Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 1 No. 21

2006-02-28 24:20 (John) It's been a very long day. We got up at 4:30 because Mio and Taka were flying home to Japan, via a few days in Chicago. Kristen put Jamie in his snowsuit over his pyjamas and brought him down to the front door still groggy. He blearily complained "Oh no, taiyo!" to me, thinking that the hall light was the sun shining in his eyes, then woke up enough to realize how funny this was and complain about each streetlight that we drove past.

We drove past a doubledecker GO commuter train. He thought that was pretty cool too. At the airport, Jamie and Mio ran around exploring for one last time, while Taka filled out the paperwork and then Taka and I stood in line to check in. Then we had one last round of photos and goodbyes, and they were gone. Jamie took everything remarkably well. It helps a lot that he's been on a lot of plane flights (15?) now and to a lot of airports (8: YYZ CUN DEN RNO LHR FRA STR DTW, I think) and knows what air travel is all about. He wanted to look around Terminal 3 a little after we said goodbye, but was happy to go back to the car and drive home, and fell asleep on the Gardiner Expressway telling me how the view reminded him of Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service as she approached her city for the first time.

I let him sleep in the car for two hours after we got home, and he woke up refreshed after his full quota of sleep for the night. I on the other hand was a basket case all day, what with it being month end, OCTWL changeover day, RRSP deadline season, Trifina day and who knows what else. Jamie spent the day wanting to have at least two adults present at all times, but this is not unusual, and today we indulged him.

2006-03-01 22:33 (Kristen) We managed to make it through a Wednesday comparatively unscathed. Jamie woke up asking to read the "cookie mouse" book If You Give A Mouse a Cookie), which we read twice in bed before getting up. We spent part of the morning reading books, and I thought that it would be a great time to take Jamie to the library for more books. Gary came along, since he just got his own card and had some holds to pick up too.

Jamie isn't used to the library yet, as he likes to run around and use his Loud Voice. He climbs on the window bench and on the chairs, and tries to climb the shelves. He doesn't really sit still for long, so we were more than ready to leave when John picked us up. Gary won't be ready for another trip for a little while; I have the theory that Jamie just finds the place too exciting, and needs to get more familiar with it so that it becomes boring and he is able to concentrate on the library's contents. As it is, I managed, with Gary's help in minding Jamie, to find a pile of books for Jamie's amusement. I've had some success so far: he loves Raccoon Tune, which features raccoons trying to get into garbage cans for midnight meals (one of Jamie's favourite subjects). More updates as they arrive.

Jamie ate a good lunch, and I took him out for his afternoon walk while John did his usual Wednesday tasks and then some. Jamie woke up at the one hour mark, and I thought that I was doomed when he sat bolt upright and asked for "whipped cream" (a hot chocolate). However, I gave him a krispie, which he started to nibble on, and rocked him back and forth in his stroller. Ten minutes later, he was asleep again with a krispie on his chest, and I was feeling pretty accomplished. He slept until after 4, when John brought him back home and I took over Jamie wrangling again. John says that Jamie eats krispies in his sleep!

We went to the Scrabble club tonight, where we read more books. Jamie can recite (more or less accurately) the first three lines of Raccoon Tune ("Moonlight, June night, Raccoon night!"). He can also identify all but one of the eight or ten high-speed trains in his train book (the TGV, the Eurostar, the Pendonlini, the shinkansen, the ICE, the JR500, the Amtrak, and the Virgin Intercity 250). He doesn't remember the GNER Intercity very well yet, but I think that it's coming. He's getting good at identifying the other trains as well, and knowing which ones he's been on, which I've been on, and which ones John has been on. It's cool. He spent the rest of the night playing with a twelve-year-old girl named Jaqueline, who thought he was cute. They played "quiz" (with John's help with topics), and Jamie did very well. Clever boy!

He didn't fall asleep on the way home, but finally fell asleep after a few books and some tooth brushing (which is getting easier again, but is still a Big Production). We're tired. Tomorrow is daycare.

2006-03-02 20:25 (John) Jamie woke up in a good mood this morning, and we made it to Hakobune day care not too late. He took me around the room and asked me to play with a few things, then when I told him I had to go to work he waved me a cheery "Bye-bye, Papa!" When I returned a few hours later, he was engrossed in making a construction paper butterfly for Kristen, and I was told that he had been a very good boy, spending much of the morning building things with blocks and then insisting that Emi-sensei look at them.

We left a little early and drove straight to Dr. Kennedy's office for Jamie's MMR immunization shot. Yes, he was supposed to have it down at twelve months, but Dr. Kennedy said that there was no harm in waiting ("He's not going to catch measles at the day care, all the other kids will have had their shots.") and this is the first time in over a year that we've all been well and Jamie hasn't been teething. Dr. Kennedy measured Jamie at 90 cm and not 91 cm, possibly because of a shoes/stocking feet issue, but agreed that he weighed 14.5 kg fully clothed.

Jamie yelled "Itai! Itai!" theatrically for several minutes, but seemed unharmed by the needle. He did however sleep for only an hour, and arrived at the Second Cup with Ken in a tired but manic state of mind. I gave him his usual after-nap treats, then we walked over to Withrow Park for the first time since last summer and had the run of the playground to ourselves. Perhaps it was the -10°C (14°F) windchill. Jamie had a grand time, but was willing to come home with me to spend a couple of hours reading with Kristen while I cooked up a pot of minestrone to warm my bones.

He's been asking about Mio, whenever something happens to remind him of her, which is often, but understands my explanation (she is on a plane trip to see her family) and is still taking it better than I thought he would. He's also looking very much forward to his train trip to Ottawa, and we count down the days together a few times each day.

2006-03-03 22:02 (Kristen) Jamie woke up a little after eight, and John drove him to daycare again because it was -19 C with the wind chill. John says that the day went well again, and Jamie gave both of us a cheery "Bye-bye!" when it was time. It's great that he's so comfortable at Hakobune now. He does crafts on his own, and John found him doing origami when he came to pick Jamie up. Jamie ate most of John's curry, and fell asleep in the car on the way home. Ken walked him, and Jamie slept for two hours before waking up and demanding to be taken to the toy store.

I came to get Jamie, and found him and John talking and playing. John tells me that he was drawing pictures for Jamie to explain his schedule over the next few days, and one of the drawings was of Trifina, our cleaning lady who comes on Tuesdays. Jamie tried to feed the picture of Trifina some whipped cream (Trifina always comes with treats), and then made John draw a picture of Trifina on a napkin, which was then called upon to clean up any hot chocolate spills that came along. (boggles) Afterwards, Jamie and I walked to the toy store, but the wind was very cold and very strong, and Jamie gave up quickly on walking in favour of being bundled up in blankets in the security of the stroller. He hates the wind. He played at the store for an hour, and we bought a copy of Babies Everywhere, a successful laon from the library a few months ago. I thought of the age 2-3 Brainquest cards, but am not sure that they're really appropriate for Jamie. I'll have to investigate further, but it seems full of vocabulary that he's already familiar with (the object is to improve vocabulary).

It was dinner at Browning, where Jamie was happy to see Michelle and make sure that she stayed with me and John in the living room (all his people in one place). Then it was off to Geoff and Derrick's for Scrabble, where Jamie had fun pretending to be Thomas the Tank Engine, and John was the Breakdown Train. This necessitated John picking up a fallen Jamie every few minutes and carting him over to an ottoman or other flat, non-floorlike surface to be repaired. A toddler can stretch this game out for hourrrrrrs. Then it was home for a bath, with a brief interlude of playing with Gary before bed.

2006-03-04 22:31 (Kristen) Jamie slept in until 9:00, and it was a pleasure to watch him wake up slowly. He starts talking in his sleep when he's starting to surface, and will say the oddest things. Today it was "apple mumble," then a few other unintelligble phrases before opening his eyes and just staring at me for a few minutes. Then it was up and at them! Business as usual.

(John) Jamie, Ayami, Gary and I drove down to the market, dropping Gary off at Sherbourne subway station on the way. Jamie was in a good mood, as he usually is when accompanied by an entourage. We picked up samosas and curry from Nupur, ran into Peter, Leslie and Simon shopping for sausages, then I sent Jamie and Ayami to the Early Years Centre while I did a little more shopping and then went to Dr. Da Costa's for an emergency dental appointment (nothing major for now, for a change).

I made it back just as the EYC closed. We bought our veggies from Wei, while Jamie sucked on a grape lollipop from her son's stash. Then on our way to Mike's Fish Market, Jamie snagged a sample cube of cheese from a vendor's tray, pulled the lollipop out of his mouth and put the cheese in in the time it took the concerned vendor to say "That's a rather strong cheese, and not appropriate for small children." Jamie chewed it thoughtfully, then went back to his lollipop. I pointed out to the cheesemonger that she knew now what to recommend to the next customer who asked what cheese might best accompany a grape lollipop.

Jamie ate reasonably well while we finished our shopping, but he stayed awake until we got him home, into the big stroller, and halfway down to the Danforth. Some combination of sleeping in, excitement from being with Ayami, and constipation, methinks. Kristen solved the last problem at least, by feeding Jamie a plum, which worked its way through by the time they got to Treasure Island.

Dinner was salmon salad sandwiches and leftover homemade minestrone. I tried Jamie on these my favourite# sandwiches (and favourite# way to get rid of leftover grilled salmon) half a year ago and he found the mayonnaise texture off-putting, but he likes them now so I've started making them more often. Kristen's friend Paula joined us for dinner, and we went on a traditional visit to Dairy Queen with her for ice cream afterward.

2006-03-05 19:51 (Kristen) We woke up this morning, and it was a rush to get out the door to Jamie's last swim class. He was a little off today: clingy, but still game to a certain degree. He "swam" one width of the pool (with a long pause in the middle, when I had to tell him that Mummy didn't move in the pool unless he kicked), played with a ball, and otherwise had a reasonable time. We went to our last play group for the session afterwards, and Jamie finally got the hang of the little push cars they have there. He played a good deal with play doh again, and watched the other children. He'll walk up to a group, and sit on the edge, just watching. Sometimes he'll imitate them. It's like he's a little anthropologist.

John picked us up, and brought us home for lunch. He took Jamie out for his afternoon walk, treat, and hot chocolate. Jamie had a disturbed nap of only an hour and a quarter, which made us wonder if he was teething. Then Jamie made John play with him at the playground across from the Second Cup at the day care, where he can't play during the week. Jamie seems to have different purposes for each of us: Gary is to watch videos with and horse around, John is for playgrounds, and I'm good for books and toy stores.

(John) At the playground Jamie mostly wanted to play on one particular play structure which has a section that resembles a railway car compartment. Jamie says that the rest of the play structure is Broadview subway station, with the added bonus of a pair of slides for us to exit the station on, which don't exist in the real station. Today's addition to the narrative was my pretending to get my hand caught in the closing subway doors, which I had to repeat about a dozen times before the comic and horrific effect wore off.

(Kristen) When he got home, he came a few steps up the stairs to greet me, as I was on the second floor. I started to come down, and he backed up down the stairs. He tripped on the rug on the last step, however, and fell down onto his back, hitting his head on the floor. He was very surprised and very upset, and hitting his head must have hurt a good deal. I think that he may have knocked a little wind out of himself, too. He stayed in my lap for an hour afterwards, watching Thomas the Tank Engine and cuddling. We have taken it easy since, eating cold chicken and veggies (thank you, John, for making them) and watching whatever Jamie wants. Right now, he's watching Spirited Away again, which is one of his favourites. He's also quite warm, and we're starting to wonder if he's fighting something. He did get his shots on Wednesday, but that shouldn't have anything to do with it (we hope). I'm sure that we'll find out soon enough. Early to bed tonight.

2006-03-06 22:10 (Kristen) Not much to report today: Jamie spent the morning watching Sesame Street (because I couldn't get our copy of Kiki's Delivery Service to read in our stupid, cheap DVD player, grrr), and being pretty mellow. I should add that Jamie wasn't fighting a cold, but was slightly dehydrated. We offered him a drink box of juice and water, and he downed two of them in half an hour. Then he rewarded us with the soggiest diaper we've ever seen. Not surprising.

Lunch was at Browning, and Jamie had fun playing with Gary and Ross. Then it was off for his nap, and some quality time with Papa. I came to get Jamie around 4:00, and was thinking, as I walked down the street, that it would be wonderful to be greeted out of the blue with a "Mummy!" like some children were doing to their parents outside Jackman School. John called to find out where I was, and I told him, and so when I was walking through the Carrot Common, I was surprised and pleased to be greeted by a little voice calling "Mummy!" and a little boy running towards me with arms wide open. That's just the best feeling in the world. We went off to Treasure Island for a while, while John did some errands, and met up at Browning for dinner.

Jamie had a great time playing with Gary and Ayami, and at one point was crawling through a "tunnel" made of a series of dining room chairs all in a row. He liked that even more than apple crisp and ice cream. John and Jamie are on their way home now (I left early to have a shower in advance), and we'll be putting him to bed a little later than usual.

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

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