Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 2 No. 3

2007-09-25 32:00 (John) Kristen must have been exhausted again last night, as she forgot to update the blog. I have been making sure I go to bed no later than two hours after Jamie each night, because he likes to sleep for ten hours each night, and I have trouble functioning on less than eight. In theory, this means that we're both well rested, but of course on school nights if Jamie has trouble falling asleep, as he has the last few nights, it means that we are equally poorly rested. Jamie was in fact blitheringly tired all day today, almost passing out at lunch and dinner and keeping himself awake in the afternoon only by doing connect-the-dot puzzles (he did a whole book of them in one sitting) and mazes, along with a little of his Japanese homework.

He was very excited when I picked him up after kindergarten though, saying "Dad! Today was a big day! I got my first book from the school library!" (Note to self: must blog the titles of the three books he has out from various shool collections right now.)

Tai-Tai came over for a visit in the afternoon, along with her new tenant Haruka , to pick up some things for Haruka, and staye a while to play with the kids and help Jamie with his homework.

In the evening, Jamie played with Gary and Ayami for an hour orso before we called him up for bathtime at the unusually early hour of 20:00, and both kids were in bed and asleep by 21:45, the earliest in a few nights.

Liam can now consistently and quickly bump down stairs on his bum, though of course we don't let him do so without supervision. He does get a lot of praise each time he does it though, and I think sometimes he goes up and down the stairs just for the praise. He's working on his language skills too, trying to say "cat" (BAT!), "tree" (GI! probably from Japanese "ki"), etc. He has also decided that clasping his hands means "I want to get down" rather than "I am finished eating", which is a useful generalisation.

Time to go wake up Jamie and get to school.

2007-09-26 24:14 (Kristen) Liam fell asleep early last night, and so got up around 8:30 this morning. I had gone to sleep at the early hour of 2:00 in anticipation of this, so was feeling pretty clever. Spent the morning with a very active Liam -- reading back in the blog, I realize that I was parking Jamie in front of the Teletubbies at this age. Liam may make their acquaintance Very Soon Now so that I can get some housework done. Bad Mom. No Rhodes Scholar.

I got Jamie's lunch made, and grabbed some food for me and Liam, and went with John to pick Jamie up at school. I had promised Jamie a snack when I met him, as he gets out of school quite hungry, and hates the rushed switch from Jackman to Hakobune. Today was the first good switch in a week or two, sweetened by a chocolate chip cookie as a special snack. I got a huge hug as Jamie barrelled out the door (in part because I told him that his huge hugs after school were one of my favourite things), chattering away with great enthusiasm about a snail that a boy had brought to class and that Jamie got to see. He's really enjoying school, and tells me a good deal about what happens there. He's even remembering the names more and more of his schoolmates. He is forming a friendship with Dylan, and Sabine's name has come up too. Dylan is easily as social as Jamie is, and quite the character. We made it to Hakobune on time, and Liam fell asleep as I pushed the stroller up the street to get a coffee. Good Liam!

Liam slept for two hours, and we walked about a little before going to get Jamie. We had bubble tea, and headed home to see John. Jamie pounced on Gary pretty quickly, and stayed downstairs while John and I rearranged the kitchen (dining room table is now the kitchen table, which has gone to John's parents' new tenant). Liam was helpful by snacking in his highchair#, and stayhing out of the way. It was a little rough getting the boys into bed by myself, as John was at Scrabble, but we managed it in the end. Jamie took a while to fall asleep, but was happy when he did. Liam is snoring.

I forgot to add: yesterday, we asked Jamie (after I got John to admit who the best wife in the world is) who the best mummy in the world is. He looked at us, with a completely mischievious grin, and said "Auntie Jenny!" Rotten kid.

2007-09-27 32:27 (Kristen) John and Jamie got out the door and to school on time; I know that Jamie cme to say goodbye and gave me a hug but little more. Liam was awake soon afterwards, and I was forced up out of my cosy nest into the cruel world of the conscious. We needed to go to IKEA for a few things, and so picked Jamie up at school, drove him to Hakobune, and then proceeded with Liam to IKEA. John had picked a music station with lot of 4/4 time and bounce, and Liam greatly enjoyed clapping and bobbing more or less in time until we got there.

While John and I sat on furniture and talked about furniture, Liam had a great time running about. He has been eating a truly prodigious amount of food, and packed away a good part of a little quiche on his own at the IKEA restaurant. He was very tired by the time we left in time to pick up Jamie, and gave a great yawn the moment his little bun hit the carseat. First, thought, I should mention that the IKEA family bathroom has a little seat in the wall to strap your toddler into so that he doesn't run around and touch everything while you are temporarily unable to prevent him, as in most bathrooms. He loved the seat, and I loved not having to run around after him. Liam was asleep the moment the car was in motion, and we went to get Jamie. He slept until we were almost home, and Jamie was in the car chattering away about this and that.

Jamie spent most of his day with Gary, except when he was doing his NIsshu Gakkuin homework with John or being forced to eat dinner. I think that Liam ate a good deal of Jamie's. Liam was desperate to go outside again, so John and I walked him down to the Carrot Common to look for a book by our friend Ruth Ohi (Me and My Brother). All was well until Liam ran pell-mell into a wall, and gave himself a bloody and fat upper lip (and likely a mark on his forehead). I ran out of the store with a shrieking child, and the man working there gave me a box of Kleenex and aran out to buy me a cold bottle of water to help. That was really wonderful and thoughtful. Liam, it turnned out, was all right, and enjoyed being carried home and watching airplanes at night. They have all these flashing bits on them, and what could be better? Liam fell asleep around the usual time, but Jamie had trouble falling asleep until he had an apple, and then fell asleep eating it, just like when he was a baby.

2007-09-28 23:50 (Kristen) Jamie didn't have Jackman this morning, so we all enjoyed a little sleep-in before we got up. Liam had a very rough night last night, possibly because his lip hurt him. Poor baby. I think that I spent the morning in the kitchen, cooking, cleaning, and otherwise working away, and the boys found me incredibly boring. John took Liam with him when he took Jamie to Hakobune in the afternoon, and then on to IKEA with him and his mom to buy what we had decided upon yesterday. John reports that Liam fell asleep when they reache IKEA, stayed asleep in the stroller through the store, and woke up as they were leaving. Good boy.

Jamie fell asleep on the way home from Hakobune and shopping, and slept for an hour in total; I finally managed to keep him awake at 5:00. We went over to Browning, where everyone scattered. Liam stayed with me, playing Keywhack, and doing fun stuff in the basement until I had to make dinner and Tom arrived home (making dinner=toasting the garlic bread and putting chili into bowls). Liam was very Tom-centred (in reaction to Mom being very very boring), and was very funny about it. I should mention that he is signing "cat," by instead of making whiskers, he sticks his finger in his mouth and pulls it out to the side. It's an agreed-upon sign, and that is what matters. He's also getting better at "thank you." Earlier in the day, I had him in my arms and failed to see what it was that he wanted. He gently turned my head in the direction that I was supposed to be looking in order to see the object he had in mind. Oh well. It worked for him.

Liam fell asleep quickly, but Jamie had a hard time falling asleep because of the nap. He finally fell asleep around 11:00, after much tossing, turning, and delay. I forgot to add that this morning, when he was getting dressed, Jamie noticed that he was wearing a new shirt (I'd bought it in the spring for school) with a fire engine on it. He asked me if it was new, and I said that it was, and that I'd bought it a little while ago. He was delighted, and said "Oh, thank you!" in that surprised, delighted tone of voice that I love so much. I thought it was fun that he noticed that he had a new shirt, let alone thanked me for getting it for him. He's a really great kid.

2007-09-29 23:59 (Kristen) Liam was up at 7:30, and it did cross my mind that he was, at least, cheerful as he plunged off the bed and out into the world and I plunged after him to prevent certain death. John took him along while he dropped Jamie off at Nisshu Gakkuin, and then fell asleep on the way to the market (with a mighty squawk first). He stayed asleep all through the market, and then woke up as they were leaving. John gave him some California roll, which he seemed to enjoy immensely, but I still had to change him into something new, even after I'd picked all the pieces of rice off of him.

Liam is basically bored indoors, and hard to keep entertained (this winter is going to be a riot, I can tell). However, if you take him outside, he is a happy happy camper. I coaxed Jamie outside to blow bubbles with us, but we didn't have enough bubble fluid. This meant getting into the wagon and going down to the Danforth (so that Mummy could do a few errands too, but going out for bubble fluid sounds like much more fun to a three-year-old). We got the bubble fluid, a coffee and an Italian soda (lime, of course), and went back home. Liam, who had been an utter angel the entire time, melted down on Jackman. Despite his two-hour nap, he needed another one at 4:00, so I managed to get him home with help from Jamie (who helpfully blew bubbles for his brother and kept him entertained with yelling and funny faces). Liam slept for an hour, and then I stuffed him full of dinner. Around 7:00, it was time to go out again to prevent Boredom. The boys enjoyed running around the playground at Jackman, and we came home around 7:45, when it was dark, and Jamie managed to have a short fall that scared him more than it hurt him.

Liam fell asleep around 9:00, and Jamie was asleep around 9:30 (and I was surprised that it took him that long).

2007-09-30 47:38 (Kristen) I thought that I had blogged last night, but I am assured that I did not, so here is a short roundup of yesterday.

We got up at reasonable times, and prepared to move furniture. Jamiewas very helpful, John says, and Jamie was proud of how much he helped. (John: Jamie unscrewed furniture, pushed it downstairs with help, and fluffed futons by sliding down them on the stairs.) Ayami helped by keeping Liam amused. We had lunch at John's parents' house, with his parents and their new tenant, Haruka, and then moved the furniture we'd prepared to move over to her apartment. The boys enjoyed romping all over the futons on the floor, and Liam slept for almost three hours (with some help).

We were all pretty tired in spite of naps, and went for a long walk in the evening. Fun was had by all, and the boys were in bed and asleep by 10:30.

2007-10-01 23:43 (Kristen) I almost made it with Liam to the schoolyard to see Jamie into school, but missed him by a minute or two. We said goodbye to John, who had made it on time with him, and kept going. We did some groceries, fed the birds at the Second Cup and watched trucks, went to the library, and bought a birthday present for Jamie (his birthday is next month). We came back to Browning for lunch, picking up Jamie on the way.

Ken walked Liam, and Jamie went out to Loblaws with Gary and John, after eating all his lunch. He spent the rest of the afternoon watching television, and the boys were both competing for my attention quite vociferously. We had dinner at Browning, it being Monday, and then I went out to play Trivia. John picked me up in the car, and Liam was fast asleep in the back seat. Jamie was wide awake, however, and took a long time to fall asleep tonight. It was a good day overall.

(John) I went to get the car from my parents, then picke dup Liam at Browning, explained to him the plan, thence to our house to fetch Jamie from Gary. Liam started crying and demonstrated that he can say "Muh" for "Mom" if pressed. I calmed him down and explained to him in Japanese baby-talk that Mom was not home, but was outside ("Mama omo"), and then Liam imperiously indicated that we should hit the road in search of her. Communication is great.

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

Back to Vol. 2 No. 2, or up to Jamie Chew's Web Log Archive. or forward to Vol. 2 No. 4.