Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 1 No. 58

2006-11-14 24:03 (Kristen) Jamie was aake at 9:00 or so this morning, after falling asleep around 11:00. We had cancelled a visit with Burhan because of Jamie's cold, and had a relatively quiet morning. Lunch was at Browning, and I took Jamie out for his afternoon walk, as John had a cold as well as a fever and a dentist's appointment. Jamie fell asleep around 1:45, which was early, and so I went to the Scond Cup, a sleeping Liam strapped to my chest, and got an hour's work done. I had stopped at the library on the way to the Second Cup, and was reading a book as I pushed the stroller along. Another new mother, coming the other way, exclaimed "Multi-tasking!" in what I took to be a term of admiration as I went along. I'll hang onto that one.

Once Jamie was up, we did some shopping at the Big Carrot and came home. John went out to a focus group, and I made Jamie and me some miso shiru* with rice and umeboshi*. I saw a woman tonight who is interested in having Liam and me participate in a program called Roots of Empathy; this is a program where small babies, starting at around Liam's age, go into a classroom once a month for a school year. The goal is to teach children empathy through exposure to an infant, and for that to be a starting place for learning about emotions. For older children, it is also an introduction to parenting. The class we're likely to go into will be made up of grade eight students, and I think that it's going to be a great experience for all of us.

We gave the kids their bath around nine, and they were in bed a little before ten. Jamie, however, was in quite the mood, and didn't fall asleep until midnight. Could it be the Dimatapp that I gave him for his nose? Liam is still up, after an hour nap. I must say, that this is playing merry hell with any of my efforts to accomplish paying work.

2006-11-15 22:42 (Kristen) Jamie went to sleep at midnight last night, and Liam fell asleep for 45 minutes at 12:30, only to wake up while I was trying to get some work done. I gave up and went to bed then, only to get up to change Liam (who usually holds off until morning) once, and permanently at 7:15 or so when Liam had another poo and Jamie woke up and demanded to come along. Jamie's feeling like crap, so he is simultaneously glued to me and pushing all my buttons, one after another, quite deliberately. John took him to Hakobune andI took Liam to the Second Cup, as he sleeps in a stroller (yay!). I got an hour's work done, which was great because it was all I was going to get. I took Jamie out for his walk, but he didn't nap...possibly because he had to pee, and also because things kept waking him up just as he was falling asleep...instant nap killers, any one of them.

John didn't go to the Scrabble club because he feels like crap himself, with a high fever and an upper respiratory infection. John's mom brought over dinner for us, and we put Jamie and John to bed early. Liam slept a lot today, and has a runny nose, joy, so he's awake and crabby. Well, to be fair, he's ok for the moment, with me holding him in my left, and typing with my right. I'm thinking I may have to give up working tonight, despite trying to sling Liam, as he just yelled when I sat down. I'll try again tomorrow.

2006-11-16 20:56 (Kristen) Liam has The Cold, and woke up a few times last night, screaming because his little nose was all stuffed up and he couldn't breathe. I was able to settle him, but John came in to look at us, and claims that I was sleeping through Liam's cries at one point. I counter that I was responding, but slowly and without much initial success, but he laughs at me. Jamie and Liam woke up around 8:00 or so, and we got up to start the day.

Jamie still has his cold, and has decided that this is the week that he wants to start challenging authority in an overt and direct way. He is very good at saying "no!" and "You can't do X!". He may well be imitating me, as I have been the Authority Queen lately, but it makes for some challenging mornings and evenings. John took him to Hakobune, but his fever came back so I got ready to take Liam to pick Jamie up. Tami Sagara, bless her, took us to Hakobune to pick up Jamie, which was doubly appreciated because the rain was just pouring down when we got there. I got Jamie, and we came home to get ready for our walk. Jamie fell asleep quickly, and slept for a little over an hour. Liam didn't sleep much in the morning, but fell asleep quickly and solidly in the front harness (face in today; if I don't want him to sleep, he gets baced out, and he loves that. He still falls asleep, but not as quickly). Liam stayed asleep for a good long time, first while I worked at the Second Cup, and was praised again by the woman that I saw a few days ago who thought that I multi-tasked well (too funny!), and then when Jamie and I went to the library. I put Liam into the stroller while Jamie sat on my lap and we read books, and then pushed him to Treasure Island, where he woke up, peacefully, and looked around before having a quick nurse.

We finally made it out of there, and came home via the Big Carrot and John's parents' house. Jamie wasn't all that hungry, as he'd done in a gingerbread cookie from Antonio at the Second Cup, along with a rice krispie square, and a raspberry/apple/oatmeal cookie from the Big Carrot, but I got some dinner into him. Liam was a mellow boy, and is sitting in the bouncy chair, happy, and waiting for me to finish typing while Jamie is playing joyfully with Gary, whom he has missed lately.

We now begin our Liam Spotlight; as a small creature who doesn't run, talk, or crawl, he sometimes gets overmissed* as an individual who doesn't do much. Our Liam, however, is a very busy person. He has been working on the best smile in the known universe, full of sweetness and beauty. I was looking at his face alst night, as he was falling asleep, and was amazed at how lovely his little face is becoming. Most people don't see it, because he just doesn't photograph as well as he might, or because he has his face pressed against me in the front sling, but he's really a beautiful boy, with lovely eyes. He has been working hard on getting things into his mouth--fists, rattles, and items hanging from the arches of his playmat. He doesn't sleep well on his own for more than 45 minutes at a time, but loves to sleep in the stroller or on a person. He does play very well by himself, however, and can lie cheerfully in a car bed or a bouncy chair for more than twenty minutes or half an hour. He loves music, and can be put to sleep almost instantly by being sung to. Both Tami and my mom have the trick, and I've enjoyed employing it myself. He is fascinated by the piano, and Jack is happy to oblige him. His hair is falling out a bit, possibly because he spends a lot of time on his back, and it's all fuzzy and fine as it does so. He's demanding my time now, his considerable patience used up, and I'll be playing with my sweet, cheerful son, who gives me huge smiles when he gets changed, because he likes it. Wow!

2006-11-17 23:37 (Kristen) John is running a Scrabble tournament this weekend, and Liam is on my lap as I type, nursing away, so I'm going to have to make this short. I took the boys to Hakobune, and Liam slept the morning while I got some work done. Jamie didn't nap, and we had a good time at Indigo, but he was tired tired. Liam slept more, which will help him get over this cold. He loves his brother, and cried when Jamie stopped running by him at dinner. It was the easiest time I've had in months putting Jamie to sleep tonight at 10:30. Liam is awake because he is having trouble breathing again. More tomorrow!

2006-11-18 24:46 (Kristen) I got up around 7:30 to make breakfast for our guests (which is something that I enjoy), and went back to sleep for an hour with the kids. We had a nice, quiet morning, as Liam slept or played and Jamie did some mazes and colouring. He also started his upper case alphabet workbook, and successfully drew his first letter "L." He can draw straight lines, but thinks that wobbly letters are much more fun than straight letters. He's probably right, given the enthusiasm with which he does both. We had lunch, and our neighbour Betsy dropped by with some eggs for us and held Liam while I wolfed down some breakfast. Yay!

Jamie had lunch, and I did a little too, and then we set out for the Second Cup on the way to see John at the tournament. The plan was that Jamie would enjoy the subway ride, and fall asleep on the way there. He fell asleep at the Second Cup instead, the fastest he's fallen asleep on a walk in months. Sigh. I got the boys to the tournament site in an hour, and Jamie woke up just as I opened the door to the community centre. John was busy but seemed to be happy to see us, and Jamie was delighted with the two books that our friends Pat and Adam had for him. So was I! Jamie has received some really great books lately, and I'll include the list soon. I may have to get an account on LibraryThing for Jamie's books, just so that people know what he has and what he doesn't. He loves books, which are always a good idea. We read books and hung out for a little while, then headed home.

Tom had invited us over for chicken katsu, and so we had a lovely evening with him, Michelle, Daniel and Ross while we waited for John to come home. We ended up staying quite late, but I was able to pop Jamie right into the tub as John had left a tub of lovely warm water after his own bath. He went to sleep fairly quickly, and Liam (who slept for about four hours straight...yay!) is awake in the bouncy chair, watching me.

I should have a spotlight on Jamie too, as he's been having a great number of cognitive leaps lately, and is rapidly growing up, but that will have to wait until tomorrow as I still need a shower, and I'm blitheringly tired.

2006-11-19 22:17 (Kristen) We've done a lot of traveling by TTC this weekend; we traveled up to the Scrabble club, which involved two buses and two subway lines, and today we went out to visit our friend Simon, and his parents Peter and Leslie by Lansdowne. That involved two buses and two transfers as well, but a little more finesse as the transfers were more complicated (narrow escalators, steps on an older bus, etc.). However, it was quite liberating to get out for brunch with two kids by myself, out of our neighbourhood, and to have it be a success.

The morning started by getting up around 9:15, after John and our guests, Jason and John, had left for the tournament. We had a bite to eat and a little Thomas DVd before heading out. I have learned that Jamie will respond, with less fighting and argument, if I say to him "I will ask nicely one more time, and then I will count to three" before I hit the "I'm counting to three" stage. That's a nice thing. He let Liam ride in his stroller in exchange for being able to ride in it on the way back from our destination. We got onto the front of two subway trains (letting one each way pass by, because we couldn't reach the required car), and met up with Simon, Leslie, and Peter at a wonderful Italian restaurant near their house. Afterwards (the kids were great), we went to their house and Leslie and Peter gave me some winter clothes (onesies with long sleeves!) for Liam. Jamie says that he had a good time.

We headed home around 3:45 and took the long way by subway, but Jami didn't sleep. We ate dinner, watched more Thomas, then had a bath and bed. He was very happy to have John home. Liam was golden for most of the day, but is fussy now. Enough writing for now.

2006-11-20 23:42 (Kristen) Liam had me awake at 7:40 or so, crying because he was gassy and trying to poo. He was better twenty minutes later when he did, but by that time Jamie was up too. I managed to laze in bed with both boys little while longer, but no sleep for anyone so it was time to get up and deal with the day. John was still sick, and so it was me, Liam, and Jamie for the morning. We were saved by Ken, who came by and walked LIam while I worked on a rush project and Jamie watched a lotof Thomas. Yay Ken! We went over to Browning early, and Tami entertained Jamie while I got more work done. This is how we survive. John wanted a rash on Jamie's skin looked at, so Ken walked Liam again while we took Jamie to see Dr. Kennedy after lunch. Yay, Ken! I walked to the Second Cup to get Liam, and John took Jamie home (just a post-viral rash, nothing to worry about). My voice has been going off and on over the course of the day, and I can't raise my voice above a normal speaking level, but I have a great, deep, Kathleen Turner-esque voice to compensate. I didn't take Jamie out for his walk because I was too tired and it was getting too late, so I'll try again tomorrow. More Thomas.

John's mom came over to drop off some food for John, and so Jamie opened his birthday present from her and Ho Ho at long last. It was a four-wheeled scooter with a fire engine theme, and a siren. He loves it, of course, and took it for a quick spin in the cold. We went to Browning for dinner soon after, and Jamie had fun playing again with baby Simon, who came over with his parents for dinner. Then it was time for home, and bed. Liam is grabbing onto things and pulling them into his mouth with both hands. He is howling now. Must go.

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

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