Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 1 No. 63

2006-12-19 22:30 (John) I have oral surgery tomorrow afternoon, so today was our nominal deadline for Christmas shopping, and I'm glad to say that with some help from our boys, we're mostly done. We even managed to get suitably grim photos taken of Kristen, Jamie and Liam, so that we can get their passports ordered in time for our trip to Mexico. The passport for Liam, along with the grimness of the photos, are necessitated by new regulations requiring passport photos for all travel into and out of the United States, and requiring all new photos to feature neutral facial expressions. Anyway.

We spent the morning at home baking, ordering, wrapping, etc., Kristen took the boys to Browning for lunch, then she took Liam to do all the shopping on the Danforth and I took Jamie on the subway to handle the rest of the city. We took the subway to St. Patrick station, walked along Dundas to Ten Ren to get bubble tea, then to Chinatown Centre where Jamie helpfully pointed out to me that the entire mall is full of stores that sell little toys that attract the attention of small children. Boy, does he like little cars with batteries and lights. We walked up through Kensington Market, and he fell asleep at Little Tokyo, which gave me a chance to sit down at the Second Cup and have a bite to eat.

We remet Kristen and Liam at Broadview station and walked home comparing notes about her day, chatted briefly with Tai-Tai and Ho-Ho at their winter home in Puerto Morelos, made more cookies, ate a little too much dessert (cookies, fried bananas, ice cream), and eventually made it to bed. Liam is happier and cuter than ever, and if he can't get you to smile, he starts laughing at you until you can't help but laugh back.

2006-12-20 24:20 (John) Kristen spent most of the day looking after the boys, but she's passed out now (could there be a connection?), so I'll briefly mention what I know of their day and hope she can add to it later. They were sleeping when I left for an early morning (routine) test at the hospital, and by the time I was back home Kristen had already fed Jamie breakfast, taken him to Hakobune and was running a few last Christmas errands at the Eaton Centre with Liam. I went grocery shopping at Loblaws, then picked everyone up at Hakobune and drove them home. Liam started to fuss in the car, but calmed down when Kristen held his hand, probably because it brought her thumb within gnawing range. Liam loves to chew on thumbs: his own, a convenient adult's, it doesn't matter.

I went down to Dr. Wong's for a dental implant while Kristen took the boys out for a walk. Jamie fell asleep in the new jogging stroller for the first time, so she was able to settle in at the Second Cup and get some work done. She was there in the middle of the afternoon when a local crew of firemen dropped by for their usual coffee break, and one of them came by and said "Every time I come here for coffee, you've got your two kids sound asleep and you're hard at work. You're my hero!".

I got home, took a painkiller and tried to pass out, Kristen brought home takeout from Taste of the Silk Road (Jamie adores their Lemon Chicken) and we all ate dinner together. Jamie then went downstairs to play with Gary, I went to the Scrabble club, and I'm not sure what Liam did, but I imagine it involved chewing on thumbs and fabric, and smiling at Mom. When I got home around 22:00, everyone was still up, so we lay in bed and talked about the day and about our upcoming holiday trip until everyone very gradually drifted off to sleep.

2006-12-21 22:45 (John) It's a good thing that we're mostly ready for Christmas. I was up until about 4:00 last night spaced out on Tylenol #3 (acetaminophen with codeine) but unable to sleep due to discomfort from my dental implant surgery, and Kristen started showing symptoms of the stomach flu that Ross had a few days ago at around 3:00 in the morning. Around 8:30 she came to wake me up to suggest a change in our plans for the day: I wouldn't spend the day in bed with an ice pack on my jaw, but would look after the boys so that she could stay at home and near a bucket. Fair enough.

I got Jamie to Hakobune only a little later than usual, then came back home to nap for half an hour while keeping an ear out for Liam, who spent most of the morning in bed nursing or sleeping. Then I made a pot of my miso gumbo soup, reasoning correctly that it would end up getting eaten by Jamie for his late afternoon snack, me whenever I had a chance, and Kristen whenever her appetite came back. Then I got Liam ready for his afternoon and took him over to Browning, where Tami looked after him until Ross was off to school and then Ken took him out for a three-hour walk (yay, Ken!). I dashed through pre-Christmas traffic (boo) back to Hakobune and picked up Jamie a few minutes late (sigh), and had Jamie give Christmas presents to his teacher at day care, and to the church staff, in case we don't make it back tomorrow. Jamie was his usual post-day-care self (a little bit tired, but happy) in the car on the way home, and was happy to sit and wait in the car in the driveway while I got the stroller out and loaded (though he would have been happier had I left the keys in the ignition so that he could work the power windows).

We walked to the Big Carrot, bought some groceries, went nextdoor to Book City and bought presents for my brother (after checking with Kristen that we both thought the other one had bought something), and then went over to the Second Cup to give up on Jamie's nap, where of course he fell asleep clutching a Rice Krispie square in his tired little hand. I rechecked my Christmas list, had a cup of tea, then went back to Browning to pick up Liam, pushed one stroller and pulled the other around the block, brought Liam in to reunite him with Kristen (he was hungry), and left Jamie in his stroller in the front hall to finish his two-hour nap. (Jamie is still fighting some virus, and is still drooling, though I think it might finally be getting just a little bit better.)

I wrote Christmas cards, etc. while Jamie napped, then Jamie sat with Kristen on the couch and watched TV while I napped. I reheated leftovers for Jamie's dinner while Liam played on Jamie's old play mat (which he adores now, thanks again, Ron and Susi). Jamie went down to play with Gary until bedtime, and Liam spent a happy hour nursing himself in and out of sleep after tiring himself out on the play mat.

We followed our usual beditme protocol, with me bathing Liam (which he loves, as he spends most of the time walking (with much assistance) up and down my chest) while Kristen brushes Jamie's teeth, then me bathing Jamie while Kristen gets Liam settled for bed. It's taking both kids a while to fall asleep tonight, possibly because they're not feeling well (both), or had a sedentary day (Jamie) or slept a lot during the day (Liam).

2006-12-22 23:00 (Kristen) John and I took Jamie and Liam in the car to Hakobune today, and left Jamie happily playing with his classmates before running some important errands. We picked Jamie up, did some more errands, then came home. Jamie didn't sleep, so we had a quiet afternoon at home. Dinner was at Browning, and Jamie watched Gamera the Brave, thanks to Gary. There was some explanation involved. Jamie is in bed, and John is playing with a delighted Liam. The end.

(John) Jamie's drooling seems to be lessening a little, but he has a loonie-sized welt on his left thigh, so we've given him some Benadryl to make him stop scratching. I'm guessing it's a viral reaction.

2006-12-23 34:15 (Kristen) It was a rough night, as Liam woke up yelling around 5:00 and I only managed to get him solidly asleep again by 6:00 or so. As I'd gone to bed late, I was not the perkiest person in the world when we suited up to go to the St. Lawrence Market together. The boys were fine, and John took Liam around the market in the sling. Liam sits forwards in it now, and with the little peaked hood on his sweater (knitted by Auntie Jennie), he looked like a Christmas Elf. Nupur asked to hold him while John went through his pockets for the money to pay her for the samosas (it was, of course, in the one pocket he couldn't access while wearing the sling), and almost didn't get him back. Nupur and Steve the Newspaper Guy have both decided that we need to have a girl next time. Negotiations are proceeding, with some deadlock from the Mommy Union.

After the market, John stopped outside the Bay so that I could make a last-minute exchange. While waiting, Liam started to fuss, so John took him into his lap. Two policemen on the beat saw John parked in a no parking zone with a toddler in the back and an infant on his lap, and studiously studied the window displays before moving on. Yay Toronto beat cops! Then it was off to Bay and Bloor for a nurse for Liam and some chocolate shopping. Liam nursed and dropped off in a Second Cup, while Jamie fell asleep in his stroller soon afterwards. I was feeling progressively unwell, and fell asleep after taking Jamie to Browning on the subway. When I woke up, I was sick again, but that seems to be it. Jamie ran about Browning imperiously; Liam smiled at everyone; John made dinner by himself and cleaned up (yay John!). I lay in a heap on the couch. We went home around 9:00, and the boys were in bed by 10:00. We all slept like logs until the morning.

2006-12-24 23:32 (Kristen) Jamie has been looking forward to Christmas, and has been asking more and more about when Christmas will start. We finished decorating the tree today, and he was very insistent that John put the star at the top. When John was done, Jamie said "Yay! We can start opening presents now!" He can't wait.

It's been a flurry of preparations today, many delayed by my two recent sick days. We're plowing through, and think that we might be ready by Boxing day. But Christmas doesn't wait, does it? The car is loaded, the presents are wrapped, and there is some cleaning up still to do. It's all dealing with the little bits now, but bed is looming soon. I hope.

Jamie and Liam were up before 9:00, and we had a reasonable morning as John and I worked to get ready for Christmas. In the afternoon, John and Jamie and Liam and I delivered presents to our neighbours, and then the three men went for a walk while I wrapped furiously. They came home, and we did more pre work before going to my aunt Millie's for our traditional Christmas Eve get together. We had a lovely time, and Jamie took his trains to show. He hadn't napped, so he was in a fine mood. A high point for me was having a photo taken of me and the boys in my grandfather's big recliner. Liam was the centre of much photography, and we enjoyed getting to know my aunt's boyfriend, Ray, better. Jamie fell asleep in the car on the way home, and Liam woke up when we got home but Jamie didn't. I am wondering what time he'll wake up in the morning. Merry Christmas!

2006-12-25 25:30 (John) Well, that was a long day. I'm going to keep this as short as I can, and add to it in days to come. In particular, I'll omit mention of most of the Christmas presents Jamie and Liam received until I can compile a reasonably complete list.

Last night ended for us around 3:30 A.M., when the car was mostly fully packed, in the sense that I could not imagine any way to pack any more into it, the presents were all wrapped and staged, and the house was looking reasonably tidy. Jamie woke up around 8:30 (?) and Kristen kept him quiet until 9:00, a minor miracle. Then we got up and got dressed and went downstairs to eat just enough to keep us going and settle down to the serious job of seeing what Santa had left for us under the tree. Jamie had decided that since Christmas was clearly right up there with Hallowe'en in a young child's calendar, he ought to dress appropriately, and following his young sartorial instincts decided that a young boy is never underdressed when wearing a fireman costume. By happy coincidence, Santa Claus left Jamie a lovely wooden fire engine under the tree, and he played mostly with that until we headed over to Browning at around 10.

We had more breakfast, then opened stocking presents, then herded everyone (The resident Tom and Michelle and their kids Daniel and Ross, Michelle's parents Ken and Tami, the four of us, and Gary and Ayami) into the living room to exchange gifts. Jamie's favourite present there was definitely the Musical Thomas the Tank Engine that Gary and Ayami gave him. We took our customary group photo, which is less posed than usual, then Ken took the melted-down Liam out for a walk around the neighbourhood, Ayami looked after Jamie, and I finished packing the car while Kristen got the house ready for our departure. We waved goodbye to Ayami and Gary, and set off at 14:00.

The first leg of the drive, to Kingston, was mostly uneventful. We made one pit stop at Trenton, and made it to my brother's house at 17:00. Jamie played mostly with his cousin Amy, after checking to see what was new in the house (no hamsters, but two rabbits, and a Wii, as far as I could tell), and was generally too excited and underslept (half-hour nap just as we arrived) to eat, preferring instead to renew his acquaintance with Amy's Brio trains. We hit the road again at about 18:30.

It was dark, and rainy, and the kids were both unsettled. They both wanted the lights on in the car, while I preferred them off, so we compromised on having them mostly off except when Jamie complained of being afraid of the dark. Musical Thomas played London Bridge is Falling Down a little too fast for two and a half hours straight. Liam melted down about forty-five minutes before the end of the trip, and Kristen spent a valiant forty minutes keeping him close to calm. That leg of the trip made my top 10 list of Worst Car Trips ever (some of the other notable contenders are the first trip to England, the attempted drive through the blizzard that ended up at the emergency shelter, the time Kelly flipped and rolled and totalled the car, and our trip to Boston with newborn Jamie), but it was mercifully short (though it didn't feel that way at the time), and we were all very happy to get to Kristen's sister Jennifer's house in Orleans.

Liam spent the hour or two that we were there being passed from one eager cousin, aunt or uncle to the next, while Jamie played trains with his cousins. More presents, the best of which were the collection of trains that Jamie received from Laraine, and the penguin hat and mittens that Liam got from his cousins. Then it was back into the car for one last short trip over to Grammie's house, bathe the kids and send them to bed with Mom, who when I started working on this blog an hour ago at 24:30 was still trying to get them calm enough to sleep. Phew. Boxing Day shopping tomorrow, I can hardly wait! :)

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

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