or one with a button, as he loves pushing those door buttons. He said an old one. I then called Randy and asked him to confirm, and he said it was an old one both ways. What a smart boy! And Sammy now goes potty frequently.

After they had gone downstairs, I got ready for my 5 to 6 pm class. I was still wrapping things up after 6 pm, when they came back upstairs. I let Emmy watch Firefighter Sam, gave Tammy the tablet for games and stuff to watch, and turned the children's songs on for Sammy. Then I went to the kitchen to start making their food. Once I had some ready to go, they sat down at the table, and I gave it to them. I continued cutting up fruit and taking it to them, and they were eating it. I know it's not ideal, but they sure eat better, when they're watching or listening to things, and they need to eat more. They continued eating in the bathtub, then we got them ready for bed. I sat down with them for some Bible stories that they listend to intently. They always want me to keep going, when I stop. I then prayed for them and flew them into bed, much to their delight. Both kids had underwear on all day, even during their nap, but Emmy filled his diaper we'd put on after the bathtub before he had even gone to bed. It was around 8 pm that they were all in bed, and I sat down by them.

Sammy took no time at all to ask for Daddy to come sit by him. I asked him whether he didn't like Mommy, and he said no. I pretended to cry because Sammy didn't like me. Then he corrected his statement, saying he did like me. He took my hand and held it. When Randy did come a few minutes later to take my place, it was not only Tammy who wanted me to stay, but Sammy as well. I comforted them and left to go to the kitchen to make my salad, which takes a very long time. I kept hearing them talk for quite some time, and asked them to stop talking a few times. By the time I was ready to sit down and eat at 9 pm, they were finally all quiet. After I had finished eating, I went back to work. Now I still have to clean up the kitchen before going to bed.