Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 1 No. 71

2007-02-13 24:30 (Kristen) It was a chilling -15°C (5°F) when we woke up this morning, and the temperature didn't go up above -13°C today. We hid out in the morning, then ventured over to Browning for lunch. John came over later to pick up Jamie while Ken took Liam, and I went to the Second Cup to get some work done. Liam slept until 4, and Jamie slept from 3 until 5. (John: and he only fell asleep after I walked him all the way out to Jones Ave. and back, which had me really feeling the windchill and wishing I too had a clear plastic rainshield covering my entire body.) Unfortunately, Jamie didn't fall asleep again until 11:20, or so, and Liam is still awake. He napped briefly, then woke up, full of chuckles, hoots, and smiles, probably because he knows that I have a deadline to nomt on Saturday. Antinomy is the name of the feeling you have when you are being dragged between two equally pressing emotions, and as I gaze adoringly on my happy son while my stress levels goes through the roof, I am the antinomy poster mom.

Jamie is starting to get tired of all the work John and I have to do, and would really rather that we played with him instead. I do owe him a good deal of time, and we had some mom/son quality time playing Ladybirds today. I did not build him the track layout of his dreams, but that can be tomorrow's project. Gary has been sick and Ayami has been working, so there has been a lack of devoted slaves in Jamie's life. Liam is managing to make it across the living room floor, and is doing it when I'm not looking. He's the stealth baby, which is disturbing, as I'd like to confirm that he's rolling to get across the floor. That and things suddenly end up in his mouth that I didn't know he was near.

Jamie is in love with his dad's new camera, and has been taking pictures with it every chance his father gives him. Also, Jamie did finally brush his teeth with toothpaste for the first time; we've been working on it for ages, but he refused to use the toothpaste a months or two ago and we hadn't pushed the issue. Tonight, for whatever reason, he was open to the idea, and it worked. No more evil morning breath (I hope) from my older offspring!

2007-02-14 24:11 (Kristen) The boys were to bed late last night, particularly Liam, and again tonight. Tonight, however, was because they were over at Tom and Michelle's while John and I ran out to see "Casino Royale" to celebrate Valentine's Day. Neither boy missed us while we were gone, and there may have been some grumbling when we returned. Liam had apple sauce and Jamie abandoned the samosa and edamame* we'd sent for pizza. John and I very much enjoyed the movie and the adult time together, and no one seems to have been traumatized by the fracturing of the family unit for three hours. Rather liberating, actually: we may do this again. Soon!

This morning's snowstorm meant that John and Jamie arrived at Hakobune 45 minutes later than planned (a record commute time) (John: not to mention how long it took us to dig out the car), but just in time for cake and the birthday party for four of his classmates. John took pictures. Liam and I hung around at home while I tried to work, but then I gave up and took Liam through the drifts of newly fallen snow to the Second Cup. Liam slept for three and a half hours while I worked frantically to finish a manuscript (due Saturday, and not finished yet). Yay, Liam! Jamie and John came down to meet us (John: after shovelling more snow), and Jamie slept for a little over two hours himself. Yay, Jamie! John and I got lots of work done, so we didn't feel guilty about taking off for the movie. All in all, a very very good day.

(John) Jamie was delighted to see Gary outside (shovelling snow) when we got back from the Second Cup. Gary has had our cold for the last several days, so it was nice to see him up and around again. Our kids were none the worse for our having left them with Tom for the evening, and I can't even say that they were particularly happy to see us when we came by to take them home. That's good, I think.

2007-02-15 20:00 (John) Today is Flag Day in Canada, whose only significance is that people talk on the radio about how it ought to be a statutory holiday because we need one in February, and which has no relevance to this blog. I drove Jamie to Hakobune this morning in close to record time (14 minutes) as I hit almost every stoplight on the green or amber. It was quite cold again today. The early morning windchill equivalent of -30°C (-22°F) eventually warmed up to -23°C (-9°F) and added on several minutes to each trip outdoors, as we all got bundled up in multiple layers top and bottom.

What with a visit to the library and general horseplay with Kai, it was close to 14:00 by the time we got home. I had gone to Canadian Tire in the morning to buy a new snow shovel (Gary broke one yesterday) and a new toboggan (my old one is on long-term loan to Daniel, but is not currently snow-worthy), so we spent half an hour taking some of the 20-30 cm (8-12 in.) snow accumulation in the driveway and moving it to the backyard to build a small toboggan hill. By the time it was ready, Jamie needed to go to the bathroom again, and it was a good thing that his snow pants have an emergency zipper running the whole length of each inseam. Then Jamie made it clear that he was ready for his nap, and he fell asleep in the stroller on the way to find Mom and Liam at the Second Cup.

I woke Jamie up in time to come back home for dinner. Kristen made omelettes. I shovelled more snow onto the toboggan hill. I'll ask Kristen to continue on from here about Liam's day, as I didn't get to spend much time with him, except a little play time at the Second Cup whenever he needed to be calmed down.

2007-02-16 22:43 (Kristen) Well, I was supposed to write about what Liam did yesterday, but fell asleep with the kids when we were putting them to sleep. Sleeping children (or pretending to sleep to get them to sleep) can be soporific. To sum up: Liam played, slept, and bounced like a happy, laughing fiend in his neglect-o-matic.

This morning, we all woke up around the same time and got ready for Hakobune. I made Jamie o-chazuke (at his request), which is rice, green tea, and various flavourings (fish, toasted seaweed, and so on). However, he was not as happy with it as he could have been because we had no salmon roe to put on it, but was mollified by the promise that we'd buy more tomorrow.

John took Jamie to Hakobune, and I stayed home to work and look after Liam. I didn't get much done at home as Liam needed more of my attention than usual, but he fell asleep after lunch when I took him for his usual walk down to the Second Cup. I really feel like I should get a tax writeoff for the amount of time I spend working there! I stayed for the afternoon, joined by Jamie and John later on as they returned from Hakobune. Jamie managed to get wet two pairs of pants and two pairs of underwear, but I managed to find a third pair and we took him home in his snow pants, sans regular pants. Yay me!

John took Jamie swimming, and he was orders of magnitude better than the last time. I'll let him tell it. Afterwards, we all met up at Browning, where Tom looked after Liam for me while I worked away, and Gary kept Jamie entertained. John kept Ross and Daniel entertained; it was Swap-a-Child night! But we were all happy. We're home now, and getting ready for bed. I have a big project due tomorrow, and so I'm hoping that Liam will sleep tonight, where he hasn't for the last few weeks. Hope springs eternal...

(John) Jamie had a gleefully goofy day today. I'm sure he was a handful at Hakobune, and when I tried to get him to pee upstairs there before getting suited up to go home, he surprised Mrs. Sasaki by how hyper he was ("He usually just goes to the bathroom and pees. What is he doing wriggling in your lap?"). When we got downstairs he had to run around a lot, then pretend to sing songs from the podium, then actually sing songs from the podium. Then we noticed that someone had left the top of the piano open, so I had to play Japanese songs for him while he watched the mechanism, then while he sang while watching the mechanism, etc.

We got home a little before 15:00, then shovelled some more snow onto the toboggan hill we're building in the backyard, then went on some practice runs. He got tired and climbed into the stroller and fell asleep as I was crossing the Danforth to go to the Second Cup, it was a close call.

He had been looking forward to going to the pool all day. When we got there, we were greeted by a nanny with two kids (a girl about Jamie's age, a boy four years older) who remembered Jamie and Mio from the playground two summers ago. I have no idea what any of their names are, this is so embarrassing. Jamie spent 45 minutes in the pool. Many of those were spent belting out the theme song from Wonder Pets, while rescuing various animal bath toys from the pool. Almost all were spent freely kicking his way around while supported by his life vest, with a little bit of dog paddling action from his hands toward the end. Last week, he wouldn't let go of me while in the pool. He also climbed in and out of the pool on the ladder all by himself, and would probably have been fine with me going off somewhere and reading a book, except that the lifeguards would have banned me from the pool. It took quite a lot of work to talk him out of the pool, ten minutes after everyone else had left, and I imagine he's looking forward to going back next week if not sooner.

2007-02-17 19:45 (John) We all slept very poorly last night. Liam was teething badly enough that he needed some Tempra. Kristen had a lot of work to do. Jamie was the only one who wanted to get up in the morning, so he dragged me off to feed him strawberries (the most reasonable of a long list of requests he woke up with), followed in quick succession by oranges, blueberries, apples and cape gooseberries. Jamie and I got to the Market fairly early and did our usual tour, including a brief visit at the Early Years Centre where we played mostly with modelling clay. By the time we got home around 14:00 though, we were both exhausted. I shovelled snow for an hour while Jamie watched the film of the day, Walt Disney's Robin Hood. I thought about taking him out for a walk, but he seemed not quite tired enough to fall asleep, and there seemed more danger of my falling asleep on the walk than Jamie. So I got some snacks ready for Jamie, then passed out on the couch. I think Jamie was on his third viewing of Robin Hood when Kristen and Liam came home around 18:00. I'll leave it to her to say how Liam's day was. He seems okay but teething right now, and I overheard that he tried squash puree for the first time and enjoyed it.

(Kristen) Liam and I got up soon after Jamie kicked John out of bed. Liam was in a good enough mood, if a little fussy. He hoovered his apple sauce, played in the neglect-o-matic, and came with me to the Second Cup while I got work done in my sleepy state. He woke up after half an hour, and my heart sank; however, as if to make up for last night, he was charming and after a nurse, easy to get along with. After an hour, he let me put him down in the stroller and he played there more or less for two hours, then started to fuss. I put him into his snowsuit and stroller, anticipating a walk just outside watching my work-laden cafe table though the window, when Liam fell asleep in the stroller, before I even started moving it. Woot! A valuable lesson! We are home now, hoping for a much better night tonight. Liam hoovered some squash puree for the first time, deciding it would do, and a bit of apple puree as well. He also grabbed a small baby bottle of water and managed to put it into his own mouth. His look of triumph was unmistakable.

2007-02-18 20:48 (Kristen) Jamie had us up around 8:30 or so, wanting us to play with him. We're negotiating to put toys upstairs, so that he can play in the other room while waiting for us to wake up. Urrgh. We cleaned up, had the o-chazuke* that Jamie requested yesterday (with extra ikura*, or salmon roe). Jamie also tried to add his own soy sauce, causing his tea to go black. Not the colour you want in your o-chazuke*! Liam happily ate apples.

John's aunts Nobuko and Tomoko came by, and brought a lovely home made lunch to share. Jamie was very happy to play with both of them, and Liam was delighted to play with his aunts as well. We headed out for walks with the boys soon after, and Liam didn't sleep much on the first try. He woke up, and was awake for an hour and a bit before I tried to walk him to sleep again. He did, and slept for an hour and a half before waking up again. Jamie slept for two hours. When he woke up, he did some writing practice, and spelled his own name (with prompting on which letter comes next) all by himself, legibly. Woo hoo, Jamie! We're very proud. Liam has been laughing a great deal today, particularly when I blow on his tummy, or when John (his favourite) or someone else laughs at him. John says that he can laugh socially now, which is a new step in his development. Yay, Liam! (this is a particularly fun development, which is leading to much smiling and laughter in the house).

We met up with my dad and his friend, Liz, for dinner on the Danforth. We went to an Italian restaurant called Seven Numbers, and Jamie enjoyed the calamari, duck, salmon, and eggplan parmesan we passed to him. Liam gnawed on an apple that the kitchen found for us. Yay, kitchen! Liam was smiles and chuckles, sitting in his highchair# (which we packed with blankets to make sure he didn't fall over and around in it). Jamie was having fun, but was a little unsettled; John says that he probably isn't feeling all that well, and he was definitely tired. He and John had been playing at the playground across the street while we waited to meet my dad and Liz at the Second Cup. Jamie had been having fun playing with a little two-year-old girl at the Second Cup, for whom Jamie was both playmate and policeman. He's a good older brother.

More disjointed observations from the day: Jamie and Liam are getting to be closer and closer. Jamie has been hugging and cuddling Liam, who watches Jamie every move whenever they are in the same room. Yesterday, Liam started giving me small whimpers and complaints when Jamie left the room. Liam slept better last night, and even kept sleeping when I left the room with Jamie this morning. I think that the key is to let him sleep on his tummy. It's well worth experimenting with. Jamie is now watching Robin Hood for the nineteenth million time. We're all happy and tired.

2007-02-19 23:44 (Kristen) One of the pleasures of working at home as a freelancer is that you get to make your own hours. One of the drawbacks is that your kids get to dictate your hours, and they're not always that reasonable. One memorable evening, I was proofing a manuscript in bed at 1:00 AM, with Liam tucked into my armpit and me writing awkwardly above his head, hoping that he wouldn't wake up. Last night, as I had a deadline to meet this morning, I was up late again, holding Liam against one shoulder and bouncing him while I wrote with the other. I did this between midnight and 4 AM; I wouldn't have been up so late if Liam had let me put him down and use both hands, I suspect (it was slowing me down), but he was already drugged up on Tempra because his mouth hurts again and you don't mess with what works: if he's awake, I'm not working. I am not sure how I will convey the sheer ridiculousness of the situation to my boys when they are older, but it might make them feel better when they are faced with similar situations of their own.

I was up again at 8:00 to put the final touches on the manuscript, before my 10:30 meeting. John and the boys drove me to my meeting, which was near Riverdale Farm. They played in the snow (well, Liam slept through it all), looked at the chickens, turkeys, rabbits, and pigs, and Jamie played with another little boy there. John says that it has taken him a long time to get Jamie to go into where the pigs are, as he doesn't like the smell. He's been smell sensitive today, and more oppositional than usual. We're beginning to suspect that he is fighting an ear infection, as he breaks into tears at the drop of a hat, and is sleeping on his side or forward (when in his stroller) as he says he's not comfortable when on his back. Doctor's appointment tomorrow! They should reserve us our own seats.

We came back around noon, to meet up with my dad, who spent the afternoon with us before heading back to Ottawa. He had a good time with both boys, ate lunch with us, and spent some time at the Second Cup talking with me before heading down to the train station. It was good to see him. We took Jamie, after he woke up, to the toy store, and then to Browning. It was a good evening there, but Jamie was getting more oppositional again by the end. He seemed very tired, but took a long time to go to sleep (about 11:30). Liam, of course, is still awake, as he needed to have a big poo before he could think about settling in for the night. I'm going to have to try and trigger this event before bedtime, rather than after, I think...In the meantime, all the caffeine in the world isn't going to keep me awake much longer. I hope that the two of us can work this out somehow, soon.

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

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