Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 0 No. 97

2005-09-13 22:40 (Kristen) We noticed yesterday morning that Jamie had a cluster of mosquito bites on his left ankle and the top of that foot, and that the bites had blistered and started to weep and crust over by the evening. They weren't much better this morning, and so we made a doctor's appointment first thing for Jamie to get them looked at. He was (unusually for him) complaining that they were "itai-itai*" (pain/hurt), and he wasn't scratching them with his nails. He would rub the area with the palm of his hand, or hit the bites, again with his palm. The doctor says that they're a strong reaction to bites, but that some polysporin and a mild (0.2%) hydrocortisone cream will take care of them. He should grow out of this, the doctor says, and I sure hope so. It's nerve-wracking watching his bites, hoping that they don't get infected each time and hating the fact that they make Jamie uncomfortable. [John: Jamie is now 86 cm (2'10") and 13 kg (28 lbs. 10 oz., or just over two stone).]

The most immediate effect of the bites was that Jamie wasn't allowed to wear sandals or shoes. The bites would be aggravated by a shoe or socks, and are arranged for maximum inconvenience exactly where the strap of his sandal would go. He stayed inside for most of today except for his walk with Ken, and was a little perturbed by the sores and (perhaps) by the attention paid to themas well as the fact that he couldn't wear shoes and go out to play. It was hot, so it wasn't as though we lost a perfect day, but it was still hard on him. Instead he played with trains, watched some Totoro and some Thomas the Tank Engine in Japanese, coloured with Mio, and had a reasonably good time with me in the afternoon.

He was particularly sunny today, and gifted me with many hugs and kisses. He tucks his head into the crook of my shoulder and neck, which is a feeling that I never want to forget. He had a very good time on the trip, and was still willing to talk about Jane and Mitzi, and the rabbit. He also is having a hilarious time mixing up people's names on purpose: pointing to me and saying "Papa?" and to himself and saying "Mummy?" It is pretty funny. His speech is continuing to develop in leaps and bounds, and he is good at the two word sentence: the first word, unfortunately, almost always being "no." "Do you want some peach, Jamie?" "No peach." "Do you want to watch Thomas?" "No Thomas." You get the drift.

Tonight we were over at John's parents' place for dinner, and he was very hungry. I swear he ate three pieces of fish all by himself, and had room for a whole ear of corn, some spinach, and a bit of salad, which means the cherry tomatoes and peach pieces, and rejecting the lettuce. John's mom started to read a book to him in Japanese, and Jamie was interested in some of the characters if not in the narrative. The narrative may be something that he is more interested in in about six months or so. We stopped off at Browning on the way home, and visited with Ross and Daniel. Jamie was a little wobbly by then, and was pretty tired when it was time for the bath. However, he did brush his own teeth and was enthusiastic, if ineffective, at flossing. I took him to bed to wait for John, who was getting out of the bath, when he fell asleep in less than ten seconds lying on my chest. He was a very tired little boy, although he is sleeping shallowly tonight and we hope that his "itai-itai*" and teeth don't keep him up.

2005-09-14 22:26 (Kristen) Around 5 AM, Jamie woke up and couldn't be consoled back to sleep. After a drink and much demand for a nurse, we figured that it was his teeth, as he wasn't very awake, but his crying was full volume. We gave him some medicine (he hadn't had any at bedtime), and he eventually settled down around 6:30. John, unfortunately, was unable to go back to sleep, but Jamie and I stayed in bed until 8:40. Jamie was in a strange mood, which I chalked up at first to ranginess due to his feet still not being in good enough shape to wear shoes. He was into everything, making big messes (unlike him), and looking at me with that "I dare you" grin when I told him not to do things. It took 45 minutes to get some lunch into him, and most of it was honeydew melon. A lot of melon got thrown on the floor, and a lot of it got picked up by him as that was not on. He hasn't done that in a while, however, and I was wondering what got into him. Perhaps it was a combination of lack of exercise, his teeth (his shirt front was soaked by the end of the day), and a disturbed night's sleep.

When I took him for a walk this afternoon, around 1:30, he fell asleep within a block and a half of home, so he was pretty tired. He slept for almost three hours, during which we were stuck at the Second Cup while the heavens opened up on us. I put the plastic shield on the stroller, but Jamie woke up every time I tried to put it down over his feet. I managed to rock him back to sleep each time, but still I ended up waiting until the cloudburst passed before heading for home. We watched a little Totoro after he woke up, and before we went to Tai Tai's for dinner. He was hilarous when he was eating the honeydew, as he would ask for "more melon," but managed to insert a large number of extra 'l's into the middle of 'melon,' which was sweet and very funny. He ate very well at John's parents' place, but was starting to act rangy again. John was heading up to the Scrabble club by himself, and rather than have the two of us staring at each other all night when he was in that sort of mood, I took him to Browning to burn off a little energy. It worked, and both Daniel and Ross both played with him for a while in the basement. We were invited to share pizza with them, and Jamie shocked us all by having three pieces. Mind you, the first piece was rather small, but he hoovered the sauce, cheese, and pepperoni off the pizza pieces like his life depended on it. He even ate the full crust of the first piece. He played with Tom and watched a little Duck Dodgers with Ross, and then it was time for home, a bath, and bed.

Everything worked well without John except when it was time to go to bed. He lay down after we read two books together, and every thirty seconds would ask where John was. It was fortunate that John came in soon after, or Jamie would likely have started to get impatient that his dad wasn't there for bedtime. They're watching a little pre-bedtime Totoro right now, and I'm about to go in for the final turning out of the lights. I hear Jamie's little voice piping up and talking, and he was doing a seated version of the toddler dance when I left to the theme music. It's very cute.

2005-09-15 22:07 (Kristen) Jamie's feet were healed enough that he could wear his sandals today. We sent him out into the world around 10:00, and he was so happy to be out on his own two feet that he ran most of the way to the park. When he realised where we were going, he said "koen*?"('park' in Japanese). When we said yes, he said in his little voice, "Okay," giving his seal of approval to the outing. He played there for an hour with Mio, before coming back home. Lunch was at Browning, and he was pretty tired by the time we put him in his stroller for his walk with Ken. He slept for two hours, played until 4:00 at the park again with John, and came home to watch some Teletubbies with me. It took me a while to figure out what he wanted to watch, until I finally realized (when he picked up the video box) that he was asking for "Po," the littlest Teletubby. He ate a lot of melon, made me laugh again with his request and description of "melon" ("meloeloeloelon), and hung out with me.

We went back to Browning for dinner, and Jamie had fun again playing with Ross, Gary, and Daniel. I was feeling shredded, as Jamie had woken up twice last night, and ended up getting up quite early (around 7:00, although we stayed in bed until about 8:20). John was also feeling rather beat, so we were glad to have the chance for other people to run our son ragged. We came home, got him ready for bed, and he is currently in the bath with his dad. They are about to get out, and it is time for me to go and help them.

2005-09-16 22:29 (Kristen) It was a rainy, wet day with little let up today, and so most of it was spent indoors. Jamie did sleep for three hours and fifteen minutes for his nap, which isn't unusual on a day like today, and was absolutely rangy afterwards. I wasn't too perky myself, so it is possible that he was trying to get me to interact, but my patience (not considerable at the best of times) was definitely fraying near the end. Good thing that John's supply for Jamie never runs out.

One of Jamie's favourite games is to jump up onto my back and call himself my "backpack." He laughs in glee every time, and loves it when I stand up and walk him around the room. He also likes it when I pick him up from hehind me and put him on my back, and when I bounce him up higher onto my back. He says in his little piping voice "backpack? backpack?" Very funny, if somewhat rough on the parent involved. I have introduced him to "scampering" up the stairs; when I was little, I would run up the stairs by slapping the step ahead of me with my hands. I did this until I was at least ten; I didn't even think of why I did it as I raced up the stairs at breakneck speed. Now I realize that my parents must have told me to do it, so that I wouldn't fall backwards down the stairs when I was very young. Now Jamie and I "scamper" up the stairs together, and I've taken to calling it the "wooden hill," the way that my dad always used to from the time I wasn't much older than Jamie. He enjoys it, and likes the sound of his hands slapping the steps, just as I did.

2005-09-17 16:45 (John) I'm on a bland diet, by Jamie's choice. Every morning we have Raisin Bran with organic milk and frozen wild blueberries. Every morning Jamie starts by eating all the raisins, dipping them in milk to soften them up a bit and remove excess sugar. Then he eats all the blueberries, then drinks a fair amount of the milk. Along the way, he accidentally ingests a reasonable quantity of bran flakes. What's left for me at the end though is nothing but bran mush. Yum.

At the St. Lawrence Market today, he wouldn't let me order my usual pesto and mushroom pizza, no. We had to get a black olive, onion and cherry tomato pizza. First he ate all the olives, then the tomatoes, then the onions, then the cheese, and cheerfully handed me a denuded, soggy piece of crust.

His use of social language continues to improve. Yesterday he said "Oide!" ("Come here!) and gestured Japanese=style for me to come to him, having observed me doing so countless times with him. This morning, he answered Mom's "Love you!" as we were leaving for the market with a passable imitation. I don't think he has an abstract understanding of what either one means, but knows that they are phrases that need to be said on specific occasions, and is happy to use them.

2005-09-17 23:09 (Kristen) I think that when Jamie woke up this afternoon, he was startled out of a sound sleep: he sat bolt upright in his stroller, and didn't go back to sleep. Instead, he wanted to be held, and we ended up walking home from the Second Cup with him in my arms, his little arms wrapped around my neck except when he wanted to ridge-walk on some beam or bit of masonry. We walked home *very* slowly that way, until we ran into Gary and Ayami on the way home. We walked back to the Danforth with them, and Jamie and John stopped off at the park to go "whee" for a little while while I continued on to the Big Carrot for some raisins for John. On the way back, Jamie ran to me when I called out to him, gleefully exclaiming "ice geen! ice geen!" John said that he had told Jamie that he could have some ice cream when I got back from the Big Carrot, and as ice cream is his Very Favourite Food (amongst a short list of favourites), we all walked (Gary was with us) to Dairy Queen. Jamie demolished my sundae, grabbing the spoon at one point when I was too slow with delivering the ice cream to his mouth. I got a bit of it, but not much.

Dinner was at Browning, and Jamie ate like a pig (what a shock). He had fun playing with Ross and Daniel, and it was a good evening. Jamie liked the full moon, pouring water into his own cup and drinking it while brushing his teeth, and playing with his plastic fish in the bath. As I was getting ready for my own shower, John called me back into the bedroom: he had been lying on his back on the bed, and put his feet up against the wall. Jamie then gleefully flung himself onto John's legs, stretching out in full as John took his full weight on his legs, and taking Jamie's feet in his stomach. Oof! The really funny part was that Jamie cried out "densha!" as he leapt, obviously deciding that John's two legs together were a satisfactory train track. His imagination is pretty strong: he was using a simple cheese cutter earlier in the evening to gently scrape along the top of a drawer and pretend that he was cutting and then eating cheese.

I should also add that when I squeeze Jamie's shoulders in a certain way, it makes him laugh his true laugh, which is all bubbly and hilarious. I must remember to do that when I am feeling low, as it always makes me feel so much better whenever I hear it.

2005-09-18 24:20 (John) Kristen, Jamie and I spent a pleasant Sunday together. Jamie had two breakfasts and two lunches, belonging to each of his parents. Blueberries and melons, orange juice, raisin bran with more blueberries and milk, beans and eggs on toast, leftover chicken Stroganoff. After a much-needed diaper change, he set off excitedly with us in the stroller to go to the subway station in the early afternoon, and I felt only slightly guilty that he fell asleep halfway there.

He slept through shopping for new sheets and new toys, and woke up a little disoriented more or less at the point on Broadview Avenue where he had fallen asleep, wondering how we had gotten turned around. He was happy to get home though, as our neighbours were holding an impromptu garden party and he spent a happy two hours running, snacking, riding horseback on Daddy, etc.

Dinner at Pearls, then to bed on time. It's taken me a long time to enter this as Jamie sat up in his sleep, pleaded "Papa!" and snuggled into my right armpit, so this was all typed left-handed.

2005-09-19 23:14 (Kristen) Jamie's working on those back teeth again; rivers of drool, and it's hard to keep him in dry shirts. Poor guy. He wanted to watch tv today and not much else: even the Thomas the Tank Engine caboose that we got for him yesterday (he loves the caboose) didn't keep him occupied for long.

He slept for over three hours this afternoon, I suppose to make up, in part, for the fact that he was up early again today. He's sleeping almost two hours less a night than he was pre-weaning. I am adjusting badly to Jamie's new hours, and need to take long naps in the afternoon too. Instead, I drink coffee. Maybe not the best way to adjust. I did say that I was adjusting badly, didn't I?

Jamie is expressing his preferences more strongly. This afternoon, after his nap, I asked him what he wanted for a snack. Did he want a peach? No peach. Did he want some chicken? No chicken. Did he want some toast? A long pause, then a little "okay." So I made him toast and honey, and cut it into four pieces. He ate it with a fork (perhaps thinking that it was like french toast), and then consented to eat some macaroni and cheese. (Mom! I need your mac and cheese recipe! Really!) He liked it very much, saying "Cheese! Cheese!" every thirty seconds or so. I added some havarti and some chicken to it, and voila! A meal. It was close to five when he finished eating, so he ate mostly vegetables for dinner, which was close to eight.

At Browning tonight, he played with Gary, Ayami, Ross, and Daniel to burn off some energy. He also vacuumed Tom and Michelle's kitchen after he found their central vac. He held it properly after I showed him how, and happily cleaned the floor. This is the sort of thing we will never be able to get him to do in a few years. While Jamie is deeply interested in cleanliness and order, it is hard to get him to pick up his toys. It has to be a spontaneous expression of a desire for order...

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

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