Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 0 No. 4

2003-12-02 00:39 (Kristen) It was a pretty sleepy day for me and Jamie, while John ran about getting ready for the Canadian Nationals. We did get a lovely card from Naoko, one of our former tenants, who is back in Japan. Then it was off to Michelle and Tom's for dinner. Ross asked if he could hold the baby, and looked pretty proud of himself as we took photos and told him how good he was, Then Jamie fussed, and Ross went off to do other things, but I was very happy with the interest that he is taking in Jamie. Daniel held Jamie too, and had a long conversation with him while I was on the phone with my mom. I'm not entirely sure what they were talking about, but I think that indoctrination against evil adults has begun (beware Gary and John).

First book read to him: Filbert Flies. First CD played for him: Abbey Road.

2003-12-03 25:00 (John) I'm still getting the CNSC ready, Kristen and Jamie are learning to fend for themselves, and I'm trying not to feel guilty. We all went to the Scrabble club again, and met a whole bunch of new faces, including several players (Joel W, Albert H, Mike R, George M) who were in town early for the championship.

Jamie's really trying hard to understand this whole world, and spends more and more of his day staring at things and analysing them. In the evening, before his bath, we put him in our bed and let him listen to music. Tonight, it's Gordon Lightfoot ("Gord's Gold") and I love to watch Jamie listen to music, it's just like watching Kristen (except Jamie is an infant boy). He tries intermittently to sing, and managed to say "hi" (or maybe "hai" =~ "yes" in Japanese) and "muumuu" (= "stiflingly hot"), but was not satisfied with his effort. He also tries to move his arms and legs to the beat, and does that for awhile until he realizes he's not doing it right, gets mildly frustrated, calms down, and starts again. I'm coming to the sad conclusion that as much as he enjoys my singing "Rubber Ducky" to him at night, I'll never be in the same league as Gordon Lightfoot or Joni Mitchell to him. Sigh.

Kristen and I agree that he doesn't look newborn anymore. He's still a little baby, but his arms and legs are plump (given how much he's nursing, we're not surprised), and he looks like he's getting ready to explore the world. Look out, world.

2003-12-04 24:45 Such a full day and so little time to write about it. Jamie's really upping his caloric intake now, so we're expecting a major growth spurt. All day long, it was feed, change, feed, change. In the evening, we went to my best friend Justin's father's funeral, where Jamie met several people for the first time, notably Ruth Ohi, Kaarel Truuvert and Eric Brunelle. When we got home, Sherrie Saint John came over, she claimed so that she could check her e-mail, but really so that she could meet the baby.

Tomorrow morning, I have to get up at 6:00 A.M. to go down to the CityTV studios to talk about the Canadian Scrabble Championship on Breakfast Television. I hope I have time for a nap.

2003-12-05 16:29 (Kristen) Another full day. Jamie slept for four, two, and two hours last night, but I'm starting to get better at nursing him in bed, and I hope that this will become the norm. It certainly is convenient! I'm a little tired today, as Jamie continues to develop an unerring ability to wake up just as I am about to eat! I've been eating lunch at Tom and Michelle's (thank you, Tami) for the last three days, so that someone can hold him while I stuff some sustenance down my throat. He's been a little fussy (OK...fussy for him) today; he has been 'playing with his food' rather than latching on and nursing for ten or twenty minutes, as is his usual wont. I suspect that he's gassy, but could be wrong. The other guess is that he is overstimulated as we try to nurse, and that I need to nurse him in quieter surroundings. We'll experiment, and see.

John and Ayami have left for the CNSC to get set up, and Jamie and I will follow around 6:00 to make our grand entrance at the opening reception. Unfortunately, Jane and John Williams won't be flying up from New York to meet Jamie (oh...and for the tournament) today, as LaGuardia has been closed due to snow storm. We're disappointed that they won't be here this weekend, but I am somewhat relieved that they won't be flying in such inclement weather.

When Jamie was born, he couldn't see us very well, and his eyes would wander about, unfocused. Later, he would look directly at us, but only briefly before looking away. Today, he was quite deliberately staring at me in a very focused fashion, and I ended up looking away first. There's nothing like your son looking you in the eyes and memorizing you for the first time. Jamie's making enormous cognitive and physical leaps in such a short period of time, and it's amazing to watch.

2003-12-05 23:41 (Kristen) We're up waiting for John and crew to return from the CNSC. Jamie is on his fifth or sixth diaper chamge (and third change of clothes) in two hours, and his mom is a little tired. We made it through heavy traffic (darn Leafs game) to arrive at the end of the opening reception (thank you Gregg). Jamie got to meet all sorts of Scrabblers, including our friend Kate Doe, who was very anxious to see us, and to have us open her gift for Jamie. And with good reason: Kate made him a marvellous SCRABBLE quilt (see picture). It's three feet by three feet or so, and the material is wonderfully soft. We modelled it for everyone, and we're all pretty damn impressed. Thank you, Kate.

Thank you, too, Anita, for the Lamaze wrist rattles!

2003-12-06 23:46 (Kristen) John left early to go to the CNSC, and Jamie and I tried to sleep in, with only some success. Jamie is trying to set a record for number of diapers used in one day, and managed to get somewhere past 16. I think...it's all kind of a blur now, given that he was also trying to set a record for number of diapers used in the shortest amount of time. He was up from 9:15 until 1:30 or so, then slept like a little angel off and on until 7:40, when it started all over again. He is currently sleeping with his head on my chest and his little bum on the wood in front of my keyboard as I type. It's pretty cute.

We went for a walk together this afternoon to get soup from John's mom at her place, and spent some quality time with her. Then we came home, and waited until John, Daniel, Gregg, and Sherrie came home after a long day in the Scrabble mines. We had a nice visit with them, and are thinking about getting into the shower once John finished his CNSC work for the day. We're beyond tired. I just hope that Jamie sleeps as well tonight as he did this afternoon...

(John) Beyond tired sums it up. One of us is working sixteen-hour days running a Scrabble championship, the other is nursing or changing diapers about the same number of hours. It's nice to see Jamie at the end of the day, though.

2003-12-07 01:06 (Kristen) John left again early to go to the CNSC, and Jamie and got up around 9:30 AM. Today was much different than yesterday: Jamie slept for most of the day, most likely exhausted from his efforts of yesterday. He's visibly bigger, and taking the term "growth spurt" very seriously. Tom West came over to take him while I ate breakfast, and even brought over some lunch for me later in the afternoon, along with more free babysitting. When I expressed some feelings of guilt about his coming over to help, Tom said that he has ten years of karmic debt to work off to John. I replied that I didn't want to use it all at once!

We went to watch the prize ceremonies at the CNSC this evening, and went out for dinner afterwards with Lynda Wise, Kate Doe, Nan Doe, Dave Boys (one of tomorrow's two finalists!), Sherrie and Gregg, Lisa Kessler, Lisa Deift, and Trevor Sealy at Shopsy's. Jamie woke up long enough for me to have to make my dinner take-out... he fed a great deal this evening to make up for a day of sleep. Now to bed, to bed...

2003-12-08 24:00 Our friend David Boys is now the Canadian Scrabble Champion. Yay! Jamie's a champion too, because when a game recorder had to quit suddenly at the tournament, Kristen stepped in to work for three hours, and he didn't fuss for three hours while Ayami looked after him. I'd write more, but if I don't get some sleep right this instant, I'l

Back to Vol. 0 No. 3, or up to Jamie Chew's Web Log Archive. or forward to Vol. 0 No. 5.