Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 1 No. 22

2006-03-07 21:55 (Kristen) Jamie woke up at 6:30 this morning, screaming and inconsolable. We think that he had a nightmare, but weren't able to figure out what the problem was beyond sobs and "bad!" Maybe the bad fish in One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish was doing something he shouldn't. We'll never know.

He was very fragile for about two hours, and woke Gary up when I was trying to get him some juice in the kitchen. Gary kindly played with him until we went out for a doctor's appointment around 10:15, and again at lunch when we all met at Browning. Jamie went out with a not unusual bit of fuss for his nap around 1:05, and slept for three and a half hours. We let him sleep because he was behind on his overall "zzzz"s.

He woke in a much better mood than the first time, and was in a cheery mood when we went to Yorkville for dinner with John's aunts and John's brother Ted. Jamie had a great time shelling and eating an entire plate of edamame, and added another point to his dexterity score. He enjoyed what he nibbled from my plate and John's as well. He surprised me with how well he sat at the table: usually he's off like a shot after fifteen minutes. Maybe it was the edamame, but he stayed sitting for most of the meal. Near the end, he was entertained by a few small toys, his crayons, and a book (Frederick, by Leo Lionini. Thanks Pat and Adam!). If only all meals were so easy!

Dessert was guava and lime sorbet at Dessert Lady on Cumberland between Yonge and Bay. Jamie enjoyed his sorbet, and John's passion fruit sorbet too. We dropped Ted off at home, came home, and brushed and flossed with a minimum of fuss. He's in the bath now, and I'm off to get him out, read him a book or two, and put him to bed.

(John) Jamie is working hard on his Japanese verbs. He asked me to open an edamame ("Papa, mame akete choudai."); told me that it wouldn't open ("Mame akanai"); then tried to say that it did open, but flubbed the conjugation, saying "akata" (not a bad guess, but wrong) instead of the correct "aita".

2006-03-08 22:38 (Kristen) Jamie woke up at 8:10, a much more civilized time to become awake, I think. We watched a little Thomas, and he pounced on me to read a bunch of books to him later in the morning. He is getting good at telling me how many of a thing are on the page. After reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar a few times, which has some counting to five in it, Jamie was able to identify, successfully, how many objects were on the page and to count them (at first, he kept adding one extra, consistently, to the correct number of objects). Then he counted to ten for me. He needs a little prompting sometimes (what comes after 8, Jamie?), but he really had it down today. I'm going to work with him again tomorrow, and if he can do it again tomorrow, we have a numerate boy. Hurray! Another neural pathway blazed. I've done a small bit of bragging about this...proud mummy, and all that.

Jamie played with Gary and Ayami for a couple of hours this morning, and then went on his walk with me. He slept for an hour and a half, and then wanted to go to the toystore. He had a very good time and was not interested in leaving. I picked up a Thomas the Tank Engine colouring/activity book, and a very simple colouring book for the train tomorrow. I hope that he likes them. He did make the day of one of the staff at Treasure Island by walking up to her (with almost no prompting) when he knew that it was her birthday, called her by name, and wished her happy birthday. It was so nice! Then he grabbed her hand and tried to show her Thomas stuff before he got distracted by Bob the Builder items. Afterwards, we picked up dinner at Mocha Mocha, and raced home to meet up with John and head out to Scrabble.

At the club, Merran Dunlop gave Jamie a copy of a book called Where Are You, Blue Kangaroo?, which I read to him twice. Then he ran around with the two kids he met last week, Jaqueline and Adam. They ran each other offtheir feet, and Jamie was blithering by the time we got him into the car. He fought the good fight, but fell asleep less than five minutes from home. We drove around for another five mintues to make sure he was asleep, and then John brought him in and put him to bed. It's because it was the one night in ages that I did not put Jamie in his pajamas in preparation for the drive home. Gallic shrug, small smile.

2006-03-09 24:43 (Kristen) We woke up around 7:30 this morning to get to the train station for 9:30. The traffic was unpleasant, but John got there in time, and Jamie got progressively more excited about going on a train, and going to Ottawa. Jamie was less happy about leaving John in Toronto, but excitement got the better of him.He spent the first hour looking out the window at trains, then got a little bored and stuffed himself on sembeh* for another hour and a half while watching Thomas the Tank Engine. The last hour was a little more tricky as we'd eaten lunch and it was past Jamie's nap time. We made it to just inside Ottawa's city limits to have a meltdown, but it was just a tired boy: just pulling into the station (after only five minutes of yelling) was enough to distract him into curiosity and happiness.

My mom and sister were waiting for us, and Jamie solemnly greeted each by name. He fought hard against falling asleep in the car, but fell asleep anyway about five minutes from my mom's house. We dropped off Jennifer after chatting for a while, and drove around after dropping our luggage off at my Mom's house so that Jamie could have a full nap. We went to Jennifer's at the two hour mark, and woke up Jamie to take him inside. The weather in Ottawa was frightful today, with freezing rain all over the place, so driving around some more wasn't an attractive idea. The kids were delighted to see Jamie, and he (just as we thought) was delighted to see them and Jason ("Uncle Dooit"). We spent the rest of the day there, playing, having dinner, and laughing.

Jamie was in perfect form, playing and using his best manners. Jason played a game with bits of apple with Jamie, Jamie hugged and patted Owen, who wasn't feeling very perky, and roared all over with Anna and Becky. He even let me go home and get the computer and camera, which I had forgotten to bring along. We went home around 9:00, and Jamie settled in here at my Mom's by dragging her around and meeting the cat. We bathed, and crashed out around 10:00, I think, and Jamie was quite expired in that manic toddler way. He is asleep now, and I am looking forward to our activities for tomorrow.

2006-03-10 18:25 (Kristen) Jamie and I had the house to ourselves today, as Mom had to go out early. I got up a half-hour before Jamie, and thought about possible activites. However, the pool didn't have any toddler swim hours in the morning, and I wasn't able to reach Jennifer (who was sleeping in, while fighting a cold). Eventually, I bundled Jamie into the stroller and took him to the bus stop for a trip to the mall and the toy store there. We missed the bus, which went by ten minutes early, so we walked. I stopped one or two times to look for a bus, but was told by Jamie to "push stroller."

We made it down to the mall in about ten to fifteen minutes, and it was a shock to me to realize that the Long Walk I remember from when I was a teenager isn't much longer than the walks I do regularly in my own neighbourhood. It was close to noon, but we wandered through the mall, and Jamie stopped to look at benches, pretend to fall into garbage cans, and play in a space ship ride. We went into Mrs. Tiggy Winkle's, a good local Ottawa toystore chain store, which has an excellent selection of Thomas paraphenalia. I was tempted by the Thomas t-shirts, drink boxes, and other stuff we don't really need. I dragged him out at one, and after some persuading, we went to the food court. We split an iced tea and some chicken with fries, and Jamie was pretty cuddly and sweet as he ate. We had a lot of fun together. Finally, I put him into the stroller and walked him around the mall once, picking up a krispie* at the local Second Cup. Jamie fell asleep outside a bookstore, and I headed out then to the buses. We got on the bus, and went to meet Jennifer at Tim Horton's. Jamie slept for two and a half hours, and his position of utter abandon drew some admiring glances.

When he woke up, Mom had joined us and so we got ready for "Grammie Night" (a tradition with my sister's three children). We have junk food (Orangina for Jamie), movies (Howl's Moving Castle and Curse of the Were-Rabbit), and Mom is making dinner as I write while Jamie plays with Owen and Becky. I'll put him bed later tonight, and I hope that he sleeps half as well as he did last night.

(Later) Jamie had a blast watching movies with everyone in Mom's basement. Jennifer and Jason came over, and Jamie had a great time horsing around with everyone instead of going to bed. One of the funnier moments was when I caught Jamie "dragging" Rebecca by the foot across the floor. We've had to tell Owen a few times not to do things because Jamie will want to do them too--he's usually the youngest, so being in a position of "responsibility" is chafing. Jamie, I am sure, will also find it to be so when Sibling #2 comes along.

2006-03-11 22:49 (Kristen) Jamie woke up asking for his dad, but seemed to understand when I explained that there were a few more days to go before we went home to see him. He then got up and had some "ice" with Anna and Rebecca, and played with his three cousins until Rebecca had to go out, and Mom had to go out as well. Anna, Owen, Jamie and I went to Jen and Jason's house, and hung out there. Jamie enjoyed playing with Owen's Rescue Heroes toys, and watched Spongebob Squarepants while I did a little AIM chatting with John. He ate not much for breakfast but a big lunch, and went out for his walk a little late at 1:40.

He cried until I pointed out the stop lights, and he told me what red and green meant. Then he was able to sleep for an hour, while Jen and I did some groceries and had lunch at Tim Horton's, courtesy of our mother. Jamie woke up at the hour mark, and we left quickly. He kept sleeping until the two hour mark, fitfully, when he finally woke up in a bit of a crusty mood. He ordered me to continue pushing the stroller about, which I did for another five minutes, before he decided he did want to see people after all. Anna, Jen, and I walked to my mother's house to put the lasagne in the oven, and Jamie dragged Anna off to play at something or another. My mom came home soon after, and later brought Jason and Owen along. Jamie was delighted, and has decided that he likes to play with Owen. Owen, who is used to being the youngest, is having a little difficulty with Jamie's attempts to play with him, and upsetting Owen's rather elaborate plans. We're all working on it, but there are no hard feelings or anything of the sort.

Jamie ate lots of garlic bread and lasagne, and a bit of ice cream for dinner. The rest of the evening was spent chasing the cat and indulging in various forms of goofiness. He pounced on Owen, who was trying to sleep, and on Anna, who was also trying to sleep (albeit both in the family room, which wasn't a great choice of nap place on either of their parts!). He pounced on Jason, and tried to get Jason to play his usual creative silly games, and chased the cat.There was much laughing and fun had. Finally, I extracted him from the arms of his family at 9:20, bathed him, and had him asleep after three books by 10:20. He was pretty tired.Tomorrow, there will be more running around and solid play with Uncle Badger and his clan, along with the (possibly complete) Dahl clan

I don't know if I have mentioned Jamie's habit of memorizing little bits of books that he likes. The two that he's quoted from consistently are One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and Raccoon Tune. The latter starts out "Moonlight, June night, just right for raccoon night." Jamie says "Moonlight, June night, Raccoon night!" with great glee. He also likes "oh me, oh my, oh me, oh my, what a lot of funny things go by!" and "From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere." He used to just say "oh me, oh my!" but now he is consistently trying to say the whole thing. He also very much likes The Very Hungry Caterpillar.I hope that he keeps on finding new books to enjoy as much.

2006-03-12 24:00 (Kristen) We slept in, and got up at close to 9:00 this morning. The kids were up, and Jamie spent the next little while playing with them. Becky got home at 11:00, and Jamie was delighted to see her, dragging her around and making up for lost time. The other two, Anna and Owen, went home with Mom as she went off to work (it being the weekend), and Becky watched Jamie as I got some arranging done and made lunch. We had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, and Jamie seemed to enjoy the fact that crusts are softer when you dip them in the soup, and therefore easier to eat.

We had arrangements to meet Badger and family downtown at their place, and so Becky and I wrapped Jamie up in his rain gear (as it was raining a bit) and waited for the bus to arrive. Jen, Jason, Owen, and Anna were on the bus already, and we trouped down. Jamie fell asleep on the 95 bus somewhere on the transitway, and around 1:45. He stayed asleep through a bus change, and our arrival at Badger and Jeanette's. In fact, he was so tired that he stayed in his stroller in Badger's kitchen (which is nice and cool), despite the fact that Cameron, Nathan, and Owen were playing noisily in the room above him. They did keep it quieter, however, when I explained where Jamie was--they're good, reasonable kids. In the end, he slept for almost three hours, woke up sweetly, and his first act was to eat an apple. He played a bit with crayons and small round things, and investigated Chez Badger until it was time to go to Rod Matheson's for dinner.Nathan, who is the world's biggest Buzz Lightyear fan, gave Jamie a little Buzz Lightyear to take home with him, which was really nice.

We all walked over to Rod's, since he doesn't live that far away from Badger, and had dinner there. It was lovely, and Jamie was happy and hungry. He ate with the adults in the dining room, while the other kids sat at the kitchen table for reasons of room. It must have helped him to focus, being surrounded by conversing adults, because he downed one plate of ham, scalloped potatoes, a little salad and some creamed corn (I say some, because creamed corn doesn't seem to be a favourite), and had a little more before Owen went roaring by and Jamie's concentration was at an end. He also fed himself the whole meal (with the exception of one or two forkfuls of said corn). Before dinner, he watched Disney on television while Grammie sat on the couch, covered in Dahl kids, and with Jamie resting his head on his hands on Anna's leg. A camera-friendly moment, if there ever was one, and no one called me! Sigh.

After dinner, Jamie watched television with his cousins, played with a slinky and some other toys lying around, and explored. He was just fabulous. He was very good when it was time to go home, and went to bed around 10:00 without any fuss. He's having a disturbed night now, and I'm not sure why, but right now I'm typing with Jamie's head in my lap, and the laptop to my side. I hope that he'll have a better night ahead.

2006-03-13 24:13 (Kristen) It was a very eventful day after a restless night. Jamie was up before 8, and the upside was that we got to say goodbye to my mom before she had to go out. I finished organizing most of the packing, and Jamie and I had a leisurely breakfast. We walked over to have tea with Carrie and Noah (who is 3, I think... unless he's had a recent birthday?). Jamie was fascinated with Noah's excellent collection of Megabloks, and liked the dragon and little dragon a lot. He did well with the Megablok cars as well. The weather was just miserable, and so after a lovely time spent eating cheese, grapes, and dried apricots (mainly Jamie) and drinking tea (me), Carrie and Noah drove us over to Jennifer's house.

Jamie went roaring into the house yelling "Uncle Dooit! Uncle Dooit!", which Jason enjoyed a good deal, and they all settled into the living room. Jamie had a bagel with cream cheese and some tomato soup for lunch, and I managed to get him into the stroller and out for his walk before 1:15. Thankfully, it had stopped raining, but I put Jamie's rainsuit (a yellow outfit we call the "duck suit") on him anyway. He liked pretending that he was a duckling in it. We walked around, did some errands, and Jamie finally fell asleep at 1:40. He slept for an hour and a half before he woke up just before Rod Matheson came by to pick us up and take us to the train station. He was sad to leave his cousins and family, but very excited to be going on a train again.

Rod helped us onto the train, which was greatly appreciated, and Jamie and I settled in. Unfortunately, we were nowhere near an outlet and I had remembered to charge the DVD player but not to turn the power off. Dead DVD player. My life flashed before my eyes before I asked the conductor if we could move from our assigned seats to the back of the train, where the seats by the outlets were mostly empty. He agreed readily, and Jamie and I spent the rest of the trip (mostly) watching Pingu and snacking.

We were helped off the train by a young woman who was amazed to hear Japanese coming from this tiny blond kid. She was Japanese herself, living in Canada, and it turns out that the daughter of a friend of hers goes to Hakubune too. Very small world. She was particularly invaluable when the escalator we were descending stopped suddenly with us in the middle of the descent. I would have been in great trouble without her help in getting our suitcases down the rest of the stairs.

Jamie was ecstatic to see his dad at the station, and full of beans. When we got home, he promptly knocked on Gary and Ayami's door to check in on them and to burn off a little extra energy. He had a bath with John, and went to bed after one more reading of Hop On Pop. I hope that he sleeps in tomorrow, because I'm wiped, but I'm not counting on it.

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

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