Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 0 No. 23

2004-04-13 24:15 (John) Jamie seemed to have an even more precise idea than usual today of How Things Ought To Be. He learned today that if He Ought To Be In Someone Else's Arms, then he need only pitch himself away from his current steed. He can now (and likes to) pull himself into a sitting position if you hold one of his hands, looking for all the world like a commuting straphanger on the subway. Yesterday, he still needed to be pulled by both hands.

This evening, he decided that he would rather chew on his favorite book (baby einstein's Language Nursery, which I read him each night while Kristen showers) than spend time with his mother. His mother is very proud of his early bibliophile tendencies. They largely make up for his narrowly missing pooing# on her when she bent down to reach for a diaper, for figuring out how to rip her glasses off her face, and for spitting up copiously down her upturned sleeve.

2004-04-14 24:29 (Kristen) It was a very exciting day for Jamie today. This afternoon, we went to our local child-stuff store, With Child (conveniently located next to the Pape branch of the Toronto Public Library) and met with John's aunt Nobuko. Nobuko wanted to buy Jamie his first pair of shoes, and it was the right time to do so now that spring is in the air, and he's not wearing his bunny suit with the feet anymore. She bought Jamie a pair of Robeez, which are little leather shoes with suede bottoms for no-skid traction. They come in a variety of models, but we got the ones that look like blue and white Adidas. Very very cute, and as Nobuko pointed out, look best with his jeans. She also bought him a lovely blanket covered in ladybugs and bees. It was a lot of fun, and we had a great time with her at the store.

Also at With Child, we bought a new gizmo consisting of a plastic handgrip and a mesh bag. The bag is to hold foodstuffs for Jamie to suck and chew on without getting particles into his mouth that he might choke upon. Lots of taste, much less danger. He's been sucking on pears again in the morning, and now he'll be able to hold them himself. He's really into eating like Mom and Dad and he eyes anything that I eat and drink as something that I am keeping from him. I'm looking forward to seeing how well this mesh bag works, and to introducing him to new foods and tastes if it does work well. The last thing that we bought was a pair of little black sunglasses. With his new shoes, jean jacket, and jeans, he was definitely Jamie Dean. Totally cool.

He was very good at the Scrabble club tonight, and we were delighted to see another baby there. 8-month-old Wesley was there with his parents, and his father watched him while his mom played Scrabble (a very familiar scenario). They had come with Wesley because they had heard that we bring Jamie, and felt that the club was baby-friendly enough to give it a try (and we're very glad that they did). At this rate, we'll have a Scrabble-- The Next Generation club forming up as club members start bringing their children too. I'm looking forward to when Wesley and Jamie have their first game. In the meantime, I hope that Wesley and his parents come back next week. Jamie was enjoying watching Wesley crawl and pull himself up on furniture, and was definitely getting ideas.

(John) Jamie was in the mood for laying down new neural pathways all day long. Some days he likes to do familiar things in familiar ways at familiar times, but not today. Today he wanted to try new things and look at old things in new ways.

2004-04-15 24:25 (John) Kristen thinks Jamie's fighting a cold (based on observed dried mucus, general crankiness). I think he might just be bored, and thinking that he wants to do things, he's just not sure what. One new thing he did try today, and the subject of today's photo shoot, is to eat chunks of pear in a clever little web pouch. He was quite delighted with himself, as were we, as he happily chomped away in full control of the whole gastronomic experience.

2004-04-16 25:30 Kristen's former coworker Lori McLellan dropped by for tea this morning, and brought Jamie an elephant puppet and a giraffe puppet. I biked to the University in lovely spring weather, and didn't see him again until we all met at Jackman School to walk Daniel to the Second Cup. Three passersby commented on how cool Jamie looked (usually they say how cute), dressed in denim jacket, jeans and Baby-Bans wrap-around sunglasses.

In the evening, Lisa and Lisa rescued me from a night of parenthood and took me to see Kill Bill, Vol. 2. Kristen (who persuaded me that it was my turn to see a movie, after I looked after Jamie through LOTR and Master and Commander) took Jamie for long traffic-watching walks to keep him amused.

Jamie learned today how rattles work. He spent a good deal of time shaking his rattle that has three coloured rings on a smaller white ring, occasionally bonking himself in the face with it but not caring. Yesterday, he started gently reaching out to people's faces. Kristen thinks it's because she does that to him all the time, but whatever the reason, it's a lovely feeling. Almost as good as sharing a bottle of Evian with your son in the schoolyard and having him see how far he can spit it out.

2004-04-17 24:20 Jamie went to the St. Lawrence Market and Loblaws to help us with our grocery shopping today, then dropped by his great aunt Tomoko's apartment and would have made a surprise appearance at Tanya Huff's signing at Bakka, except that he had just fallen asleep (two hours late), so he had his driver circle the block while his mom went in to schmooze.

In the evening, we went to Ruth Ohi's house for dinner, and in between being the centre of attention, Jamie managed to drink dilute apple juice from a cup, eat several baby spoonfuls over overcooked rice, and a web bag full of pears. Tom let him lick a finger that still had some of my homemade strawberry ice cream on it (eek, dairy!), and I think he did lick Ruth's finger after she had just cut some garlic. It was quite the gastronomic extravaganza for Jamie, and I hope it wasn't responsible for his longer than usual post-bath fussing. At any rate, he's sound asleep now, getting ready for a new day of exciting foods and vehicles.

2004-04-18 24:20 Jamie had a fairly quiet day. We went to the supermarket in the morning to buy English muffins to go with the omelettes Mom was making, and to make the rounds of all the clerks, who called each other off break to see the cute baby. Then we walked down to the Danforth, falling asleep on the way and lulling Mom and Dad into thinking they could play a game of Scrabble, but instead having them take turns pushing him round the block in the rain while the other sat and sipped a latte at the Second Cup. Dinner at his grandparents' house was fun, as he gulped down a bowl of miso shiru* mixed with a bit of rice as fast as he could, then listened to his mom and his grandpa play the piano, helping whenever he could get close enough to the keyboard.

2004-04-19 24:10 Jamie and his mom went shopping at the Gap today for new socks (he's outgrown the 3-6 month size), and rode the subway as far as Bay with his dad, who went on to the university. He also took advantage of some seasonal sales to buy a jacket for either next fall or spring, and a few other small items.

His teeth don't seem to be bothering him as much as they were yesterday. I can always tell when he takes a bath: if he goes for Mr. Windup Fish's bony caudal fin, then he's teething; if he goes for the chewy dorsal fin or the rubbery head, then he's fine.

I think the most excited I saw him today was when he grabbed hold of my camera strap while I was taking pictures. It was certainly challenging trying to keep still while he tugged the camera, kicked me in the stomach, and wiggled gleefully. I should also state for the record that we do not leave camera bags or anything else that may pose a strangulation hazard anywhere near Jamie when he is unattended. (I hope that just saved me the usual round of threatening e-mail.)

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

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