Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 0 No. 24

2004-04-20 22:20 Jamie sat up straight by himself (with Kristen nervously holding out her hands on either side) to watch the (Toronto Maple) Leafs beat the (Ottawa) Senators 4-1 (and advance to the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup quarter finals. That was after our usual Tuesday-night dinner at Daniel's house, together with our new tenant Rika Shiraishi (see POTD).

All day long, he's been catnapping and waking up an insisting on doing Interesting Things, but finding that Interesting Things require more verbal ability or manual dexterity than he yet has.

2004-04-21 25:00 (Kristen) Jamie has been regaling us with "kak-kak" sounds today, which are his way of telling us that we are doing Something Wrong. This can range from not feeding him what we are eating to "entertain me, you fool, you fool." I have heard a lot of "kak-kak" all day. He has definite ideas about what he wants to do, and while he remains the sweetest of babies, he is not above letting his stupid parents know that they should get with the program.

He spent more time today sitting up, and can also be pulled into a standing position by holding onto his hands. He will stand up for over 30 seconds at a time before folding at the waist--his legs take much longer to buckle. He hates being on his stomach, however, and I wonder if he'll bypass the crawling stage in favour of walking like a number of other children that I know. He loves to look at new things, and is finding more and more things in his life to be funny. I never know what will make him laugh, and the unexpected laughs are the best.

2004-04-22 24:15 (John) Jamie apparently hoovered# a bowl of miso shiru* (soup) and okayu* (rice gruel) today at my mom's house when she put it through the blender so that the rice bits got chopped up. He thinks he loves eating, but as he still (STILL) doesn't have teeth (or much of a food-swallowing reflex) this works much better. Possibly as a result, he was a little gassy in the afternoon, but not so much as to cause him distress.

Kristen says that he went on three long walks today (twice with her, once with Ken), and that when she picked up Grace (one of our neighbours' cats) she blew Jamie's mind. I wasn't there, but would guess that he never realised that you could pick cats up. I look forward to the first time he tries to do so himself.

2004-04-23 23:15 Today was another fun and frolic-filled day in the life of our Jamie. He went out to go grocery shopping with his dad and ended up visiting with our neighbour Karen Whitehorn who just returned from a few weeks in Japan, and by the time we ended up going and coming back with the breakfast groceries, it was lunchtime. He went for his walk with Ken in the afternoon, and slept for two and a half hours. He now has Ken trained not to go indoors during walks, even at the Second Cup if the line looks long.

Ken did drop him off at the Second Cup, where Kristen was having coffee with our neighbour Betsy Harney. Daniel and John eventually caught up with them there, and Betsy went to pick up her kids Sam and Ben. As the four of us (with Daniel) started walking home, we gradually accumulated a swarm of family and neighbours that included among others, Betsy, Sam and Ben, my mom, Karen and her daughter Alexandria, and Ayami. We eventually dispersed after all the kids played in Alexandria's backyard.

Jamie spent most of his time in Alexandria's arms. We were impressed by her confident manner (and her biceps), and look forward to when she startss babysitting for us.

Dinner was fridge stir fry and pot stickers for us and miso shiru*, okayu* and a first taste of cucumber (in a web bag) for Jamie. Possibly as a result of all this mental stimulation, Jamie was unusually deliberate in his manipulation of Mr. Windup Fish and his associate, Mr. Duck, at bathtime, and managed to twice get Mr. W. Fish's caudal fin entirely into his mouth (and back out again with assistance). He's also wide awake now, but we're trying to do something about that.

2004-04-24 24:45 Jamie woke up at 7 A.M. and Kristen took him off to play in his room until I woke up at nine. For the rest of the day, it felt like Kristen and I were taking turns napping while the other looked after Jamie. Not quite. First Rika and I went to the St. Lawrence Market while Kristen took Jamie out for two walks (yard sale-ing and down to the Danforth), then I took Jamie over to the garden centre to buy some seeds. Tom made chicken katsu, and then we all rotated playing with babies and computers.

2004-04-25 23:55 (Kristen) Jamie woke up late this morning, allowing his mother to sleep in. He was in a lovely mood, chatty and smiling, and made me think anew that this is the best part of my day with him. The rest of the day got more challenging.

It was a cold and rainy day, with a blustery wind, but John and Jamie went out for a Spanish onion at Sobey's in order to make proper bagels with cream cheese and gravlax. We had breakfast of said proper bagels with Rika, and Gary and Ayami came to entertain Jamie who had just woken up after falling asleep on his walk with his Papa. Jamie's legs are getting very strong, and he doesn't like to sit if he can be held up. Gary obliged him, and helped him to "walk" over to John. Jamie, of course, loved it and I forsee many back-breaking days as my son refuses to crawl and insists on "walking." Gary will have to pay, if this happens.

John had a lot of work to do [John: tax time, ugh], so Jamie and I headed out the door, blustery day and all, for the requisite afternoon walk. Actually, we headed out because Jamie insisted that it was time and that it was the only way that he was going to fall asleep. We met up with Michelle, who was having a craving for caffeine, and walked together to the Danforth. We had a lovely time until Jamie woke up, and then it was hell-bent-for-leather back to Michelle's, where Jamie could nurse. We ended up spending the rest of the day with Michelle and family, who took a crying, teething baby from me when I needed it. He was feeling much better by the end of the evening (still no break in the gum, although I can see two front teeth when he sips from a glass and puts pressure on the gum), and is now sleeping peacefully beside me. His little face still has a luminescence when he sleeps that is beautiful to see.

2004-04-26 24:15 Kristen and Michelle took Jamie shopping at the Eaton Centre in the morning, so it was afternoon before I saw him! Ken tried taking Jamie for his afternoon walk in the light stroller that Jamie had gone shopping in, but had to give up after half an hour. Jamie's teeth were bothering him again (I can see two white bumps on the front of his lower gums), and when they do he's a stickler for routine. So I took him out for a walk in the Right Stroller and got him to sleep for half an hour. When he woke up, Kristen took him back out for a longer nap and walk, which got us close to dinnertime.

My mom and I walked (my feet are aching just recalling this) Kristen back from the Danforth where her walk had stopped (because Jamie had fallen asleep), and after Jamie watched our neighbours Alexandria, Ben and Sam play out front for a while, we were saved from having to decide what to dinner by a call from the Dinner Fairy. (We really ought to think of a better name for Tom than that.)

I'm thinking we need to move Jamie's bathtime up half an hour from its current 10:30 to 10:00. At the end of an admittedly long day, he fell asleep in the bath, then startled himself awake by turning his ear into the water, and didn't have the inclination to play with a dejected Mr. Windup Fish.

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

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