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Back to Vol. 1 No. 60, or up to Jamie Chew's Web Log Archive. or forward to Vol. 1 No. 62.
2006-12-05 20:56 (Kristen) Jamie fell asleep somewhere around midnight, I was up between 1:00 and2:30 getting ready for today, and Liam was fussy at two points in the night, so I was not the sharpest knife in the drawer this morning when my alarm went off at 8:20. I've been rewading a book entitled The Mommy Brain, which is full of the details of neurological research that tells mo that not only has my brain not mush, but it has undergone a radical rewiring that makes it a better brain, as evolution would not abandon me with a brain of porridge at a time when I need to be sharp as a multi-use tack to keep my progeny (and therefore my genetic investment) viable concerns. I am clinging to this.
Jamie and John went to Hakobune, to make up for a day he missed two weeks ago when he was sick, and I took Liam to our first Roots of Empathy class.
This is an interesting story. I was sitting in the Second Cup a
month ago, when a woman came up to me and asked how old Liam was (who was strapped
to my chest, as he often is). I said that he was two months old, and she said
that she was a Roots of Empathy instructor, and would I be interested in
bringing Liam into a school classroom and participating in the program? I'd
heard of the program, as I'd taken the book out of the library earlier
in the summer, and had thought that it would be an interesting thing to do with a new baby. In short (see
After class, I went with Liam to the Second Cup to work until John brought Jamie home. Then I stayed home with Liam while John took Jamie for a walk. Jamie fell asleep a little before 4:00, and slept until 5:30 (ack!). I am not expecting Jamie to be asleep any time soon. Liam is still having some trouble sleeping if he's not in the stroller, and would only sleep for ten minutes at a time for a few periods today. Teething? Gastro-intestinal trouble? A virus? Who knows. I do hope that he sleeps well tonight, once we're all in bed.
We're having a little more luck in keeping Jamie at the table through dinner by exchanging bites for pages of book read. I'm usually not one for negotiations or bribes, but I'll gladly exchange bites of food for bits of story. I made a polenta with spinach and a tomato/balsamic vinegar sauce for dinner, and he ate most of it, in the end. Yay Jamie! Liam was content in the neglect-o-matic for a time, and Jamie constructed his own track for his trains, rather than making me or John build one for him. I forgot to mention that Liam rolled over onto his side yesterday, pulling his feet up in the air and falling over to his right. Yay Liam!
2006-12-06 21:58 (Kristen) John took Jamie in to Hakobune today, and I stayed home with Liam, which is our usual system. Jamie woke up late this morning, and I asked him what he had dreamt about. He said "nursing." So I gave him a big hug, and told him that he would never be too big for me to hug and kiss. I think that he misses the closeness sometimes.
Liam slept from 11:00 until Jamie got home around 2:00. I took Jamie and Liam to the library, and Jamie had a good enough time making me read books over and over again until he decided that he needed to go home. I stopped off a minute later or so to buy him a shirt for his Christmas concert on Friday, turned around, and found him asleep in his stroller at 4:25. Ack! Ack! So, I got some work done at the Second Cup and ran an errand or two before he woke up 45 minutes or so later. John is off at the Scrabble club tonight, Liam is all gassy and constipated again, and Jamie has grabbed Ayami and has made her his slave. I should go and save her, and put Jamie into the bath now that it's late enough that there's a grain of hope that he might fall asleep soon. Hah.
(John) Jamie loves to invent new rituals, and we tend to go along with them, at least the ones that aren't completely unreasonable, because they do tend to make the day go more smoothly. In the morning, he gets to wake me up, and do something on the computer - watch AnPanMan, play a FisherPrice Flash game, or (this morning) watch freight train video footage on YouTube. When we get into the car, Jamie gets to sit in my lap discussing all the controls for at least five minutes. Lately, when I pick him up at Hakobune, I'll find that he's saved some of his lunch to eat with me, I think because he misses eating lunch with me on the bench downstairs. I go along with that one because I miss sharing meals with him too sometimes. We've become stricter about eating dinner together, and Jamie is fine about that. Tonight it was takeout from Taste of the Silk Road, along with a ceremonial reading of "Are You My Mother?".
2006-12-07 24:35 (Kristen) As I write, I am reminded of our beloved family cat, Ching, who lived with us when I was a teenager. Ching would lie across my wrists while I typed my essays late at night when I was in university, giving me (I believe) rather strong wrists, although he wasn't a very big cat. Liam is asleep against my chest, and part of his weight is on my left wrist, letting him sleep and me to type, as he doesn't want to sleep on his own. Somewhere, that cat is laughing.
Jamie woke up with a start this morning, and cried that he didn't want to go home. I got him to the point where he was awake, but he was a little fragile this mroning. He was continuing to drool, which was odd (I noticed this last night), and I was starting to worry that he was having some sort of trouble with his mouth or (god forbid) swallowing. I got him and Liam out the door and took public transit to Hakobune. Jamie was, oddly, afraid of the subway, and told me that he was scared of falling onto the tracks. I don't know where this came from, but we sat on a bench and I explained to him that we follow the rules and don't stand on the broad yellow strip that the TTC says you should not stand on by the tracks, and so we were safe. He made sure that I had Liam's stroller far enough from the tracks too (what a good older brother!). He was calm by the time the train arrived, but he needed to talk it through again on the way home. John says that because he's feeling ill, he's more worried and fretful, but I was still surprised at this manifestation.
Ah...Liam has shifted, reducing me to one hand. I dropped Jamie off at Hakobone, and walked with Lim in Kensington Market until he fell asleep. I sat in a very nice cafe that provided me with a power cord for my laptop (like Aidan at the Second Cup did for me yesterday...yay Aidan!) so that I could work for an hour or so. Then we picked up a still drooling Jamie, and after two pee breaks (he really is drinking a lot of fluids) and a visit to the library, we headed home.
John took him for a walk and Jamie fell asleep almost right away. He slept for two hours. Liam slept for a while too, and so I got a little more work done. John took Jamie to Treasure Island, and we knew that he wasn't feeling well because he agreed to leave without an argument. I finally figured out that he was drooling because his throat hurt. His glands are swollen, and he doesn't like to swallow because his throat hurts enough that he'd rather drool. Poor guy. We bathed him at eight, put him in bed at nine, and he fell asleep around 11:00. Liam is also asleep, but wants to be with me. This will make my shower tonight tricky; I may have to set my alarm for a little earlier tomorrow morning so that I can have a shower and look my best at Jamie's first ever Christmas concert. We're all looking forward to it, and hoping that Jamie is feeling well enough to enjoy it (and to even go, she said in a small voice).
(John) Liam (and his dad) were delighted that he learned today that raising his hands means "pick me up", and we practised it several times with glee.
2006-12-08 25:00 (John) It's a shame that I'm the last one awake tonight, because I think that Kristen would have done a better job writing this entry. We woke up half an hour early to get to Hakobune in time for the start of their annual Christmas party and pageant, the high point of their year. As per day care instructions, Jamie was wearing a white dress shirt (for the first time, I think) and navy blue dress pants. Liam was wearing Jamie's Santa outfit (see the 2003-12-25 blog entry for photos of Jamie in it), and attracted attention constantly from hordes of admiring camera-wielding young Japanese women. It helped that he gave them each a huge smile.
Jamie is still drooling like a teething toddler. We saw Dr. Kennedy in the afternoon, and she said that his tonsils and ears are slightly inflamed, and that we needn't be too concerned but just keep giving him as much to drink as he likes, and unlimited freezies and ice cream. She gives good advice.
So Jamie spent the morning close to a juice box full of apple juice, sipping frequently to help wash down the saliva, and a receiving blanket, to mop up when he forgot. The pageant was a lot of fun to watch. Jamie, as a junior member of the day care, performed in a few song and dance pieces, and at least in the eyes of this proud parent, did quite well at them.
After we helped cleaning up after the party (moving tables and chairs was reminiscent of apres Scrabble), we rushed to Dr. Kennedy's office for the aforementioned appointment, and then Kristen took Liam home while I took Jamie out just long enough to get him to fall asleep. I then went home and quickly made myself some lunch, and then all four of us walked down to the Second Cup to work quietly for not quite an hour.
In the evening, we were invited to a dinner party to celebrate the launch of a book that Kristen had copyedited, taking Liam with us and leaving Jamie in Tom's care. When Jamie woke up from his nap and I reminded him of the plans for the evening, his exact words were "Oh, yes! I can be happy with that!".
The party had interesting guests, yummy catered Afghan food, and most importantly, a chance for Kristen and me to act almost like grownups (except for running up to change Liam every now and then) for the first time in a few months. Jamie was not at all traumatised, and while he was not in a particular hurry to leave Daniel and Ross's house, neither did he greet me with the words Daniel used to shout at his parents when they would come to pick him up from me when I took him to dinner at my parents: "Go away! Go away!".
We all got ready for bed an hour or two later than usual, and with a good deal more effort than usual, but all seems quiet now, so I suppose I shall head off to bed too.
2006-12-09 15:30 (John) Kristen let me sleep in, as I had trouble falling asleep after our long day yesterday. Jamie and I set out for the market around noon, with a little detour to help my dad get a new cable modem. When we arrived at the market, I could tell he was going to fall asleep soon because he asked me to tuck him in with his Kate Doe Scrabble blanket. I'd left it at home because I didn't want to get it covered in samosa bits, the usual fate of anything in his lap on market day, but he was fine with a receiving blanket.
He's still drooling heavily, so we stopped at the Second Cup first for a pit stop, and then he spent the rest of the time in the stroller until he gradually drifted off to sleep nuzzling a samosa. I dropped off some of the groceries at the car, then retired back to the Second Cup to work for a little while. It's time to wake him up and see if he wants to go to the Loblaws or go back home, and the little old lady who was sitting beside me just told me that I have an incredibly beautiful son. It's not completely true anymore, though, as I do now have two incredibly beautiful sons.
2006-12-09 20:51 (Kristen) I was at the Second Cup with Liam while John and Jamie went to the market, as I have found that Liam will sleep in the stroller for long periods of time, but not in his car bed, or even in my arms, anymore. So I am forced to work in coffee shops with lattes and no internet connections. The lack of an Internet connection does help my productivity. Liam woke up and had a nurse, and John called to say that Jamie wanted me to come and meet them at the Jackman playground. I made it there as dusk was approaching, and Jamie and I hammered out an agreement that we'd go down the slides five times before going home. We did this, with great glee, and headed home.
It has been a quiet evening, and we're trying to go to bed early tonight. Liam was fussy earlier, but Jamie and I had fun making him laugh by tickling him while he was in his car bed. Liam adored the attention from Jamie — I don't think that I needed to be there. Jamie has just asked for a freezie, and after a reminder that Dr. Kennedy said he could have them for histhroat, he got one. Happy boy.
2006-12-09 22:07 (John) I tried singing Jingle Bells to Jamie in the car, and he told me to stop because he had a better Christmas song. He then sang the words "Windy Christmas, Windy Christmas, Windy Christmas, WIN-DY CHRIST-MAS!" to the tune of the end of the Spongebob Squarepants theme.
2006-12-10 22:44 (Kristen) After falling asleep at 11:30, Jamie was up a little before nine but in a good mood. We dawdled around the upstairs for a bit, and then headed downstairs for breakfast. John came down later, and it was one of those days where we seemed to expend a lot of energy doing not too much. We finally got our act together and took Jamie and Liam to Yonge and Bloor for some shopping. John had to go to do something at one point, leaving me with two kids and two strollers. Of course Jamie had to pee, and I had to schlep two strollers down and elevator and into a bathroom at the mall. At one point, two older women looked at me and said "You sure have your hands full!" That was indeed the case.
John met up with us, and I took Liam to the Second Cup nearby to let him nurse. Jamie and John came along a little later, and Jamie ate some of my pastry and played with the little two-year-old girl nearby. She had been adopted three weeks earlier in China, and was just starting to interact with people outsie her new family. She was interested, initially, in Liam, but Jamie proved to also be interesting. We went to Browning after we finished eating, and Jamie fell asleep on the bus on the last leg of our trip. At 5:30. All parents out there will understand how I felt at that moment. Augh! I woke Jamie up at 6:00, in the hope that we might get him to sleep before midnight if I did. He was terribly groggy, but thrilled to play with Daniel and Ross. Liam hung out with Tom, and Gary and Ayami showed up soon afterwards.
The boys had a good time, and there were enough hands about that I actually got some work done! It was so cool... We headed home around 10:00, and it is almost 11:00 and the boys are just getting out of the bath. I hope this means that they fall asleep quickly, and that we don't have our usual two hours of fooling around before sleep overtakes them.
2006-12-11 21:26 (Kristen) It was a strange and hectic morning. I had stayed up late last night to work on a project, and Jamie and Liam had fallen asleep late as well. Jamie woke up around 7:00 peeing, and John got up to take him to the bathroom (I thought it was 2:30 - John) while I nursed Liam, who (of course) woke up crying at the same time. Jamie fell back to sleep, and we all slept until 10:00. This was not a good thing, as Jamie's friend Kai was coming with his mom at 10:30. Jamie snacked on grapes once Kai arrived, and did his aggressive sharing routine with Kai and his mom, Kinu. I did not merit grapes.
Kai and Kinu stayed for lunch, and then left around 1:00, about when Ken arrived and took Liam for a walk. John took Jamie to Yonge and Bloor to do a few errands, and I met Liam and Ken at the Second Cup. We all met up again at home around 4:00, and Jamie ran down the sidewalk to meet Liam and me. It was very very sweet. John went to get Indian food from Babur in preparation for the departure party at his parents' house, and Jamie and I played trains and other things. I got Jamie to walk to John's parents' house by getting him to count cars, dogs, cats, buses, and taxis along the way.
John's aunts were at John's parents' place as well, and it was a pleasant evening saying goodbye before they head off to Mexico. Liam was his usual highly responsive self, full of smiles and duckings of head, and proved himself to be an excellent conversationalist. He actually said "hai!" at one appropriate point, which amazed all of us. I think that he responds to pauses in speech, but we chose to believe that he understood everything we said.
Jamie is hysterically tired, as he didn't nap today, and I hope thathe goes to sleep quickly tonight. Liam is pretty tired too. John told me that Jamie can sing "Old MacDonald," and has made up his own verses. My favourite is "And on that farm he had a mummy. E-I-E-I-O. With a "nurse nurse" here and a "nurse-nurse" there..." Sigh. Jamie is still drooling, which is driving me nuts, as he absolutely refuses to swallow if he can avoid it. This means that I am either cleaning up drool (because he hates it when his shirt gets wet), or taking him to the bathroom every hour because he's drinking so much juice. Also, he'll dress himself at Hakobune, but will drag it out for twenty minutes in order to get me to dress him at home. So we spend a lot of time in the bathroom. Liam almost has it figured out how to roll from his back to his side on purpose. That is all.
(John) Jamie made up a song for me too. I started singing the Mockingbird song, which Jamie usually insists that I sing in my own third person ("Papa's going to buy you a mockingbird..."), but which I reversed because I felt like singing myself a lullaby ("Hush little Papa, don't you cry, Jamie's going to sing you a lullaby..."). After a few verses, I asked Jamie what he would buy me next, and they were in quick succession a Silver "Spencer" train, a Shinkansen, and a Thomas the Tank Engine, all of which would "go fast, fast, fast!". Well, I know now what to get Jamie if he's feeling blue some day.
* For the benefit of Scrabble players, words that are not in the Scrabble dictionary are marked with an asterisk.
Back to Vol. 1 No. 60, or up to Jamie Chew's Web Log Archive. or forward to Vol. 1 No. 62.