Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 0 No. 35

2004-07-06 24:10 (Kristen) We're home, safely and soundly. The car ride was uneventful, and Jamie was pretty good for a child who had been away from home for five days. I am very glad that we took The Breeze back to Toronto, rather than driving back around the lake: I'm not sure that his good mood would have lasted long enough for us to get home.

Jamie was very happy to be home, and has been enjoying visiting all the familiar parts of his house and neighbourhood. We went to eat some dinner at Tom and Michelle's (did I mention how much we appreciate our support network? We really really do), and Jamie once again was the Death of Asparagus. He's successfully ingesting more and more of it, as he gets the hang of what to do with the bits that he has shredded. We then walked to Timothy's (a local coffee shop) with Michelle and back, and Jamie slept on my shoulder for a bit after expressing pleasure at seeing familiar sights (and a lot of dogs).

I gave Jamie his bath tonight, as John was quite tuckered out (and rightfully so), and as I passed him back to his dad after the soak, noticed the slight scent of asparagus. I think that this is proof that my son does pee in the bath sometimes (one part baby pee, three thousand parts bath water, whatever), as he is one of those people whose urine acquires a certain scent after eating asparagus (this is not everyone) and I am one of the people able to smell it. John is fascinated by this expression of genetics.

2004-07-07 23:15 (Kristen) Our friend, Leslie Ambedian, has written to say that the genetic part is being able to smell the asparagus: that everyone smells of it, but only certain people can do the smelling. Lucky me!

Jamie and I got up around 9:30, had breakfast, and headed out to do some errands. We wandered around for a bit, and then came home to check on John, who was still resting after the long trip. Jamie refused to nurse to sleep this afternoon, and instead fell asleep almost instantly in his stroller: what a guy. He also slept in his stroller after I sang him to sleep, which was fun. I didn't see myself singing in public quite like this.

We went with John by taxi to his doctor's appointment, and over to John's parents' place for dinner. We then went to visit Tom, Michelle, Daniel and Ross while John went home and had a rest. He really enjoys watching the other children, and finds them much, much better than television.

(John) Hmm. Leslie Ambedian arguing on the one side, and Cecil Adams on the other. I don't know who to believe!

2004-07-08 23:15 (John) I'm feeling a little better as the antibiotics kick in, but Kristen is feeling a lot worse. Jamie's fine as long as we're all together and one little happy family, which I suppose is the right perspective to take. He peed in the bathtub again tonight, but without having eaten asparagus, and without another person in the tub with him (I was holding him from outside the tub). I lavished praise on him for his technique and consideration.

2004-07-09 23:15 (John) I'm feeling almost human, Kristen had to go to the doctor this morning, is on antibiotics and should feel better tomorrow. We all went to the doctor together, and Jamie amused himself (and everyone) by thoroughly exploring the doctor's office. He had a lot to eat, including the usual weird mixed porridge at dinner at Pearls, with a side of asparagus to gnaw on (I think he managed to swallow about half a stalk, in pieces), and a few tiny pieces of fish (which he loves).

2004-07-10 24:15 (John) We're all feeling exhausted but no longer really sick (yay). Jamie is enjoying refamiliarizing himself with the neighbourhood after last week's absence, and is even more insistent than usual about certain rituals, such as not falling asleep unless he's in bed. He's eating well, and remarkably pleased with himself. I think the two are connected: at dinner with my parents, he would take a bite, then look each of us in the eye in turn, grin broadly, go "ooh-ooh" and bob his head like a happy little pigeon.

2004-07-11 24:13 (Kristen) Jamie is definitely Mummy and Daddy centred right now, and he really thinks that John is all six of the bee's knees. Whenever John comes into the room, Jamie wants to go to see him, and woe betide everyone if Papa doesn't pick up his boy. He has a very strong idea of what he wants, and who he wants to see. We spent the day interviewing possible tenants, and perversely, Jamie spent the day not wanting to fall asleep in bed. He grudgingly fell asleep in his stroller, and once (with effort) in bed, but was otherwise unwilling. To make it up to me, however, he fell asleep on my shoulder in Michelle's kitchen tonight, as we danced slowly to the music Michelle was playing on her laptop. Those are the moments that I hoped for when I thought about having children.

(John) On one of the walks we took, I carried Jamie along the shady south side of Browning Avenue, which in the past had meant avoiding the often lengthy if pleasant delay stopping in at Daniel's house. No more. Jamie can recognize Daniel's house from across the street, which means that not only is his distance vision fine, but his sense of geography extends a good distance past our house to include Daniel's. When we reached a point across the street from Daniel's house, Jamie lurched to the right in my arms. When I took the hint and started to cross the street, he kicked with delight. When I approached the house and started to climb the porch steps, he started doing the happy pigeon dance, complete with "ooh-ooh"s. Once inside, he spent a blissful fifteen minutes playing with the magnetic letters on the easel, before we moved on.

2004-07-12 23:07 (Kristen) We were pretty sleepy today, as Jamie and I took a two-hour nap together from 11 until 1 this afternoon. He gets up regularly around 9:30 every morning, but spends the time between 6 AM and then being quite restless, so I imagine that he had some sleep to catch up on (and, apparently, so did I) today.

He has been fascinated today by his ability to lay his head on a table or other flat place, and rest it there. He also was entranced by being able to flop his head back and stare upwards. It is almost like he discovered "up" and "sky" today and was entirely taken with them, and he "ooh-ed" about it in a gentle and awestruck way.

(John) My theory is that he's developed finer control of his neck muscles, and is using it to explore the concept of looking at things without twisting his whole body around to point at them.

He's continuing to build on his sense of geography. At my parents' house, he repeatedly insisted on walking to specific places in the house so that he could engage in place-specific activities (play with blocks, play with bathroom faucet, play with oven controls, eat at table, etc.). We tried putting him on my old booster seat at the dinner table, but he expressed a strong preference for a parental lap, despite the fact that he could flop his head on the edge of the dining table much more comfortably with the extra height. He dined fairly well on soba, lemon sole, tofu, string beans and bananas.

The heat rash that he had on his shoulder yesterday is much improved today, despite the warmer weather. He's still got a raw spot under one arm that is of mild concern to me. We're making sure he stays cool.

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

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