Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 0 No. 93

2005-08-16 23:00 (John) Mio looked after Jamie in the morning, taking him out for a walk around the block chasing after the recycling truck. Every Monday night Jamie excitedly helps me put the trash out, then peers hopefully down the street for the truck. I explain to him that the truck is sleeping, which he understands. He says in Japanese "ねんね" and signs by clasping his hands beside his tilted head. So this morning when I heard the truck come by a little later than usual, we ran out to watch them repeatedly load the truck and compact its contents.

He likes the bath fish I bought for him in Albany, which are fun for squirting water into cups in imitation of urination. Today, he decided that the big one must be the mommy to the two smaller ones. In the bath, he also likes playing with the plug, unplugging and replugging the drain, and seeing what shapes he can make with the chain.

He nursed after the bath as usual, but this is the third day in a row that he hasn't nursed during the day, and Kristen is both happy and wistful. The gastrocolic reflex set in though, and after a diaper change and a hopeful but ultimately unproductive sit on the potty Kristen took Jamie back to bed where he fell asleep without further nursing. He understands now that sometimes it's time to sleep, and that to some extent whether or not he does so is under his control.

Somehow Jamie has ended up with the good bits from my personality and Kristen's. Not sure how we managed that, and hoping that if we are blessed with a second child s/he won't be the opposite!

(Kristen) I took Jamie to Treasure Island so that he could play with the train set there, and had a long conversation with another mother who is raising her son bilingual in Japanese and English. Apparently there is a Saturday school for school-aged children that teaches them Japanese writing and reading, which sounds very good for Jamie later on. While I was watching Jamie play quietly, one of the staff came up to me and said (WARNING! Blatant mother boasting ahead! Skip to next paragraph if you wish to avoid) "We have hundreds of kids come in here, and I have to say that your son is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. He's so quiet and peaceful!" (Jamie was quietly, with his usual focus, driving trains around and around the track). I was, as you can tell, surprised and utterly delighted. I know that Jamie is beautiful: he is my son, and therefore the most beautiful child in the world. However, it is another thing to be told this: I am so used to seeing Jamie with Mom-o-Vision that I don't really have any objective way to look at him. However, I think that much of his beauty is because he is such a joyful, loving little boy.

I had coffee with our friend Bronwyn while Jamie slept this afternoon, and she said that he has a very strong and defined personality, which she could see within fifteen minutes of his waking up. He knows what he wants, and he is very direct about it. It breaks my heart the one or two times that I have had to say 'no' to Jamie in the face of a direct "please"--usually he doesn't ask for anything that it isn't reasonable to provide, and he is generally surrounded by people who indulge him and look out for his welfare. It's a pretty good world, really, and that is the way that it should be. Mio and Taka dropped by in the evening and spontaneously took him for a walk down to the Danforth and back. Jamie tripped and hit his head at one point, and they both applied ice and bought him a little beanie baby to cheer him up. John thinks that Jamie was more surprised than hurt, but they were very concerned and took excellent care of him.

2005-08-17 22:42 (Kristen) We spent the day packing for our trip to Reno (packing always seems to take longer with a child--gone are the days of packing in an hour or less), and Mio stayed the day to look after Jamie. In the morning, she came with her boyfriend Taka, to whom Jamie has taken a real shine. They went out to get milk for John and to run Jamie around, and tell me that Jamie had fun chasing pigeons with a little girl at the Big Carrot, and walked a good part of the way (Jamie will encourage anyone to carry him, as though he doesn't have functioning legs). Jamie can pronounce Taka's name easily, and was crowing out "Taka! Taka!" a great deal, according to Mio.

Mio and Taka went home for lunch, Jamie ate, and then Mio came back alone to take Jamie for his walk. I had to go out for an errand, but I am told that he slept for an hour and a half. Whatever Mio did to him today was the right stuff, because he was exhausted by 6:00. He ate some watermelon, and demanded that I take him to watch the streetcars rather than go to Tai Tai's for dinner. We went to watch densha, where he played with a pug puppy named Penelope, who enjoyed licking the watermelon residue off of Jamie's hands while he screamed in delight. Her licks tickle, apparently, and Jamie would scream with laughter, run away, and come right back for more licks. When Penelope and her human went their way, we looked at streetcars some more, but Jamie was dissatisfied, wanting to ride a streetcar or (better yet) the subway. He cried his heart out when I took him away, but he was starved.

He stopped crying by the time we got to Tai Tai and Ho Ho's, and devoured asparagus, mapo tofu, chicken, and some eggplant, all washed down with grape juice. He was still very fragile, however, and we took him home. We had him bathed and ready for bed by nine, and he was asleep by 9:20. A very unusual time for him, but utterly necessary. It's going to be a long day tomorrow, and at least one of us had better get some sleep.

2005-08-18 22:43 (Kristen) We woke up this morning around 8:30 and started getting ready to go to the airport. Mio, Taka, John's mom, Gary, and Ayami all kept Jamie busy and happy while John and I flew around the house, making sure everything was packed and that the house was clean for the burglars, as my mom used to say. The ride to the airport was uneventful, and we breezed through customs. The baggage check lineup was long, and so Jamie and I ran around the airport, charming flight personnel and burning off a little energy.

The first leg of our flight took us to Denver, and Jamie fell asleep soon after takeoff. He slept for about two hours, and then woke up to colour and watch a DVD. We landed in Denver, and he was delighted to have the chance to run around. He loved the train that takes passengers between terminals, and made John take him on it again a little later. He mostly contented himself with going up and down the escalators. He ate ice cream, and loved the moving sidewalks. Our flight from Denver to Reno was delayed slightly because of inclement weather, but to Jamie that meant more time to look at the construction vehicles on the ground at the airport. We finally took off, and Jamie watched Lilo and Stitch between bouts of colouring and pulling the window blinds up and down in a version of "inai inai ba!" All in all, he was a very good boy given a trying day.

We landed at Reno, and met up with John's boss John, and shared a limo to the hotel. The limo was a real stretch limo, which Jamie thought was delightful. We have a large suite that we are sharing with my sister Jennifer, who arrived not that long after we did. Jamie played around, and ate much of the noodle salad that John found (along with a green and a taco salad) for dinner. Then we walked around the hotel, saw a bit of a concert, marvelled at the large, full, desert moon, and Jamie fell asleep at 9:00 Reno time, or 12:00 PM local Toronto time. We're all pretty bagged, and Jamie is asleep right now in a large crib pushed up against the bed. We'll see how that flies tonight, but for now, he sleeps deeply.

2005-08-19 24:13 (Kristen) We slept in until 7:30 or so, which wasn't bad, considering that was more like 10:30 Toronto time. Jamie was happy to be here, and very soon after waking went ot his aunt's room and banged on the door. She was happy to see him, if somewhat surprised, and we all started our day together.

Our big experience was Tumble Town, an indoor play area for small children in the basement of the hotel. It's like Cosmic Adventures in Ottawa, which is an enormous indoor playground with multiple levels connected by tunnels: much like a Habitrail for toddlers. Jamie enjoyed it immensely, and at $5/day, it is a steal at twice the price. All in all, he spent over three hours there, running his legs off. He can manage almost all of the obstacles, although he started to stumble when he got hungry.

John went grocery shopping, and came back with fruit, drinks, snacks, and other items. We ate out for dinner at a pan-Asian place, and Jamie liked it. He ran about so much that he was utterly exhausted by 8:00, and was fast asleep at 8:30. As of writing, he hasn't woken up once. Wow!

Auntie Jennifer has been having some great bonding time with our boy. Through habitrails and naps, they have discussed trucks in great detail and played with balls, trains, and books. They are becoming fast friends, and we are very very lucky to have her here with us. Tomorrow we start the tournament proper, and so please wish us all luck.

2005-08-20 24:13 (Kristen) Jamie slept for eleven hours last night, after Auntie Jenny ran him around and around Tumble Town yesterday. He is having a great time with her: he calls her "Auntie," and she is having a great time with him too.

This morning's awakening was a little rude, as I think that Jamie was quite hungry and thirsty upon awakening. He tore into an apple and banana that I gave him in our room, and did some damage to a large buffet breakfast that Jennifer took him to after John and I went to the tournament room. John came back at one point to find him covered in watermelon: he has a shirt or two soaking in the sink, as we try to get all the food out of them. Then it was oof to be Mayor of Tumble Town for the morning, where he played with a few other little boys, says Jen. He was a little trepidatious at first, but was soon joining in with great glee. He also had fun jumping in the bouncy area (air-filled bags that act like a moon room).

When we saw Jamie again, it was at lunch, around 1:15, and he was fast asleep again. He had fallen asleep at 12:15, and was being a very good boy for his auntie. We took him so that Jen could have a break, and he (of course) woke up. It was another hard waking, and Jamie was consoled only by escalators and his dad. Oh: and cake, which was provided by Sherrie. Eventually, Jennifer came back and took Jamie for another round of Tumble Town.

In the evening, Jennifer, Jamie, and I went to the grand reception for the tournament, John having elected to stay behind and rest. Jamie ran around the great ballroom with great glee, playing with Lisa Kessler, Simon Koenig (who is 2 1/2) and a little baby named Roman. He was particularly cute playing with Simon, as they sang nursery rhymes, chatted about the sounds that animals make, and gave each other toddler hugs between teaching the other how to make different faces and sounds. Jamie turned into a pumpkin at 9:00 on the dot, and we brought him back for a bath, a change, a nurse, and bed.

2005-08-21 23:28 (Kristen) Somehow, Jamie made it into bed with us last night without my waking up. This is remarkable because he is sleeping in a large, steel-framed crib that he shouldn't be able to crawl out of. Either he learned to climb out and into bed with us without a peep, or I got him out by kneeling and lifting him out without waking up. Either way, it's (suffice it to say) thought-provoking.

It was another day with Jamie and Auntie Jen, as they continued to rule Tumble Town and get to know each other well. I will have to ask Jen to elaborate a little, but I do know that Jamie slept for two hours and a half for his nap. We met up again at dinner, and Jamie seems to have had fun playing with Simon Koenig again. He was holding a toy schoolbus, which he apparently took a shine to in the store. Jen says that he didn't ask for it, but she couldn't resist buying it for him anyway. It's hard not shop for Jamie, and he is delighted with the newest addition to his fleet.

He was too tired to sit for long at dinner, but walking him around the hotel is difficult because when he's tired, he wants to look at the slot machines. He's not allowed in the casino (by state law), so it is not a happy situation--not that i want him looking at slot machines anyway. Jen and I brought him upstairs while John attended some meetings, and we all had fun watching a little TV and colouring a lot. We talked about trains, and colours, until it was time for bed. He was in bed and asleep by 9:20, which was good. His dad is now taking pictures of him, so you can see how sweet he is asleep.

2005-08-22 24:00 (Kristen) Jamie had a rough night last night, possibly because of his teeth (there was much drool today). Consequently, we were all feeling a little fuzzy this morning and slept in an extra half hour. Jamie wasn't so sure that he wanted me to go, and protested, but was happy playing with his aunt very quickly.

When I came out of the playing room to find them at lunch, I was surprised to see a wide-awake Jamie. I was even more surprised to find that he had not yet slept, even though it was after 1:20. Jamie had been grazing, but was happy to be offered "cake" (any sweet pastry with whipped cream, especially, is "cake") after eating some tomatoes and melon at the lunch table with me and John. He was more interested in playing, and was quite frenetic and tired. After a few trips up and down the escalator, I tried to get him to go to sleep in the stroller but failed. Finally, it was 2:30, Auntie Jen was on the job again, and she says that he fell asleep (finally) around 3:00.

He slept for two hours, and then Jen woke him up rather than have him keep sleeping and be up until midnight. He was overjoyed to see me, and gave me an impulsive kiss and hug. We found John, who let him sit on his lap while he played a quick game of Scrabble with young player Andre Ornish. Jamie was a help to his dad by putting the tiles where John directed him to, naming each as they did so. It was killer cute.

We finally left for dinner, ahead of John who had work to do, but Jamie was not ready to deal with a restaurant, let alone one with a lineup. Instead, we took a very hungry boy back to the room for some fruit, bread, and butter, which he devoured. Feeling better, we ventured out again for dinner, which went moderately well. He ate some soup and tofu, but we decided to take our entrees back to the room to eat, as Jamie was reaching the end of a short tether. Then it was into the bath with a tired boy, and he was asleep soon afterwards. He's made it to Reno time, but I'm thinking of trying to bring him back to somewhere around Kansas/Manitoba tomorrow, in preparation for going home later this week.

He's stirred twice so far, but was lulled back to sleep by my talking to him. I'll keep my fingers crossed for a decent night's sleep: I'm really tired too!

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

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