Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 2 No. 4

2007-10-02 21:42 (Kristen) Liam was up at 7:30 this morning, and that was fine as I needed to be up and about early to meet friends for coffee at 9:30. I took Liam along to see our friends Ruth Ohi and Peter Cook. Ruth hadn't seen Liam in some time, and Liam certainly enjoyed the attention that he got from her, and from Peter too. He was very well behaved for the two hours we were there, and almost fell asleep but not quite. John came to join us, and we had a very pleasant time until we all scattered at 11:30. We three (me, John, and Liam) picked Jamie up at Browning, and went to have lunch there while waiting for my dad and his fiancee, Liz, to arrive.

Dad and Liz arrived at 12:30, and we went to meet them. Liam and Jamie had a good time with their grandfather; both boys talked planes with my dad. Liam and my dad made airplane noises at each other, and Dad showed Jamie how to fly a fighter jet, using an umbrella as a prop. Jamie appreciated his lesson greatly. Jamie spent most of his time playing computer games upstairs, and Liam fell asleep almost instantly around 2:00. He stayed asleep for three hours, which was utterly amazing; he did the same thing, more or less, on Sunday. !!! I make no plans around this; I raise no hopes; I have no expectations. But it was really great for all of us.

After Liam woke up, we all put together our new dining room table from IKEA, and ate dinner. Liam liked the o-chazuke* that I made, and showed it by shoving his face deep into his bowl to drink the broth and not removing it from the bowl until the broth was gone and he was demanding more. Jamie was extremely excited to see Gary, when he came home, and played with him for an hour. Liam talked John into going for a short walk in the dark. Liam is asleep, and Jamie needs a little help to do the same.

(John) Kristen also said that Liam has been in a sunny mood all day, presumably because his mutant front tooth has finally cut. Or maybe we were all unusually attuned to his whims all day. Who knows. He helped assemble the dining table by checking to make sure that all the screws were tight; I gave him a flathead screwdriver to make sure he wouldn't mess with the (Phillips) wood screws. Jamie helped by matching washers and nuts to bolts, as well as cutting open the packaging.

2007-10-03 39:50 (Kristen) It was a sad day yesterday, as we got news that Gary and Michelle's aunt Nobby had been killed in a traffic accident. This led to much questioning of me by Jamie about death, and what happens when you die. I think that I managed to field it, but he was perturbed, and will likely be asking again over the next little while as the people he loves are visibly upset. Jamie went to Jackman and Hakobune, but got out of Hakobune early for a doctor's appointment. Liam was cheerful, and had fun outside, particularly when the Harney-Martin kids were out and about. He took off for a moment when Betsy and I were dealing with the other kids, and had a bad 20 seconds until we saw that he was on our front stairs, trying to get onto the porch. We'll have to keep a closer eye on our boy, as he's faster than you think.

John made a few notes on things that Jamie has said/done lately: he had to clarify to Jamie that "Negative 1" was pronounced that way, and was not "negat of 1." He's been exploring that how an h sounds in French and Spanish (initial 'h's are silent) by telling us "In French, an 'h' makes this sound" and then clamping his mouth shut and looking at us expectantly as he makes the "silent" sound. He also is teaching Liam how to say "okay." Liam is trying to speak more in general, and is clearly trying to say "bird," "cat," and other important words to him. He has been saying "umma" more clearly for a while. He loves the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" as sung in Japanese, and always has a big wriggle and squeal of glee whenever we sing it to him.

2007-10-04 23:27 (Kristen) Liam thought it would be a gas (ha ha) to wake up every half hour between 3 and 5:30 this morning to giggle, climb over me, and be very awake until I could nurse him down again. I do not know if he was awake the whole time, but suspect not. I was a Zombie this morning when I crawled out of bed at 9:30, with a smiling, happy, delighted Liam, who was looking forward to his day with unbridled enthusiasm. Jamie had gone to bed early (9:15), and so woke up at 7:45, with John. This threw off the morning schedule, I am told, and Jamie melted down when it was time to go to school and stop playing video games. Sigh.

Liam and I spent the morning in the kitchen, cleaning, eating, and making lunch for Jamie, which is pretty typical on the days when Jamie goes to Jackman and Hakobune. We went with John to pick Jamie up, and then the idea was to drop Jamie off at Hakobune, grab a little lunch at the Yung Sing Pastry Shop, and go for a walk in Kensington Market until it was time to get Jamie. I forgot to put the stroller in the car, however, which meant that we had to go home and get it. John went in and napped, and Liam and I played outside for half an hour while he did so. We played ball, walked to the corner and back, talked with Gary, and tried out the Fisher Price foot-propelled trike that my mom had given Jamie a few Christmases ago. Liam, predictably, loved it and will be on it again and again, I suspect.

Liam fell asleep close to our destination, Yonge and Spadina, and stayed asleep (albeit with a mighty squawk) when John transferred him from the car to the stroller. He slept for a little over an hour, and woke up as I was going to pick up Jamie. Jamie wanted to run around and play with Liam before we left, and we did for a bit while we waited for John to come and get us. Jamie entertained us by singing some songs he'd written and playing air piano on a lectern while he stood on a stage in front of it. His songs contain many tornadoes (which fascinate him) which throw cars very far. He has some surprisingly funky moves for a three-year-old.

We went to vote at an advance poll for the upcoming provincial election, and took the boys with us. Liam helped me, and Jamie helped John. After a quick stop at the library, we headed home, where we played with Sam, Ben, and Luke, and blew many many soap bubbles. The weather was peculiar today, with lots of fog rolling in and out, but the soap bubbles looked spectacular against the grey of the mist. Dinner was a patchwork affair, but Liam greatly enjoyed crunching carrots and spitting them out, and polishing off m cooked spinach (which stayed in). Jamie went down to play with John, and Liam helped me and John to put two dining room chairs together (he's a mean hand with a screwdriver). Both boys had trouble falling asleep, but Liam is drugged and Jamie is finally asleep too.

2007-10-05 10:30 (John) Liam will touch someone's nose if you say "X's nose" or "X no hana", which we think is very cool.

2007-10-05 24:18 (Kristen) Jamie came in and gave me a hug and kiss good morning, which delighted me even as I groggily returned it. He had a good day at school, and seemed to enjoy Hakobune too. Liam and I had lunch at Browning, before heading out to the Annex area to wait to pick up Jamie. John's meeting ended early, so we got to all go and meet Jamie and take him home in the car. We played outside for most of the rest of the afternoon, which included bubble blowing and scooter-riding. Dinner was at Browning, where Liam monopolized Tom and Jamie had fun with Gary and the rest of his people. The boys went to bed a little late, but quickly once they were there.

2007-10-06 23:13 (Kristen) Jamie did not have Nisshu Gakkuin today, as it is the Thanksgiving weekend here. We slept in, and went to have breakfast with the Browning folk, as Kelly and Tobin Sagara (Gary and Michelle's brother and sister) are in town briefly for their aunt's wake and funeral. We left to go to the market late, and arrived after noon. As it was the Thanksgiving weekend, and everyone and their dog was at the market, we felt lucky to have any food at all to bring home. Liam fell asleep just as I reached the car, but only slept for twenty minutes or so, despite being successfully moved from his stroller to the car ten minutes previously. It sounded like he choked on his own saliva, and frightened himself, poor guy, but that was the end of the nap.

We unloaded the car and got changed to go to the wake for Nobby Sagara, but were delayed by a very large rainstorm. We made it there in time to see Tom and Michelle ferrying a large crew of children (5-15 or so) down to Tim Hortons, and Jamie and Liam dashed off with them and Gary. This left John and me to socialize until they got back, a half hour or so later. We had not intended to join the family gathering afterwards, but were invited and we were very glad that we were. The kids played together, we ate some wonderful food, and we were able to talk about and remember Gary and Michelle's aunt, who was a kind person to us, and to our children. We left at seven, so that Liam could fall asleep briefly in the car before he woke up when I took him inside. Jamie was asleep around 10:10, and Liam didn't fall asleep until I fed him some more dinner (he was too excited to eat much at the wake). He finally was asleep at 10:50. We're all tired now.

2007-10-07 21:23 (Kristen) Liam woke up at 8:30, after Jamie came in to cuddle and talk with me (I barely remember this). I was very tired, for some reason, and when Liam melted down at 11:15 or so, I let him go to sleep. I fell asleep with him until close to 2:00, so I was pretty tired too (apparently). Before that, Liam and I walked to the corner store and back; that might have tired him out somewhat too.

Jamie was looking forward to seeing his cousins Ian and Amy, who are in town for Thanksgiving. John took the kids (minus Liam, who was still sleeping) to the park, and I followed along around 3:15 or so when I woke Liam up. He woke up sweetly and gently, in spite of my awakening him, and was pretty groggy in the stroller when I took him to meet the kids. They all had a good time playing, and then having a snack at the Second Cup. We went back to John's parents' house, where children roamed while dinner was prepared. Liam was very tired again after a big dinner (which, in the beginning, consistd almost exclusively of cranberry sauce. A true Chew), and was somewhat noisy about it. He fell asleep in the stroller on the dark ride home, and is out like a light. Jamie is in the bath with John, dead tired, and will be asleep soon himself, I should think.

2007-10-07 21:23 (John) Jamie asks: "Why do people give birth to people and not birds?" "What happens if a tornado hits a volcano?"

2007-10-08 23:33 (Kristen) I think that Jamie came in and cuddled with me again this morning, but I was too tired to tell. Liam woke up when I went to bed at 1:00 last night, and stayed awake, more or less, until after 3:00. I'd lull him down, and he'd be up again a few minutes later. I tried to sleep through a lot of it (we never left the bed), and finally got him to sleep not by nursing but by stroking his hair. Hunh. He was awake again around 8:30, and I console myself by realizing that it would be so much worse if he wasn't Happy Psycho Cackling Boy.

I got the kids fed and dressed, and Jamie spent a good part of the morning playing video games and watching television, which he hasn't done in a little while. He played with Gary for half an hour before lunch, and then needed much coaxing to get him outside and to the park. Liam spent the morning and early afternoon sleeping a three-hour nap again. It was hot, but both boys enjoyed running around until it was clear that everyone needed a drink. We went to the Carrot Common, browsed at Book City, and then had a drink at the Second Cup. We ran into Ken, Tami, and Kelly, and then it was clear that Jamie really needed to chase some pigeons. We terrorized the winged, then had a bathroom break, then allowed John to sneak up on us. We repaired to the playground across from the Second Cup for an hour or so, where Jamie was the Jamie Lava and I was the Mummy Lava (bubble bubble splorch). I chased Liam up through a very short slide, surprising him, and causing him to both jump in surprsie and to squeal with delight at the same time. It was pretty cool.

Dinner was at Browning, but everyone was in and out, so we ate by ourselves (Ross had some salmon when he came home, as always). I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Jamie helped out by snapping the ends off the asparagus, coring and seeding the peppers, and painting the vegetables with John's oil and soy sauce glaze. He enjoyed the cutting and painting. On the way home, Jamie was regaling us with his latest nightmare ("I was sitting on a very long bench and a snake came up and ate me, and went into a hole, and there was a horse there, and there was a hole in the snake, so I got out and I rode the horse and I got lost. The End."), and agreed that his fantasy life was much better than reality. Liam went to sleep easily, but has had trouble staying asleep. Jamie was asleep by 10:20, and will be a Zombie Child tomorrow. He was in bed earlier than that, I assure you all.

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

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