Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 0 No. 33

2006-05-23 21:25 (Kristen) Jamie was up a little before eight, and I made the mistake of telling him that we were going to play with Burhan at the park today. He didn't eat much breakfast then, as he wanted to put his shoes on right away and go to meet his friend. Eventually, I convinced him that we weren't going to see Burhan until after breakfast. He then ate one piece of honey toast, and declared breakfast over. Sigh. It took some time, but I did get the rest of the food into him before we left to go and play.

(John) I've added a short video clip to Jamie's video archive. E-mail me if you need a password.

Jamie has been gnawing on things today, so I'm wondering if he is working on a new molar. He went out with Kristen in the morning to play with Burhan, had lunch at Browning, then went out with me for his walk because Ken had a medical appointment. I told him we were going out shopping rather than for a walk, because it was an easier sell, as well as being strictly speaking true. He was just asleep for all the errands I ran. He slept for almost two hours, then woke up disoriented and dehydrated, asking to be picked up, which was most unusual. My fault for feeding him a large quantity of fairly healthy snacks as he was falling asleep (rice crackers, cheese, grapes, carrots, red peppers, cucumbers) and not enough to drink. He was fine after he chugged his apple juice, a hot chocolate, and some mango juice my mom brought over.

Kristen took Jamie to the toy store while I ran more errands, then came home and I fed them zaru-soba. Jamie kept eating for about 90 minutes, pausing only to run upstairs several times to use the potty for both reasons. Pat Larash is visiting us because of a conference tonight and tomorrow; Jamie is excited that she is here, and kept pointing out her voice to me whenever he heard her talking to Kristen while we were bathing.

2006-05-24 17:17 (Kristen) I took Jamie to Hakobune by myself today, as he is starting his new three-mornings-a-week routine. Our friend Pat is visiting as she attends a conference in town, and after a pancake breakfast, we all headed downtown together on the subway. Jamie had a good time, and was happy to be at daycare this morning when we arrived, at 9:15. He wanted me to take my stuff off and stay to play, but was off in his own little world by the time I did. Two of his playmates, Christian and a little girl whose name I didn't quite catch, were doing their best to get Jamie's attention, but were happy to get mine as a consolation prize. I managed to get out in about fifteen minutes, with a distracted wave from Jamie.

I spent a pleasant morning working at the university before picking Jamie up at 12:00. He didn't want to go, but came downstairs to eat with me and havea bathroom break before we got onto the subway to come home. John took Jamie out for his walk, and came home with a request for a hose around 4:15. I looked outside and saw Jamie in his stroller, eating an ice cream cone, and with his face covered in ice cream. John had managed to get him past the kids playing and the play structures at Jackman School, but not past the ice cream truck parked outside the school. Sigh.

When he was finished, Jamie came inside and I checked his nap diaper to find it was dry. I got him into his underwear, and headed upstairs for a moment a few minutes later as he played trains. He followed me upstairs, and agreed to have a pee. Sure enough, not only did he have a pee, but he had a deliberate poo, with no crying or fuss of any kind. We have a potty-trained boy! Woo hoo! Am I happy? Does the sun rise in the east and set in the west? Is the Pope German? I am doing the happy dance across the universe. Jamie was lavished with praise and hugs, and seemed a little pleased with himself too.

(John) I was proud today myself, but for a different reason. Jamie managed to make it to the top of a tall spiral slide at the playground outside the Scrabble club. He's really been working hard on his monkey skills. After three aborted ascents, assisted by me pushing from behind as far as I could reach (about 3/4 of the way up) and a 7-year-old? boy named Elie? who reached for him from the top, he was on the verge of tears with frustration and fear. He gave it one last try though, and made it to the top and practically crowed with triumph. My boy doesn't give up, and if he can't do it himself he finds people to help him.

2006-05-25 20:40 (John) I drove Jamie to Hakobune this morning, dropping Pat off along the way at her conference. Jamie is delighted with Pat, and much of his conversation today was about Pat. What is she doing right now, where is she working, why does she have to go back to her house at the end of the day, etc.

I passed the time while Jamie was at day care going to the dentist, and learning that I needed to have another implant. Yuck. I think we won't take Jamie along for that particular procedure.

Jamie was happy to see me when I picked him up, peed before lunch for the first time, ate well, read books in the church library with me (I may have accidentally left the religion out of the stories) and chatted with Kristen on the cellphone on the drive home.

He slept for 90 minutes in his stroller and woke up crying for Mommy, which was quite unusual. We called her and she agreed to come as soon as she could and give him a big hug, and to pass the time I gave Jamie an apple to munch on, because they're a displacement activity for nursing. Jamie took a cuneiform bite out of the apple, then said "Look Papa, down arrow on the apple." Then he turned the apple around and said "Turn the apple around, look at the up arrow!" According to babycenter.com, he should be able to speak in sentences of up to six words by the end of his third year.

Kristen took Jamie to the toy store, I went for a high school reunion planning meeting, then came home to make a quick dinner for us (including Pat) before she had to leave to go home. Daniel came over in the middle to ask for tech support for a school project, and I think that's it for the day. Jamie's playing with Gary now, and it's time to get ready for bed.

2006-05-26 21:20 (Kristen) We woke up a little late this morning, so John and Jamie didn't make it out of the house and onto the subway until 9:10. It was raining, so Jamie was wearing his "fish" boots (they have dolphins, which I know aren't fish, but it was easier to say than "dolphin" boots) and his bright yellow rain coat with hood. He was beyond cute, and John said that Jamie received compliments on his outfit.John also says that when he went back to get Jamie at Hakobune, Jamie had somehow convinced two of his minions (sorry...friends) to drag him around the daycare using the straps on a booster chair. They had started out playing "train," with the straps being used as couplings, but Jamie obviously had a better idea. Kai-kun and Christian-kun seem to be very fond of Jamie, and they have fun together. Jamie is a benevolent tyrant, we find, and prefers to use persuasion instead of terror. That smile seems to open many doors.

Jamie was well behaved, but very tired when they left Hakobune, and didn't eat much of his lunch beyond the fruit. (John: today he carefully bit a Y into his apple and named the letter for me.) John ended up having to carry Jamie all the way to Browning (they took the subway), which was tiring for John! Jamie slept for an hour and a half, and then woke up just as he got back to the Second Cup. Jamie inhaled a third of John's butter tart, one of his own, and then requested (at four freaking dollars a pop, John added) one of the Second Cup's new smoothies. (John: Four freaking dollars and twenty-six freaking cents.) He did end up drinking most of it, (John: I snuck half of it while neither Kristen nor Jamie were watching.) and came home to watch "Bully for Bugs," which he hadn't seen in a while and finds hilarious (still).

He watched some television, did some workbook work with me (I gave him his own pencil case with three pencils in it, which he appreciated). We practiced holding a pencil properly (which he will do by himself, but less well when I try to show him), drawing straight lines, and discussing what pictures started with the sound of the letter "t." I get about five minutes at a time of attention before something else must be done, but I think that he enjoys the mom and son time, as well as learning things.

We finally made it to Browning for dinner, after spending time with Alexandria and her scooter. Jamie insisted on wearing his helmet, and did a little bike practice on his own. At one point, we took Jamie and his bike to Browning, and Jamie decided that John should ride the bike. Then he got very agitated because John wasn't wearing a helmet and had him put Jamie's on. Then he was concerned that John hadn't done up the chin strap (a physical impossibility, by the way). Yay Safety Boy! Dinner was uneventful except that Jamie had a small accident (of the firmer variety), and was quite upset. Better luck tomorrow. Now I'm off to get hiim out of the bath, and into bed with a story and a cuddle.

I forgot to add that I asked Jamie last night what kinds of names he liked for a baby. He thought, and responded "Baby B." So the new baby is Baby B, or is, at least, for now.

2006-05-27 21:25 (Kristen) Jamie woke up around 8:10 or so, after a very disturbed previous few hours. I am not sure what the problem was--nightmares or teeth--but he was all over the bed, and at one point, John was at the end, Jamie was sleeping with his feet at my head, and I was the only one in a traditional 'head at the head, feet at the feet' position. He was in a fine enough mood, and idly said as he got up, almost to himself, "Jamie go pee." He's been dry in the morning for four nights now, which is kind of cool, really.

John took Jamie to the market, as they usually do on Saturday morning, but earlier than usual as Ross's birthday party at Centre Island was in the afternoon. Jamie played in the park on the way to the market from parking, after watching some trains intently (and making John drive in some convoluted patterns to keep one particular train in sight). He also had a good time at the Early Years Centre, and was only lured out by the promise of a lollipop from Wei. He stuffed himself full of food, and made it through Loblaws without falling asleep. He was wide awake in time to eat some watermelon at Ross's party, and have a little bit of cake before I took him out for his walk. He was quite excited by the prospect of singing "Happy Birthday," and was warming up before the cake arrived. He sings quietly, and even though he was on my lap, I had to lean over to hear him singing "Happy Birthday tomato..." as he made up his own words about whatever he saw on the table. John said that Jamie was singing on the way home yesterday from the Second Cup, narrating his day in his own little song. It's lots of fun to listen to, if you can lean in and do so.

I had to walk all the way to Pape before he fell asleep; he was pretty tired, and pretty silly because of it, and took a little while to calm down enough to close his eyes. I walked back to the Second Cup and waited for John, as we were going to join Ross and his birthday guest, Sophie, as well as Tom, Tami, and Ken, at Centre Island. We got Jamie onto the subway and as far as getting off the streetcar at the ferry docks without incident, but getting off the streetcar finally woke him up. Then he was wiiiide awake, and enjoyed the ferry ride a lot. We met up with Ross and company at the petting farm, and Jamie enjoyed alternately walking, riding in his stroller, and being carried around Centreville, the children's amusement park that has been on the Island for the last 40 years. He loves the train that chugs around the park, but was very scared riding the little fire engines on tracks by himself. I asked him if he had enjoyed ringing the bell at least, and he tearfully told me no.' The nice thing about this ride is that the attendant in the middle has access to a red button that stops the ride, and can remove any unhappy patrons and give them back to their parents (which they did for Jamie, 2/3 of the way through). They also give you your tickets back for the ride, which was unexpected. It's a good park. Jamie rode the train once more, ate ice cream, and was just a little overstimulated when we got back on the ferry at 7:15. He's been hyper and silly ever since, and is going to bed Early tonight.

(John) Jamie was wearing the Spongebob Squarepants ensemble I bought for him the other day. It's the first thing he's worn that has attracted more attention from kids than their parents, with most of them tugging on their parents' skirts or pants to say "Look! Spongebob!" It's fluorescent yellow colour made him extremely easy to spot in the crowds at the market and the Island, which I confess was my primary motive.

2006-05-28 21:17 (Kristen) Jamie slept really well last night, and didn't crawl into bed with us until close to 8:00. Yay! We came downstairs to play for a bit, ate breakfast, and watched a little Spongebob Squarepants. Jamie is very into Spongebob (the next Big Thing), which I can tolerate. Spongebob is just up Jamie's humour alley.

John did some gardening in the yard, and called Jamie outside to help him take some fuki* plants to his mom's house in the wagon. John says that Jamie pulled the wagon at high speed 2/3 of the way to his mom's house, before he decided that he was tired and would ride in the wagon. When John and Jamie came back, we drove out to visit Peter, Leslie, and Baby Simon (who is six months old). Jamie was very interested in seeing Simon, and was happy to play around in the back yard and to see Simon's toys. The funny incident came when Simon was on my lap, and grabbed onto the collar of my blouse. Jamie saw him doing this, and immediately came over to ask if baby Simon "nurse nurse Mummy?" I assured him that this was not the case, but Jamie insisted on holding the hand that Simon was using to balance himself on my chest, just in case.

Jamie slept for about two hours, and would have slept for longer in the shade of Peter and Leslie's front porch, but we had to go home. He woke up, very drowsily, as we put him into the car seat, but didn't fall asleep again. We got home, had some juice and a small snack, and did a little workbook before watching a little Spongebob. He managed to do the page where you have to find the fish in the weeds, which is a detail exercise, in almost no time at all. I was very surprised at this, as I thought it would be a difficult exercise: the fish are not coloured in, so there are no colour cues, and he had some trouble with a similar activity (or, at least, what I thought was a similar activity, a few days ago. It was very heartening. Right now, he is very tired and dictatorial, and engaging in any activity that will go directly against what I have asked him to do. As John said, "It's 8:30, start of silly hour." I am so tired myself, now, that I can't remember much of what I wanted to write about.

(John) Jamie spent much of the day following me around, even helping me make tonight's huachinango* tikinchik* (he helped grind the achiote, and was in charge of lifting the pan lid when I checked for doneness). I suspect he was scandalized by Mommy letting Simon lean on her chest for support.

2006-05-29 21:25 (Kristen) It was 33 degrees Celsius today, and the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) was on strike. It made me very glad that it wasn't a Hakobune day, and that we didn't have to go anywhere. Jamie was up early, after a restless early morning, but I managed to get him to eat a reasonable breakfast (egg, a little toast, and lots of fruit). The heat means that I am going to have to find cooler items for breakfast, and make sure that Jamie drinks more than the usual amount of juice. Fortunately, he was willing to do that today.

He watched a little television, and then I managed to convince him to come out with me to the grocery store for a few items before it got too hot. We took the wagon, which was a little bit of a problem because it still had the length of twince on it that Jamie had used for coupling when he had gone out with John to John's parents' house. Jamie had Ideas on how I was to pull the wagon (not touching the handle at all, even going across streets), which came into conflict with the way that I was willing to pull it (hold onto the handle when going across streets). We made it to the grocery store, somehow, and back. Jamie wasn't all that pleased with me, because I told him that he wasn't allowed to run, hell bent, down the street dragging the wagon by the string because it was a busy sidewalk and the wagon nearly went into the street at one point. He rode back home, explored the back yard a bit, and decided that it was a great idea to drag a little wagon up the back stairs and throw it down again. He was, again, displeased with me because I didn't like this idea much at all, and complained until we managed to agree on hanging laundry out on the line together. John came out, backed me up on the wagon-throwing idea, and we all went back in together as the sun was getting fierce.

Lunch was at Browning, and Jamie ate most of his sandwich and a good deal of watermelon before going out for his walk with Ken. He slept for a littleover an hour, and was awake before Ken dropped him off with John at the Second Cup. John says that when Jamie is dawdling, he will sometimes say "goodbye, Jamie!" and Jamie will generally follow in about ten seconds. Today, Jamie wanted to go to the toy store, and when John wasn't fast enough, chirped "Goodbye, Papa!" , pushed the door to the cafe open, and was out before John caught him. Hmmmm. I'm waiting for Jamie to starting counting to three with me. I found them both sitting outside, blowing bubbles, and waiting for me. I took Jamie to Treasure Island, with a side trip to a local shoe store to buy a pair of sandals (my first in over four years! yay me!). John's mom met us there, and bought me another pair of sandals (the nicer pair) as a late birthday present. Twice yay! We stayed at the toy store for half an hour, then went back to collect John. We stopped at the playground on the way to Daniel and Ross's house, then continued on to make dinner. It was hotter than heck at Browning, especially in the kitchen and over the barbeque, and Jamie wisely spent most of the evening downstairs in the basement, playing with Ross, Ayami, and Gary. We're all home now, where it is much cooler, and will soon be in bed.

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

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