Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 0 No. 60

2004-12-28 23:32 (Kristen) John's friend Justin came over last night and spent the night at our house. Jamie wasn't quite sure what to make of Justin this morning, but got over it quickly enough. He wasn't eating much today: he would eat a little, and then demand to get down or do other things. We are wondering if it is his teeth again, or just one of his off days. He was busy and happy otherwise, once he managed to get people to do what he wanted. He's king!

He went with us over to Browning for lunch, and slept only for about an hour and a half before he was wide awake. He was a little clingy today: he wanted my attention more than usual, and wasn't interested in letting me work when we were in the same room. Not usual behaviour for him, and I think again that it's indicative of teething. That and the drool.

It was back over to Browning for dinner, and Jamie had fun playing with whoever he could drag down into the basement for lego and other play. He likes to be tickled, and laughs and laughs when I do. He also loves the "Big Hug" game, where he stands on the other side of the room, and I throw my arms open wide and say "Big hug!" He then runs into my arms for a big hug, and runs across the room again for the next round. It's a wonderful game. Gary says that Jamie will do the same thing with him, and it is true that Jamie loves Gary. He was looking for him at dinner tonight, while making a sound that came quite close to Gary's name. I've told Gary that he and Ayami are not allowed to move. Ever.

2004-12-29 21:59 (Kristen) It was a slow day: we all worked on our various projects, and didn't seem to do much. John and Jamie went out for a walk around 2:00 so that Jamie could have his nap, and they had a pleasant time napping and eating/drinking tea, respectively, at Schillings. Jamie didn't stay asleep when he got back home, however, and he was up with a yell after only an hour and a little bit--a far cry from his three-hour marathons. He played in the living room while John worked on his laptop, and while I worked on an editing project. Gary came up and played with him and the train set for a bit, during which I observed that Jamie will laugh uproariously, and cover either his face or his mouth with his hands while he does. He laughed a lot tonight when I put a plastic cup in my mouth and pretended it was a nose, and he has a little hitch/wheeze in his laugh that is very funny. Right now, he is in the bath and sucking water out of a washcloth. John says that he sounds like Darth Vader.

(John) Jamie is learning more about walking. Today he figured out that if he steps backward, he can sometimes avoid a pratfall. He practised that for a while, gathering a collection of bruises in odd places such as his ear. He also took me out for two walks looking for Daniel (who was out all day with his aunt Kelly), and is working on walking in snow. It took him a few weeks to decide that snow was of the category of things on which one can walk, but he's not sure about slush yet. As we've got a combination of slush and wet snow with a crusty layer of ice outside now, it's challenging for him physically and mentally.

2004-12-30 25:01 (Kristen) As entertaining as the Teletubbies are, a growing baby needs more in his life. Today, after two relatively quiet days at home, I figured out that Jamie was bored. He needs to get out of the house for a walk or a stroll at least once a day while he is awake (walks while sleeping don't count). He is capable of entertaining himself, and of being entertained, but he really needs people to stimulate him. Gary helped, and so did Ayami, but Jamie really came alive when we took him to Andy and Christine's for a gaming party tonight. He was laughing, giggling, and animated the whole time, even when he was dead tired. He played with a large number of people, who were happy to play with him or at least indulge him, ate sugarplums and Doritos, and ran up and down hallways looking into rooms, and seeing who looked interesting and who might give him something interesting to eat.

He had a few nurses, and fell and bit his tongue badly at one point, but overall he was as social as I've ever seen him. He even let other people carry him and sat in a total stranger's lap for a few minute when he fell there on the way to making a grab for the Doritos. Speaking of the Doritos, he thought it was really funny to eat Doritos, then sneak up behind me while I was seated on the floor and wipe his face off on my shirt. My white shirt. Ha ha. On the way home, we listened to the radio to keep him awake while we drove through the rainy night. He was smiling as sweetly as I have ever seen, and sang along to "Layla" by Derek and the Dominoes: one of my favourite songs of all time. It was a lovely moment for me, and proof that he was indeed blood of my blood. He's teething, and a lot of work, but boy what a great kid he is. I enjoyed being his mother very much tonight.

(John) Didn't get to spend much time with Jamie today, spending unexpected quality time with my oral surgeon instead.

2004-12-31 23:20 (Kristen) John had to go to the dentist again this morning (many people make appointments to see their dentist, John gets early morning calls from concerned dental professionals asking to see him right away), and so Jamie and I had breakfast on our own. This was the first day in weeks that he did not make a beeline for the television, but instead made a beeline for his trains. I am encouraging this. He ate a variety of items for breakfast before having a little Tubbie hit (asking for them by name for the first time). We set out for a walk to pick up some wine for tomorrow, and he charmed the ladies at the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario, for those of you used to private corner liquor shops). He enjoyed the outing and the lovely, balmy weather, and we chatted back and forth during our walk.

He went shopping with his dad at the St. Lawrence Market, and had about an hour and a half of napping in before he came home. He was feeling pretty chipper, so we walked down to the doctor's office on Broadview at a fair clip, as Jamie wanted to play with the handicapped/automatic door openers there. The office was closed, and so the openers weren't working, but he still enjoyed looking at the buses going up and down Broadview. We walked back to Browning and Broadview, and I thought that he would want to go to Daniel's, but he walked right by. After we got two-thirds of the way down the street, he seemed to remember "oh yeah, Daniel lives on this street, we should go to his house." He walked up the sidewalk to a house that looks more or less like ours (and Daniel's), and I told him clearly that this was not home, and it was not Daniel's. Daniel was not there. He warred between reason and desire, and finally shrugged and walked back to the street. We looped around and came back along Fulton, but he didn't like the sound of water dripping into the drains or the icy sidewalks, and I carried him the rest of the way.

We had an interesting conversation today. I was putting him in his stroller to go out, and he was very impatient and a little crabby. As I bent over to tie my shoes beside the stroller, he reached out and pulled my hair. I yelled, and said "ouch!" and "no!" He stared at me and then smiled. I thought that this wasn't good, and deliberately bent over again. Sure enough, he pulled my hair again. I looked at him and tugged his hair back. He stared, and frowned slightly. I bent over, he did it again, and I tugged his hair again, with a big frown on my face. I bent over the third time, and he waved his hand over my head in the universal "don't touch that, don't do that" sign. Clever boy. I was quite proud of him for getting it so quickly.

He's also very funny when he's playing with his trains. The best part for him is when an object is placed on the track and the train runs through it. When the train does, he puts his hands over his mouth or over his face, and laughingly expresses mock horror. It's very funny.

We went over to Tom and Michelle's for dinner tonight and a little New Year's celebration. Jamie enjoyed seeing all the people, and grabbed many friendly pant legs. Peter Cook made Jamie laugh hysterically just by looking at him. He dragged Tom, me, and John at different times into the basement (which is cold, by the way) to play with cars and other things, and talked Tom into playing the Elmo online game with him. He ate strudel, and had a lovely time. He knew that it was time to go home when I put his shoes on, and was far from ready to go, but he was a tired little boy. I might go back over in time for midnight while John stays with Jamie and prepares for tomorrow. Happy New Year, everyone!

2005-01-01 24:54 (Kristen) New Year's Day is to the Japanese what Christmas is to Canadians, and Thanksgiving to Americans: the day that your family gets together, and eats a lot of food. Japanese New Year has a lot of special foods that are made only for this day, which makes it that much more special because the foods are really yummy. John's aunts Nobuko and Tomoko came over around 11:00, and put out most of the food; the rest, they made here. The table was full, and Jamie enjoyed eating a number of special items, in particular the kuromame* (black beans) and the kobu-kazunoko* (tiny crunchy fish eggs on seaweed). He played with Ian and Amy, who were in town with their parents, Ted and Alice, for New Year's, and went for a walk with them and John after lunch. They all played at the playground, and went to Timothy's for hot chocolate before Jamie finally succumbed to sleep.

Then it was time to transfer him to the car for the trip out to Kitchener, to see John's sisters and their families. As an added treat, John's niece Amanda was there, with her two little girls, Theadora and Mercedes. It was a large, boisterous time, and Jamie played very well with the rest of the kids. He liked the large playroom in the basement at Pauline's house, and particularly liked the little pushcart that he could ride on, and the little slide. He was getting very good at going up and down the slide by the end of the night. He ate lots and lots of food, and received presents from his aunts and their families for Christmas. Kristina and Bill gave him some Fisher- Price vehicles that go with a track system, and the Downey/Hay families gave him a Fisher-Price Little People bus, and a Sponge-Bob Squarepants foam chair. He loves all the things, but looks particularly lordly in his Sponge-Bob chair.

We changed him into his pajamas at Pauline's, and he fell asleep almost instantly in the car. We drove home, and he woke up as soon as John turned the engine off. He wasn't really awake, however, and a quick nurse put him right back to sleep.

2005-01-02 23:30 (John) It was a quiet rainy Sunday at our house, and Jamie seemed to miss the excitement of the last few weeks. He'll take us to the front door and ask ("please?" or "aah!") when he wants to go out, usually with a very specific destination in mind, and today he took us on three walks. He didn't seem to care where we went though, and I have a sad feeling that he misses all of his extended family and was wandering aimlessly trying to find them.

We're still working through holiday leftovers, and Jamie is still hooked on kobu-kazunoko and kuromame*. Maybe when we switch back to normal food, Jamie will get used to the old non-holiday routine.

I think one of Jamie's delighted squeals is actually an imitation of the Teletubbies Sun Baby squealing.

Lastly, Jamie has been drooling up a storm for several days. The big patch of drool on his shirts is visible in some photos, and together with his crankiness when tired and shallowness of sleep is evidence that he's working on a molar.

2005-01-03 23:33 (Kristen) Jamie slept in today, and got up around 10:00 after I gave him a dose of Tempra last night. He needed the sleep. We went downstairs to have breakfast and a little Tubbies before heading out for a walk. He walked beside me, and was determined to go and see if that handicapped door-opening button thingie was working at the doctor's office. He walked half way, and rode the rest. Unfortunately, it seems as though the button is not working (possibly worn out by other children?), and Jamie was accepting of this. We walked over to the Big Carrot for groceries, and then up to Daniel and Ross's place for lunch.

Ken still hasn't received the seal of approval from his surgeon, and so we'll be walking Jamie in the afternoons for a while longer. We miss the babysitting! In the meantime, Jamie had a bit of grilled cheese and some apple for lunch, and wasn't interested in the carrot ginger soup. he did manage to get his foot in Daniel's abandoned bowl of soup when he was being lifted down from his highchair# (note to self: Jamie is longer than you think), necessitating a change of socks. John took him for his walk so that he could fall asleep, but Jamie didn't fall asleep until he had a piece of banana loaf in his hands. John says that it's because he doesn't like to fall asleep without food in his hands (or mouth).

(John) Reading K's entry just now, I understand why Jamie didn't look at all surprised when I took him to try the handicapped button at the clinic, and it still didn't work.

(Kristen) Jamie slept for about three hours, which was helpful, and was in a more fragile mood than usual when he woke up. His delicate state evaporated, however, when we played with his trains (which he loves), and his other new toys. John decided to finally open up the Brio set that we bought Jamie for Christams, and set it up so that it makes one huge track with the Thomas the Tank Engine set. Jamie likes the train that chugs around the track by itself, but considers it slow. He also likes it when Thomas the engine stops at the water tower and has a drink: Jamie lowers the spout when the train arrives, gives the engine a "drink," and then gently pushes the train on, while I voice the train saying "gochisousama!" (or "thank you for the drink!" in Japanese).

After a late dinner, it was time to put Jamie into the bath and off to bed. He brushed his own teeth tonight, which was surprising, since it usually is a long, drawn-out process. It made up for trying to change his diapers today, which felt like trying to clothe a wild, greased weasel. It won't be too soon to toilet train him. When I went to pluck him from the tub, he came right out and made the sign for "milk," which means "nurse." He has gotten very good at asking for a nurse in sign, and is very pleased with himself.

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

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