Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 1 No. 56

2006-10-31 20:51 (Kristen) It was a little rough last night, but I have mercifully blocked it out by being very sleepy. Liam was in a sunny mood, which was lovely, and Jamie was very excited about going ot his party at Hakobune today. John drove us there, and I got Jamie all dressed up. He looked great, and he particularly enjoyed running about on his favourite fire engine today. Liam and I went to the local Starbucks, until John finished his dermatologist's appointment and picked up to take us home.

John and Jamie came home around 1:30, and John had him out on his walk around 2:10. Jamie fell asleep around 3:20, and I looked after him and Liam until 5:00. We went to Browning for spaghetti dinner, and started out the night's events from there. Liam stayed with Ken and Tami, while Jamie dressed up again in his fireman's costume, after a little initial reluctance, and went out with me. John stayed back to hand out the candy at our house. Jamie had a fabulous time, zooming from house to house with me, making fire engine noises. He got many compliments on his costume, and made me very proud by using his best manners and saying "thank you" audibly and clearly each time. He insisted on carrying his own candy bag until it got too heavy, then made Gary (who came along later, and was a huge help) carry him and the bag. We met up briefly with John's mom and aunts, who were looking around at the remarkable spectacle that is Halloween in our neighbourhood, and then I left Jamie with Gary while I picked up a fussing Liam and traded off jobs with John.

Jamie went to Browning afterwards, and came home to meet up with me and Liam, and with John's mom and aunts who had stopped by to look at our pumpkins and to have a cup of tea. He hasn't taken his costume off, and we suspect that he may want to go to sleep in it, as we have heard some children will do. I felt a little guilty about not dressing Liam up this Halloween, but I couldn't find the part of Jamie's angel costume that I wanted, and realized that it would have been too much to have one person (initially; Gary dropped by later) and two children in the crush that the streets are. I'll make it up to him next year. We had over seventy kids on our street, and we aren't the busiest in the neighbourhood! A good time was had by all.

2006-11-01 21:16 (Kristen) Jamie woke up this morning and put his costume on again after telling me, almost first thing, that he needed to put out more fires with his fire hose. Best $40 I've spent in a long time (we had to get the extra hat, remember). He and John went off to Hakobune, and there was only one request for candy. I acquiesced with a small box of Smarties for the car, and I put a small Aero bar into his lunch, as I figured all the other kids would have a little candy in their lunches and I didn't want any sadness over it. He ended up eating it on his walk, so maybe it wasn't necessary after all.

He didn't fall asleep on his walk, and channeled his alter ego, Judgement Impaired Boy, for a good part of the evening. Liam had a very active morning and early afternoon, and so slept for three hours in the harness while I walked Jamie. Jamie ate a big dinner, and I thought that he might fall asleep on the way home from John's parent's place, so timed my departure accordingly. We went to the Big Carrot first to get raisins for tomorrow's curry, and he fell asleep at 7:45 in the store. We got home, and Gary looked after Liam while I got Jamie into bed. He woke up when I let go of his legs while putting him down on the bed, but I managed to calm him down back to sleep. He's still asleep, but I'm expecting him to wake up at some point soon to pee. At least, I hope he wakes up to pee... Liam is awake now, and kicking away in the bouncy chair as I write. I have no idea how much longer this will last. He woke up when I opened this file initially to write, as he has an uncanny ability to wake when I start on work, food, or anything of substance. He sleeps blissfully through any time where I'm doing nothing of consequence, afraid to do anything as I worry that he might wake. As I said, uncanny.

2006-11-02 19:00 (John) Kristen and Liam took Jamie to Hakobune by TTC, as per Jamie's request, and I had a quiet morning working at home. They returned around 14:00, and after a quick pit stop we went grocery shopping at Sobey's. There, despite power tool noise and air full of sawdust (I hope - it boggles my mind that they can sell fresh produce out of a construction site), Jamie fell asleep. I took him down to the Second Cup, worked for an hour until he woke up, wordlessly handed him his Rice Krispies square and apple juice box, and watched him fall back asleep, this time for an hour and a half. We did some more grocery shopping and spent about an hour at Treasure Island Toys, playing and looking for loot bag treats. It was nice to spend the whole afternoon with Jamie, something I haven't been able to do for a few weeks.

Liam has been very interactive this week, and has been busily practicing his nonverbal conversational skills. If you start talking to him, he will give you a smile within a few seconds, and if you persistently coo at him, he will eventually coo a little in return. He has a great smile.

Jamie is hooked on AnPanMan right now, and is enjoying watching some a few videos on the old graphite iBook that is now his laptop. It's fun sitting side by side at the desk, working on our respective computers.

2006-11-03 21:51 (Kristen) Yesterday Jamie woke up at 6:30, having fallen asleep at 7:45 the night before. He had had a slight accident (his first one at night), and the bed needed to be stripped. He was too conscious at that point, and the day was underway. I was so tired that I went to bede with both boys around 10 something, and didn't get up until Jamie woke me up around 8:00 this morning. It wasn't the most settled of sleeps--I was sandwiched by both boys quite closely-- but I was feeling much better for having slept.

John and Jamie went ot Hakobune, and Liam slept for two one-hour stretches. I had lunch at Browning, and Tami had fun playing with Liam. John took Jamie out for his walk in the afternoon, and took Jamie on the subway, as per Jamie's request. Jamie eventually fell asleep after 3:00, having visited Yorkdale Mall and gotten his bubble tea (he's wanted one for a while now). He woke up at 5:30, when John, Liam, and I packed up to go to Browning for dinner. Liam has been very active and conscious today, and Tom was enjoying the large number of smiles that Liam has been choosing to bestow upon the people around him. He's been kicking and wriggling with great energy, and he talks and coos to whoever is near him with great responsiveness. He's a people person, like his brother.

Jamie was just here, and kneeling down beside his brother, talking to him and ensuring that his welfare was foremost in my mind. Off to take care of Liam, who is getting too excited on the play mat, and is starting to confuse excitement for distress.

2006-11-04 18:30 (John) We got off to a slow start this morning. I was busy getting ready to report on tomorrow's U.K. National Scrabble Championship when I learned that our friend Graeme Thomas had died earlier today in a traffic accident. When we eventually got to the market after 13:00, Jamie was past his window of opportunity for a nap, and the North building was close to shutting down. On the bright side, that meant that we were able to whiz through our shopping in record time. I took Jamie out for some exercise, touring the local playgrounds in not quite wintry 3°C (37°F) weather. We had a good time, and with luck he'll fall asleep early tonight, which will suit my trans-Atlantic telecommuting schedule for tomorrow.

Liam has been in some sort of discomfort all day, we're not sure what. He's happy to spend time with us, less happy to be left on his own than usual, and not nursing long enough before going to sleep. He's still in a sunny mood for a newborn though, and getting stronger day by day. He has almost lost his neck wobble when holding his head up, and is really working hard on his wriggling/crawling, but we'll see if he emulates his brother and goes straight to walking.

(Kristen) For some reason, Jamie looked at me first thing this morning and told me that "Mummy gets stuck in trees sometimes." He's told me this a number of times today. I get stuck in trees; so does Jamie and Liam too, apparently, but John does not get stuck in trees sometimes. I am at a loss, but Jamie enjoys telling me this.

2006-11-05 23:00 (Kristen) I am writing as long as Liam will let me, as he sits in his bouncy chair beside the computer. He's grinning and bobbing away, with the occasional coo or chirp, so we're all right for now...

Jamie slept for close to twelve hours last night, waking up on his own around 9:00. Liam had me up earlier, but John (who was awake early early to do work for the UK Scrabble Championships) very sweetly came and took him for me. Turns out that he was just too hot, which makes sense as both boys end up plastered to me front and back by the end of the night. Jamie was really tired, despite (or because of?) his long sleep, and spent the morning watching AnPanMan beside John while John worked before I drove him outside for some fresh air and exercise. We played with a ball for about ten minutes before Gary and Ayami came out, and we all walked Ayami to the subway before coming back to rake leaves. Lunch was a little drawn out, as Jamie decided that he didn't like this or that before finally eating some honey toast and a few other things. John and Jamie headed out, and then Liam and I went to the library. John called to say that Jamie wasn't asleep, and he was giving up. We all met at Treasure Island, where we looking into items for loot bags, and went to the Second Cup. Jamie was rather wild, channeling not Judgement Impaired Boy, but his alter alter ego, Actively Out Of Control Boy. He asked to come home, and we took him, but not before running into Catherine from Knox Church, who was out of context but immediately recognizable.

I put him in front of the television when we got home, reasoning that television might keep him calm for a little while (correctly). Dinner was at John's parents' house, as usual on a Sunday, and then we headed home. We tried to get him into the bath quickly, but he had other ideas. and we had one more exhausted meltdown before he fell asleep a little after ten. I imagine that he'll sleep in tomorrow, but I think that we'll wake him up before nine and run him around a little more to get him to sleep in the afternoon. The transition from naps to no naps is a little rough, sometimes.

Liam is much more attuned to the world around him, and is enjoying the use of his hands more. He's getting a little more control, clutching at things, and is more interested in things that hang above him on the play mat. He has absolutely killer grins.

2006-11-06 23:30 (John) We're both exhausted today, and I appear to be the last family member left standing, so here's a brief blog. Um. Morning was too long ago to remember. Kristen took the kids over to Browning for lunch. I took Jamie out for our longest walk yet. We went grocery shopping at the local Loblaws, walked through Riverdale Park, over the bridge and up into Riverdale Farm, said hi (and goodbye) to all the farm animals, through Cabbagetown, stopped briefly at the Winchester Public School play structure, continued along Wellesley to Yonge, up Yonge to Charles, where I only noticed Jamie falling asleep because he dropped the juice box from his hands as he did so. I tried to do some shopping for the birthday party, but could barely stay awake. Jamie had been tired but happy the whole way, and a very pleasant walking companion. We got home, and it was just warm enough for me to sit outside with Jamie until he woke up after a 90-minute nap. We went to Browning, and I made dinner. Kristen and Liam came over. Everyone ate, played, went home, I gave Jamie a haircut, and Kristen put the kids to bed.

Tom thinks Liam is teething. He's certainly figured out how to gnaw on things, and is you put your finger in his mouth at your peril. He's also drooling a lot. We'll see. He is continuing to enjoy the effect that his smiles have on people, and is quite generous with them.

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

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