Day 1335. These past two days only Randy and Sammy left the house - on Thursday Sammy had physiotherapy (picture) and on Friday he had speech therapy. I had a student on Friday morning, which is why Randy took him. I actually had a lot of students both days, which was the busiest time since the Easter break.
It seems that Emmy gets up even earlier now. It wasn't even 7 am, when I looked at the clock this morning, and Emmy had already been up for a while. I was extremely tired this morning. At some point Randy got up to make breakfast, and when I saw that it was approaching 9:30, I knew that I had to get up. I cleaned them up and dressed them and got myself ready as well.
At 10 am we left the house together. It was the warmest day yet this year, and so they had short-sleeved shirts on and light jackets. It was really warm in the sun. We took the subway, then had to walk a bit to get to their music school. We got there just as it was starting. The kids sat down by their pianos, and the teacher did the greeting song for each child, then the parents and Sammy, then herself. Then she had them come forward and sit on the ground and did the action song "Itsy bitsy spider" with them. Then she put the three colors representing low, middle and high tones on the board and let the kids play the sequence of the three on individual sound bars. Our kids did that well.
Then it was time for them to sit down by their pianos, and she gave them finger puppets. Tammy and Emmy both picked the pink elephant, so they were twins, and then both picked a panda bear for the next activity, so they were twins again. They both did a great job with the finger song, putting the puppet on finger 1, then 2, etc. They also did well tapping the panda bear with the fingers they were supposed to use. Then she had them get their books out. They had to color three pianos in there in the three colors of low, middle and high, and then got a stamp for having done it well.
Then she got the guitars out. There were not as many children, and so there were a few extra ones, which is why I gave Sammy one to play, much to his delight. After the one song they had played, they all went forward again for their dance, where they have to put the hand and foot asked for into the middle, which helps them memorize which one is the lion and which one the mouse hand. Randy did it with them this time, as I was busy with Sammy. And then it was already time for the final story that they sat on the floor for. She did the good-bye song, and then the kids got a sticker in their sticker books.
It was time to put their coats and shoes back on; Tammy and Emmy are always busy stacking the foam cubes in the hallway before and after class. Then we walked back to the subway to ride it home.
By noon we were back home. I made the quickest meal possible, and a few minutes later we sat down to eat. Then they wanted to watch videos until nap time at 1:15. I was pretty tired but kept up until then. Thankfully I was able to walk away by 1:25, even though Tammy was not asleep yet, and some time later I was also able to lie down and close my eyes.
I woke up just after 3 pm, when Emmy walked into the room crying that he had peed into his pants while sleeping. They've been wearing underwear instead of diapers more and more, even at nap time. Sammy then woke up too, and then Tammy. It was time to get them ready anyway, and so I started picking out clothes and dressing them, then getting ready myself as well. It was the first time this year we were putting sandals on them.
We left the house at 4 pm; it was even warmer than in the morning, but it was windy. We took the subway to the end, then had to wait for a tram, that we also stayed on for quite some time. Then we had to walk a little to the bus stop. The bus was just arriving, and as it only comes every 15 minutes, we ran to get on. We rode it for 4 stops, got off and were at our destination. It was a restaurant that I had never been to before. My family was coming together to celebrate my Mom's birthday from 10 days ago and my brother's birthday a week from now. Some of the family members I hadn't seen in years, most in one year, and some in months. We see my Mom about every 6 weeks, which is the most frequent, while I see my brother only every few months.
The kids were excited to see Grandma again. And Sammy had even been talking about his uncle for quite a bit, and it was cute to see him want to be near him, which my brother did not like. Even though our kids don't know their uncle, Sammy wanted to be close to him for some reason, which made him uncomfortable.
Somebody was giving Grandma their gift, and so the kids wanted to give their gifts as well. Tammy had carried Grandma's gift in her backpack, and Emmy's had his uncle's in his backpack. We got Grandma's gift out; the kids had made some drawings for them after lunch today. Tammy handed Grandma her gift, and they were watching her open it with excitement. Emmy even told her to be careful as it was glass, so I reminded him not to tell what the gift was. The kids had already seen the gifts. Grandma received a clock with the kids' picture.
They wanted to give their uncle his gift as well, but he had to make a quick run home because he had forgotten something. And so the kids were having fun with Grandma and Mom instead. And then a lady walked into the room, saying she recognized us from Facebook, that she was a classmate of mine in elementary school. Sammy wanted to be with her, and even put his arms around her, when she held him. Sammy didn't want to ler her go, and she didn't want to either. I was talking with her, when my brother returned, so I had to leave, and then she left before we could talk further.
The kids gave their uncle his present and watched him open it. He got a snowball with their picture, and of course drawings. And they sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY much louder and with more confidence than they had done with Grandma, when they had still been a little shy right in the beginning.
Then the food arrived, and we sat down to eat. I cut up and distributed the food to them, and they all ate pretty well. Once they were done, they wanted to move again. My Mom and brother went outside to go smoke, and so Tammy and Emmy also went outside, where they were having fun. Sammy was then asking for his uncle, and so I took him outside as well, where they were all having fun. Then Grandma told me that Tammy wanted to go to the bathroom. We had put diapers on them for this trip, but I took her to the bathroom, where my little girl used the adult toilet successfully. She keeps telling me that she's a big girl now! As for Emmy, he ended up with a dirty diaper that Daddy changed.
The kids had some chocolate cake, and then it was about time to go home. The bus was running every 15 minutes, and I knew when. We said our goodbyes and walked to the bus stop to take the 7:26 pm bus.
The kids were watching videos on the bus ride, then the long tram ride, and then the subway ride home. By 8:20 pm we were back home. We got them ready for bed right away, but they still wanted to read a few Bible stories, so we did. And so it was about 9 pm before they were all in bed, and I sat down by them. Randy soon took my place, while I turned my computer on for the first time today. I had a lot of pictures from today to go through, and so it's now after 1:30 am as I finish today's report. I still have to clean up the kitchen before another short night.
