Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 0 No. 9

2004-01-06 18:00 (Kristen) Jamie was up until 3:00AM last night, smiling and cooing while his mother smiled back and prayed that he'd go to sleep Soon. When it became clear that our boy was not even remotely sleepy, we headed down to the living room, and watched an episode of The West Wing while John slept (thank you, Michelle, for lending us the DVDs of the first season). Is it a coincidence that John had the first good night's sleep he's had in weeks last night? As Jamie slept the day away today, we may have a chance to test this theory tonight.

2004-01-07 25:45 (John) It was Opposite Night tonight, as we prepared for my trip next week by having Kristen bathe Jamie. For the first time. Ever. Jamie was a little weirded out at the role reversal, but took it bravely.

(Kristen) Jamie was uncomfortable again today, and spent a good part of it on my lap, napping. However, he woke up and was bright eyed and bushy tailed for his visit to the Scrabble Club tonight. John played and I took care of Jamie, as he graciously took Jamie the last two times and let me play (and feel like a human being!). While I was nursing him in the lobby of the community centre where the club meets, a woman came along and quietly corrected my position--apparently I was twisted to one side, and would hurt my back if I continued. I remain amazed by (and grateful to) the new sisterhood of Women With Children that I have now become a part of: free advice, knowing and understanding glances as we pass on the street, and lovely conversations with complete strangers about how in the world one does this new, difficult, and wonderful job of being a mother. I feel like I finally got the decoder ring.

When we got home tonight, Jamie was wide awake. We had fun listening to a CD of Japanese children's songs that John's aunts Kimiko and Toshiko sent from Japan, and Ayami kept Jamie's attention by acting out the hand gestures to some of the songs. Then we had our Opposite Day bath, and listened to Let It Be. It's almost 2:00 AM, he's nursed twice, and he is still smiling, giggling, and wide, wide awake. It's a good thing that he's so cute.. Tomorrow, we start working on a better schedule (she said, with dark mutterings).

2004-01-08 18:30 (John) Jamie's sitting in his bouncy chair smiling at a weird newborn toy, happily gurgling away. We've spent a quiet afternoon at home after a morning visiting the doctor, who told us three things. Jamie's not gaining weight fast enough (5/8 oz. day in the two weeks since the last visit), he's old enough to know the difference between night and day, and he has a cold (and isn't teething) but his chest is clear. Her advice is to be more strict about nursing him heavily at infrequent intervals, stimulate him to keep him awake during the day, and suction his nose of mucus. Sounds reasonable to me, except I prefer to just get him to blow his nose, which is a decibel or so quieter.

2004-01-08 22:30 Jamie's still happily gurgling. Right now, he's chatting with a Piglet doll on our headboard. I hasten to point out before the Baby Safety Police start e-mailing, that it's only Piglet who's on the headboard.

2004-01-09 10:55 In response to a question from Craig Rowland:

Most books will tell you to use an infant nasal aspirator, which is a tool similar in function if not shape to a turkey baster. It's less elongated, because you're not actually supposed to introduce it into the nasal fossa, just make a seal with a naris and suck. If congestion is severe, then lavage with a sterile saline solution prior to suction is recommended.

Since the amount of mucus is not (yet) severe, all I've been doing is looking up his nose, and if I can't clearly see choanae, then I do as I would with myself. I gently pinch the nose, possibly harder on one side, wait for him to blow and wipe off whatever comes out. Since he hates having his nose pinched, his respiration usually increases with his agitation, so I don't have to wait very long.

2004-01-09 23:49 (Kristen) Jamie didn't sleep very well last night, waking up almost exactly every two hours and then every hour after 6:00 AM. He was more awake during the day than is usual, and we had a good time listening to one of the three Japanese children's songs CDs that his great aunts Kimiko and Toshiko sent from Japan. This CD contains, amongst other songs, the Omocha no Cha Cha (the Toy Cha Cha), which Jamie seems to really like. The song is lodged now lodged in my head as if it was surgically implanted, and I have had the chorus going through my head all day. Not necessarily good.

Random thoughts: He has started to smile and coo at inanimate objects as well as at people, but is still primarily a people person. Right now he is singing along with Paul McCartney, and chatting away to his mother as she types.Today he was wearing a blue body suit, a pair of red pants, and stripey socks, along with a sweater knit by his Auntie Jen as defence against the cold (-20 C, not including wind chill...reminds me of Northern Alberta!), and looked very cute. I have been fighting a cold myself, and hope that he'll pick up my antibodies to give his own cold the boot. I spent a good deal of time asleep today, and could use a lot more. Good night..

2004-01-09 24:40 (John) I spent much of the day looking after Jamie so that Kristen could rest. Jamie spent the afternoon in a sling napping for a couple of hours at a stretch to make up for last night. If we'd had more sleep, this might be funny.

This evening, while waiting for Kristen to come home (when we walk across the alley to Michelle's house, we have to get Jamie suited up for the cold, and whoever has the sling ready rushes out with him to stop him from screaming with indignity at being in a snowsuit indoors; the other has a few minutes of peace and quiet and can follow at their leisure) (in this case, Kristen also has to wait for Michelle to finish talking) Jamie and I played the polyglot pi game. I would ignore Jamie until he said something resembling an English or Japanese phoneme, and then recite the first fifty digits of pi in a singsong voice, each time in a different language. Jamie wins if I run out of languages before Kristen gets home. Tonight, Kristen came home after six languages, and we kept playing to ten, with Jamie letting me count Pig Latin and Op Code. He finds French and German the most entertaining.

2004-01-10 23:40 (Kristen) Jamie's cognitive leaps and bounds continue. After deciding that there might be some merit in smiling at inanimate objects, he lay in his Pack and Play, watching the teddy bear mobile for some time this morning. He was entertained this evening by his mother shaking a fish-shaped rattle, and was inspired enough to figure out how to hold onto it if it was placed in his little fist. He, just now, was further inspired to test out how it tastes, and is showing a marked interest in developing some gross motor control. His parents are so proud!

He also enjoys lying on his back and interacting with people, to the extent that he will complain if he is being held, and will demand to be put down. It is in this position that he will dance and sing to music, or play the call and response game with whomever happens to be around. His giggles are showing a strong potential for turning into actual laughs, which is supposed to be next month's development. He is very verbal: he chatters away to people, and seems to know that sound is a way to connect with the world around him. I was reading Laxdaela Saga to him tonight, and he was very interested in what I was reading. It doesn't matter what gets read to him-- children's stories, The New Yorker, medieval literature, or poetry-- he just likes to hear words. We indulge him as best we can in English and in Japanese (I'm learning some Japanese baby talk, which is quite a bit of fun), and it is one of the best feelings in the world to see his obvious pleasure. He also has a very long attention span for a little guy: he's been playing with that fish for over twenty minutes now, and showing no signs of boredom. John has rearranged it in his hand, however, since the tail was getting rather soggy.

2004-01-11 18:53 (Kristen) Jamie is two months old today, and is as sunny, beautiful, and wonderful a boy as any two parents could imagine. It is still very difficult to categorize ourselves as "parents," let alone the parents of a very specific little boy (really, we're still too young to have children :) ), and there is still the odd surreal moment as we realize that we have taken on the roles that were so important to us in our own lives. We now get to be that figure to someone else.

His breath still smells like apples. When I was in labour, I drank so much diluted apple juice that I wondered if I would ever be able to drink it again (for the record, yes I can). It didn't surprise me, then, that my son smells like apples, which is a wonderful smell for those who haven't smelled one lately: all fresh and clean, and sweet.

2004-01-12 23:13 (Kristen) Jennifer returned to Toronto today to help me look after Jamie while John goes to Greenport, NY to visit with the people of the National Scrabble Association for four days.(this website will now serve the purpose of keeping Jamie's dad up to date on his son's doings, as well as the rest of the world. John, watch for the subliminal messages :) )The first thing that Jennifer did when she came in the door was make a beeline for Jamie, who was, of course, delighted to see her. I think that I've seen more of Jennifer since Jamie was born than I've seen of her in the last three years...another benefit of life with Jamie.

When we came back from lunch at Michelle's today, we found a large box at our front door. Inside it was a beautiful blue child's rocking chair from L. L. Bean, with Jamie's name engraved on the backrest. After looking everywhere for a clue as to who had sent it, we found a gift card from John and Jane Williams, and their daughters Kristen and Alex. It's a wonderful gift, and the rocker now sits in front of the fireplace. I can hardly wait until Jamie is old enough to sit in it for himself, watching his favourite videos and announcing that he is sitting in "Jamie's chair."

Right now, Jamie is chatting away to Pooh Bear, listening to his evening Beatles CD, and having his happy hour after his nightly bath with Papa. This is the time of day when he seems happiest,and most content, and the time that I enjoy most spending with him.

* For the benefit of Scrabble players, words that are not in the Scrabble dictionary are marked with an asterisk.

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