Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 1 No. 62

2006-12-12 21:38 (Kristen) Jamie woke me up at 7:00 to pee, and Liam woke up at the same time needing a change. We didn't go back to sleep, but I did manage to get Jamie to stay in bed, chatting and reading books, until close to 9:00. John had some doctor's appointments, so I spent a little more time with the boys than usual. Jamie is still drooling, but I'm not really sure why at this point. Sigh.I took them to Browning for lunch, and John took Jamie for a walk while Ken took Liam. Yay! I went and caffeinated myself at the Second Cup for a bit and worked before John dropped a sleeping Jamie off on the way to going to the next doctor's appointment. Ken dropped off Liam a bit later, and kindly took the stroller home for me while I put Liam into the front sling that I had brought for this situation. Jamie slept for two hours, and woke up at 3:30.

Upon waking, I told him that we were going to go to the library, and that we could go to the toy store afterwards. He told me "no toy store," meaning the library please, and step on it. We dropped off a bunch of books, and picked up a few more. Before I dropped off the old ones, we had about 40 books out for Jamie. I am now (because I am a mother, and therefore have some time I can spare from eating bonbons and watching soap operas) keeping a log of what books we take out of the library and how much Jamie enjoyed them. I think the impulse comes in part from a blog I've been reading called "What Was That Book?" where people ask other people to help them find books that they read and can't remember the title or author for. Most of the books requested are from people's childhoods. We can and will avoid this sort of later life crisis.

I forgot to mention that Jamie is really picking up on phonetics. I was reading a phonetics reader to him (a Ladybird reader), going over big and little letters, and found out that he was talking to John about it later. He told him that "f" makes a "ffff" sound, and tonight in bed, we talked about what words start with what sounds. "Got" and "Go away" start with a "guh" sound, fish starts with a "fff" sound, and so on. As you might tell from the "g" examples, Jamie was coming up with his own words that start with the sound in question. Something has clicked over in his brain, and he's starting to put words together. John asked him what f-a-s-t spelled, and sounded it out. Jamie said "fast!" Bingo. He read CAR to me yesterday, and repeated it when I asked him what C-A-R (sounded out) spelled. He does confuse K and C, which is perfectly normal. But I'm thrilled by all of this, and amazed. I think that John is too. And Jamie, of course, just rolls on, but I think he's pretty pleased with himselftoo.

We took a quick trip to the toy store after all, and walked home. We spent a quiet evening, reading books, watching a little television, and playing. I am thinking of using a website called Library Thing to catalogue all of Jamie's books. Liam loves Jamie, and Jamie pushed Liam's stroller all theway to Browning at lunchtime. I got Jamie to walk all the way to Pearls last night by asking him to count buses and taxis, and then to call out "car!" on a quiet sidestreet, if he saw one coming. We also looked for dogs and cats, but saw none. It kept him happy and occupied, and (most of all) walking. The boys are in the bath now, and I must rescue everyone.

2006-12-13 24:27 (Kristen) Jamie was fast asleep when it was time to get up this morning for Hakobune, and I had to eventually carry him down the stairs and plop him into his chair for his breakfast in an attempt to wake him up. It did work, and he did get some breakfast into him before it was time to go. He was very easy going about it, which was dead unusual. Generally, he has to go and visit his trains and do just about everything possible to avoid doing what you just asked him to do. Going out the door is the best way to motivate him, because he really does want to go: he just wants to see how far he can drag it out (answer: pretty darn far).

I took Liam to the Second Cup anticipating a few hours of work but I was denied: he woke up after about 45 minutes, and that, gentle readers, was that for the day. I finished my coffee and headed home again, where we did this and that until John and Jamie came home. It is Wednesday, and therefore Scrabble night, so I took the boys for the afternoon so that John could get ready. Jamie fell asleep at 3:00 on the nose, and Liam fell asleep, as usual, in the front carrier (affectionately know as the "octopus," for its many long straps). I got a half hour's work done at the Second Cup before Jamie woke himself up at the hour mark, peeing. We got him changed, and he demanded a "boy" cookie (a gingerbread man with male clothes in icing), and went to have fun in the playground on the slide. We agreed that he would have three slides down the red slides, and one down the orange slide. I asked him how many that would make in total, and he counted "1,2,3,4!" on his fingers. I was surprised; I asked him later, just to make sure that he was doing what I thought he was doing, how many in total if he went down the red ones three times and the orange one twice. "1,2,3,4,5!" he said, again counting on his fingers. Well heck. Kid can count and do simple math. That big mental jump we were observing has certainly paid off lately.

John went out to Scrabble, and I made dinner. Jamie didn't eat much (he didn't like the capers, I think), so we spent the night watching one Rubbadubbers DVD, peeing and playing with water in the bathroom, and otherwise having a quiet night. I got Jamie to eat the rest of his dinner around 8:30, when it was time for a bath. He was out of sorts, likely because he was hungry, and took a loooong time to fall asleep. He views bedtime as a time of conflict between him and me, which doesn't make it any easier. John came home and put him to sleep while I took a shower, with Liam in the bouncy chair. Liam is still awake, despite my best efforts, but getting ticked about it.

2006-12-14 23:15 (Kristen) Jamie slept like a log last night, which wasn't surprising, and only flirted with breakfast. I got him and Liam on the bus by 9:40, and at Hakobune by 10:10, thanks to some excellent timing on our connections. Jamie was unusually easy to move along with today. No idea why, but I'm happy. Liam slept for a good long time this morning while I worked at a Second Cup (no outlets at Starbucks, so I walked the extra half mile), and woke up when we arrived at Hakobune to pick up Jamie. Liam has been very chatty lately, and makes bilabial fricatives with great joy and ease. He particularly likes it if you make them back. I should also mention that he has very strong hands, which he enjoys grabbing hands with.

Jamie read a book or two with me at the church library, and then we all went back home on the subway. Jamie did some grocery shopping with John an I took Liam, who was enjoying the warm weather and the stroller very much, to our local Second Cup for more work and long nap. Jamie did not nap. I came home,to find Jamie playing with Gary. Jamie didn't let Gary go for most of the evening. Dinner was late, due to a misunderstanding about who was making dinner,but that just meant more Gary time to Jamie. In the end, Jamie ended up going to bed very late for a little boy who hadn't napped (10:20), but he fell asleep right away, with no fuss at all (which was very unusual, and very welcome to everyone). Liam, however, is wide awake and full of beans, likely because of the many naps he's had today. We'll see if we can put him down again in about an hour. Fingers crossed!

2006-12-15 21:51 (Kristen) I mentioned that Jamie seems to have finished an intellectual jump, and I should now mention that Liam is doing the same thing. It's hard to quantify in a child only three and a half months old, but it's clear that new neurons are firing at will in his mind. He is intent on watching things and people now, and can get upset when he grabs a fish hanging from the arch of his play mat and it won't come to him. He is grabbing onto things with both hands and shoving them into his mouth, including fingers that belong to other people. Tom reports that he chomps down hard enough to almost cause pain in the chompee. He enjoys sitting up much more than being on his back, and loves the stroller because he gets to see lots of the world. He also adores anyone who holds him so that he can stand instead of sit. He still stays awake only for two hours or so before he needs a power nap, but he's starting to be more interactive, and more demanding on my time. As he is the easiest baby in the universe, this isn't saying much, but it's a gradual and perceptable change in the ways in which he deals with the world.

Our transportation power has been doubled, thanks to the great efforts of Ken Sagara. Ken saw a jogging stroller that someone had left by the curb across from Michelle and Tom's house, and took a look at it. He's been walking Liam in the little umbrella stroller, which isn't meant for long walks. So, he took the jogging stroller and has spent the last two weeks or so rehabilitating it. It turns out that the thing had been left in the rain by its owners (these things are $400, so my mind boggles at this behaviour), but was otherwise brand new. He brought it by today, and John and I took it for a test drive on our afternoon walk with the boys. Woot! Ken rules! It was a lot of work, but it's going to make a lot of lives easier.

It was otherwise a normal day. Liam is his usual happy self, and Jamie is a happy boy too. Jamie isn't watching much television these days, but is enjoying reading books with me and playing with anyone else he can grab. He's still drooling, but it seems to be tapering off (finally). We had dinner at Browning; Jamie napped; Liam did enough that I got some work done. It was, all in all, a good day.

2006-12-16 24:14 (Kristen) Yesterday, Jamie gave Daniel a good scolding after Daniel was teasing his brother, Ross. Jamie told him in no uncertain terms, despite Daniel's rather shamefaced protests, that what he was going was rude, and that he should not do it, and followed Daniel around until he was finished having his say. Jamie has a highly developed sense of right and wrong.

We woke up late this morning, and spent time in bed reading books before we got up. I convinced Jamie yesterday to eat breakfast by telling him that he needed coal in his firebox so that he have enough steam that he could make it to the end of the line. He thought this was good, and we did it again today. He also dressed himself mostly by himself without a fight. Woo hoo! Liam was smiley and happy, and full of kicks and wriggles. Liam and I went to the market with John and Jamie; well, we hung out at the local Timothy's while John and Jamie did the shopping. I worked, Liam charmed the locals. Then we went to Dufflet to pick up a birthday cake for Tom, and headed home. Jamie was tired and clumsy (he kept whacking his head on things), although the clumsy might be because he is growing up, but failed to nap. Liam didn't sleep much either.

We went to Browning for dinner, and to celebrate Tom's birthday. Jamie had fun as usual with everyone there, and Liam was very chatty and charming with everyone. He, like Jamie did, loves to hear Michelle rant. We all get a kick out of this. We got home late, and the boys were in bed late, but Jamie fell asleep quickly and easily. Hooray! Liam took more convincing, but is asleep (finally) as well.

2006-12-17 22:43 (John) Jamie is still drooling, but we have a paediatrician's appointment tomorrow to discuss what might be causing it. We slept in a little, and Jamie spent an hour playing Sesame Street games online on his computer while I worked on the NSA web site. Kristen and Liam were in the kitchen, I think working on breakfast, but I'm not sure because I had to leave the house in a precipitous hurry on an errand for my parents. (We had buttermilk pancakes with syrup and whipped cream: one of Jamie's favourite breakfasts --Kristen) When I got back, I took Jamie out for a walk in gorgeous and most unseasonal 12°C (54°F) weather, which did not make him sleepy in the slightest. We then all bundled into the car so that Kristen could go visit a client in Cabbagetown and Jamie, Liam and I could visit Riverdale Farm. The car ride and then the fresh air kept Liam asleep for a few hours (phew) (He slept practically all day! I'm amazed he's asleep tonight! --Kristen), and Jamie and I had a grand time inspecting livestock at a safe distance. When Kristen caught up with us, we were near the butterfly garden, where some clever landscapist laid out a circuit where toddlers could run around in various ways (on the path, along the top of the retaining wall, along a little wooden bridge). Jamie and a small swarm of toddlers played tag to the best of their understanding of the rules until, mirabile* dictu*, they were too tired to run.

Jamie fell asleep in the car on the way home and napped for a little more than an hour. When he woke up, I made huachinango* tikinchik* for the first time in a long time, but Jamie recognized it and ate it with gusto, along with fried bananas, spinach and rice. Liam eyed us enviously, and will be asking for food quite soon, though for now he's enjoying the many textures and flavours of cloth, his current favourite being my T-shirts at the end of the day. After dinner, Jamie helped Mom make chocolate chip cookies, for use as Christmas presents if any survive the quality control process.

2006-12-18 21:31 (Kristen) Last night, Jamie decided to help Liam choose and hold some rattles in his hand. Liam was so delighted at his brother's undivided attention that he let out four long peals of laughter: the longest I've ever heard, and the most spontaneous. Jamie was pretty pleased. Liam's baby hair has mostly fallen out, but is being replaced by very short, dark hair as it falls out. So, he won't be bald but look like he has his hair cut by a severe barber. He really does look different every day.

Jamie had pancakes again for breakfast this morning, to his great pleasure, and we ran off to see Dr. Coombs about his drooling. Her verdict was that it is a virus connected to the rash on his legs, and that it'll taper off. We're trying to get Jamie to bed early tonight, as the only cure is rest and he hasn't been getting enough of that. He did seem a little out of sorts today, having a meltdown on the way home from the doctor's, and being Contrary Boy at many opportunities after being very easy to get along with for a few days. We went, with Gary, to Browning, and then Ken took Liam for a walk while John did some Christmas shopping on the Danforth with Jamie. I did some work at the Second Cup, and then we went to the Bay and Bloor area to get our hair cut.

When we arrived at the hairdresser's, one of the women working there said "You can to to the baby room in the back." It turns out that she was serious: there were two other women there, both nursing infants while sitting in some comfy chairs. Liam was the oldest of the three, and it was odd to think that he was ever that small! One baby was 13 days old, and the other was a month old. Liam joined the nursing crowd, and Jamie had fun exploring the salon before it was time to go with John and Liam and find chocolate and for me to get my hair cut. Jamie fell asleep in the car on the way home, and didn't stir when John brought him in to Browning and put him on the couch with the television on. We woke him up with difficulty 45 minutes later, and he sat, watching television, while John and I made dinner. Liam lay in the car bed and chatted, and played with Tom over the course of the evening. Liam particularly enjoys chewing on Tom's thumbs, and does so with great gusto. We're home now, and putting the boys to bed. We're all tired, and would benefit from a good night's sleep.

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

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