Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 2 No. 8

2007-10-30 20:11 (Kristen) Liam was awake before 8:00 this morning, but I managed to keep him in bed until 8:30. I think that the morning sun woke him up, as I'd forgotten to close the blinds last night. He'd fallen asleep at midnight again, so he was rather tired today. Jamie slept well, but was still tired when he got up as well. He had a good morning at school, and had fun running with his pack before we came back to Browning and lunch. Liam went out with Ken, while Jamie and I rushed home to get ready for our playdate with Jake.

Jamie was very excited to play with Jake, and kept checking the clock to see when he might arrive. There was much happiness when Jake arrived, and the two boys vanished upstairs to watch Marbleblast videos and to (of course) play Marbleblast. There was a break for chocolate chip cookies, but even then they only ate half before running back upstairs again. Like I said: very excited. At one point, Jamie was showing Jake the video that has Rammstein ("Du Hast") playing over it. Jamie has been listening to that one a lot, and it pretty good at singing along in phonetic German (sigh). He notified Jake that it was in German, and that you have to sing in German. Liam parallel played with Charlie, Jake's little brother, while Michele and I chatted. Our boys really do have a lot in common.

Jamie was exhausted when Jake left, but stayed awake (barely). Liam had been dropped off by Ken, but only slept an hour and fifteen minutes. I tried to get him to sleep again around 4:00, but no dice. He was, of course, in deep need of a nap by 5:30, but if I let him sleep then, it would be another night of having him up to midnight. So, it was an intensive night keeping a clumsy and crabby Liam happy while a tired Jamie needed time with his dad, until we had a very early bath at 7:30. Liam was asleep by 8:05, and Jamie is watching an Anpanman video before going to sleep himself. I don't think that he'll last very long once he's in bed.

2007-10-31 11:30 (John) I thought Hallowe'en was going to be a bit of a nightmare, as at 22:30 last night, Jamie was about as excited and far from sleep as he was the night before we went to Day Out With Thomas, and I had visions of him staying up past midnight again. I reminded him of that unfortunate precdent however, and asked him if singing lullabies would help him sleep. He said "No. Yes. Maybe 'Akatombo'." I sang all four verses for him once, then started singing other songs. He stopped me and had me return to the authorised text, and four more repetitions of all four verses later, he drifted off.

He was very excited in the morning, and was torn between running out the door with his costume and without his breakfast, or coaxing me into playing more of Otto Matic level 3, which we just unlocked yesterday and at which I still therefore suck. As a compromise, he ate not enough breakfast, played about 60 seconds of Otto Matic with me, and left in full knightly regalia. I dropped him off at school with his friends Lion (Jake), Batman (Charlie), Pirate (Parker), Vampire (Dylan) and Ninja Turtle (Sam), then ran home to get the car and our gear for the rest of the day. I got back to the GPR just in time for the kindergarten Hallowe'en parade, a scaled down version of what the rest of the school will be doing throughout the neighbourhood in the afternoon. Jamie looked tired, but was interested in his friends' costumes, and behaved himself. After the parade, we got into the car to drive to Hakobune, where we arrived with about five minutes to spare for their Hallowe'en party. After morning song-time (in costume), the kids went out into Goforth Hall along a mock trick-or-treating route that the teachers had set up, featuring increasingly scary staff in costumes. The little kids went first, and I was left in the day care room to persuade the big kids to wait until the little ones got back. I told them that the monsters outside were eating their younger classmates one by one, and that it would be rude to interrupt their meal by not waiting their turn, but the kids were pretty sure I was lying.

2007-10-31 20:39 (Kristen) The boys headed out into the night for some trick-or-treating around 6:00, and started at Browning. Jamie was in his knight costume, and Liam was in his mini knight costume. I was amazed that he kept it on, as he was in a foul mood for a while before heading out. However, he really enjoyed wearing it, and the boys looked fabulous together. I bragged that my sons were knights (my costrume was medieval mom), and hadn't disappointed me by being clerks, monks, or leeches. "My son, the knight. My other son the knight." Heh. Jamie did some trick-or-treating, but was spooked by a tableau with a body being eaten by rats (um..yeah..very scary) (John: Liam's reaction to same was just "Uh-oh."), and the next house, which had dry ice. He came home early, all Hallowe'ened out, and has been playing with Gary since. Liam saw Tom when they met up with us at our house, and stayed out with Tom while Jamie went inside. It's 8:45 PM, and they're still not home yet, and rumour has it that Liam is still in costume over at Browning. That's pretty cool.

2007-11-01 21:20 (John) For some time now, Liam has expressed extreme displeasure by arching his back until he falls over and hits his head on the floor. I think he started off by doing this only when someone was carrying him, as a way to separate himself from the object of his opprobrium. Just recently, he has started modulating the degree of his ire by the degree of spinal flexion. If he is only mildly irritated with you for instance, he will bend just his neck, and stare at the ceiling moaning quietly. If he is really put out, he will shriek and you have a second or two to catch him before he hits his head, but this is becoming rare.

2007-11-01 23:15 (Kristen) I didn't see much of Jamie today, as Liam and I were out of the house early for a doctor's appointment, and I only saw him long enough for a hug and kiss at lunch. Liam and I napped for an hour when we got home, and went to see Jamie before having lunch at Browning. Liam was very clingy when I saw him next, not wanting to stay in the stroller and not wanting to walk either. He put up with it when I explained that I could not push the stroller and carry him at the same time, but not with grace. Jamie fell asleep in the car on the way home, which was no surprise, as he was very tired when he was going to Hakobune, and slept for about an hour. He had insisted that John play with him for a while before he left Hakobune, which John didn't mind doing. Liam and I spent time reading books. Liam loves books, particularly "Goodnight Moon" (his choice) and a Japanese book with a rabbit who says "Konnichi wa" to all the other animals it sees ("Hello"). He beaned me in the face with a book once or twice as he shoved it in front of me so that I would know that it was time to read a book to him. You always know what Liam wants, because he always takes the direct approach.

John and I dropped the boys off at Browning while we took off like guilty parties to enjoy a quiet dinner together before John goes to India. It was very nice, and it was clear that the boys did not miss us at all. Liam was tired, and went to bed easily, but Jamie is still up, trying "his best" to go to sleep. What a sweet boy.

John has been having some interesting conversations with Jamie. Today, Jamie asked if birds could eat lava (many questions come back to lava, which Jamie finds fascinating). This led to discussions of what lives in lava, and would they eat him (answer: no, because you don't taste like lava). He has a very inquisitive mind.

2007-11-02 24:59 (Kristen) Tom said that, on Halloween, Liam would walk up to people's front doors, look at them, and then walk down the stairs and to the next house. He was not interested in candy, to the frustration of people who desperately wanted to give him some, but in mimicking the kids (Ross, Daniel) who were going door-to-door. Very interesting.

We had some firsts. Liam very clearly was signing "stars" and pointing them out when we were reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". He knew what they were, and wanted to talk about them. Then he took my finger, very deliberately, and touched it on the page to items in the picture, fully expecting to have me name them for him (which, of course I did). It was the gentle plaing of my finger on desired objects that was the big breakthrough. Jamie's big breakthrough was that he realized he could read a book in Japanese. He read all the words in a little baby board book after reading half of the words in another.I told him that he had now read a book, and that if he practiced, he could read every book in the house. I could see the vistas opening up in his mind when I said that. Later in the evening, he picked out a book with Japanese in it, and read half of the book (with some help, as he was tired and had trouble focusing on the page) with John before giving up and having John read the rest. Boys and girls, my boy can read. Am I a happy mummy? Is John a happy papa? You'd better believe it. John asked him if he wanted to read the English or the Japanese (the book had both), and Jamie had a hard time deciding. English is harder, but he knows the whole alphabet. Japanese is easier, but hedoesn't know all the hiragana characters yet. He chose Japanese. Earlier in the day, he was showing my mom Otto Matic (the computer game he's obsessing about) and very clearly sounded out "onion" and "tractor." We think that the little boy can read English much better than we thought he could, but just doesn't like to because he's happier to have us do it. Otto Matic gave him the impetus to work it out on his own, because he wanted to play the game. More news as we receive it.

It was day off from Jackman today, as it was a PD (teacher professional development) day. It was a quiet morning playing Otto Matic, and having Liam melt down as I tried to make lunch for his brother and not play with him. Arrgh. Liam has been not always very easy to get along with lately. In fact, he's been in a foul mood, and a lousy sleeper at night, for a few days now. I managed to get a look into his mouth today, and sure enough: I should have known. He's got half a molar through. Kid's been in pain a-plenty. I was delighted, however, to see the reason for the change, which is the top right molar. Utterly out of order, but then all of Liam's teeth have been so. It makes the game of "where is the next tooth coming from"?" so much more exciting. Yay, Liam!

My mom arrived from Ottawa safely, much to the extreme delight of Jamie, who ran out of Hakobune with wings on his feet when he heard that Grammie had arrived. He called to talk to her on the phone on the way home, and greeted her with an enormous hug. Liam was pleased to see her too, and let her hold him and put him on her lap. Much explanation of Otto Matic followed, as well as board books with Liam, and we saw the breakthroughs that I mentioned earlier. Dinner was at Browning, while Mom had dinner with Auntie Millie, and both boys were fine. Daniel and Ross came over to play more Otto Matic, so that Jamie would have co-players while John is in India, and Jamie was very sad to see them go. However, it was very late when he went to sleep, and it was only a minute after lights out when he had his eyes closed and was asleep. Liam is sleeping well so far, and I hope that it lasts the night for him.

2007-11-03 21:55 (Kristen) Both boys were up around 8:00, so we all went to Nisshu Gakkuin to drop off Jamie for his day at school. It was o-nigiri* (rice ball) day, and when we came back to pick Jamie up, we all sat in the classroom to eat rice balls with Jamie's classmates and parents. Liam, however, had fallen asleep in the car, and so slept on a pile of coats and pillows in the corner. He woke up must as lunch ended, and played with us in the playground before we went home.

I should add that Liam has been very busy lately. I reported lately that Liam had a new tooth. I was wrong: he has four. That's right: he's been working four upper teeth: two molars, and two incisors. Both molars are cutting through, and one incisor is just coming through as well. The other is just about through, and should make an appearance in a day or so. Is it any wonder that the boy has been beside himself in pain and the Advil just isn't enough?

Jamie spent as much time as he could getting John to play Otto Maticbefore he left for India. John obliged as much as he could, which was quite a bit. John's parents came over for a farewell dinner, and there was much chaos and mayhem before John's car arrived to whisk him away around 7:30. The boys were good (I think that we were more teary than they were), but it will be a lot of work keeping them amused, as John is such a big part of their lives, and such a big source of fun for them. We'll all look forward to his swift and safe return.

I put the boys to bed soon after John left, and they were both asleep by 9:00. It's a return to standard time tonight, and so we'll have an extra hour of sleep before we start our day tomorrow. I get to get up with the earliest riser. As I'm awfully used to John getting up with Jamie now, this will be more difficult than it sounds.

2007-11-04 21:43 (Kristen) Both boys were up at 6:45 ST, but as daylight savings time had ended the night before, it felt more like 7:45 DST. It was still a very early time for me to be conscious. Jamie excitedly awaited Grammie's awakening because she was sleeping in the Otto Matic room, and also Grammie will sit with Jamie and watchi him play. He has been trying to show Grammie how to play, and needs to be reminded gently by Grammie, when he's getting a little too frustrated with the new player, that she really hasn't played the game before. He's trying.

Liam was all over the place today, and was truly a busy person. He wasn't all that interested in food, but did eat a freezie. As he hates cold things on principle, that's very interesting. We had a light snack and headed out to the Detroit Eatery for breakfast at 10:15. It was too busy, and so we went to WImpy's, where the timing was right for getting a table, but we waited an abnormally long time for food. They ended up bringing our food at different times, but it kept the kids fed, and that was the important part. Liam was quite tired, and almost fell asleep on my shoulder, but woke up long enough to eat. I suggested the Grammie meet us at Treasure Island, and she drove there while the boys and I walked. We had fun, and then Liam was starting to destroy all he saw, so it was time to put him back in the stroller for a nap. Grammie took Jamie to Withrow Park, and I picked up some potatoes on the way home for dinner. Liam stayed asleep for close to three hours, and Jamie and Grammie were gone for two.

Jamie played with Gary and Ayami for a bit, as did LIam, and we had dinner around 6:30. Liam wouldn't touch his, including the unagi roll that Ayami hd made that he'd hoovered bits of earlier, just after he'd woken up. He fussed and fussed, and I thought that it was the four (4!) teeth again, but when I put him on my lap, he threw up onto it. We went upstairs (Mom cleaned up; thank you Mom!), cleaned ourselves, and got dressed again. Liam fell asleep on my shoulder in the living room, and stayed that way for an hour. I put him to bed, an d he woke up, but went back down once I rubbed his back for a bit. He's really not feeling well, and is sleeping on a towel in case of a repeat incident. However, the sleep is good, and I hope that he'll be better tomorrow. Jamie didn't do his homework with Tai Tai today, but has a homework date for tomorrow afternoon.

Jamie continues to read apace. He had conquered three letter words, more or less, thanks to bath letters (although, when he's tired, he will make all 'p's sound like 'b's), and was reading books with Grammie tonight. He is proud that he can read a hiragana book, and was showing Grammie that as well. He's happy with himself, but a little overwhelmed, I think, with the new ability.

2007-11-05 22:24 (Kristen) Liam slept for about fourteen hours last night, and was feeling much better when he woke up this morning. Jamie woke up around 8:00, and had fun playing Otto Matic before coming downstairs to eat two (2!) bowls of porridge. We got to school on time, where I got three RSVPs for his party, bringing the total to four. I think that it's going to be a good time for everyone concerned. We spent the morning at home, keeping an eye on Liam and deciding that he was doing much better, before we ran out to get Jamie at lunch. Jamie played with his friends for a bit, and then ate lunch at Browning. He ate all of his grilled cheese, and then ran upstairs to play. Liam ate a moderate amount, which made us happy, and then went for his walk with Ken.

Jamie did five pages of homework over at Tai-Tai's, and Tai Tai says that Jamie's hiragana "o"s are better than his dad's (John may weigh in on this when he has the time). We stayed for an hour and a half, then met up with Mom and Liam at the Second Cup. Liam was peaceful and mellow in his grandmother's lap when we showed up, and stayed in a good mood. Jamie was pretty tired, but wanted to do some more work in English. He did a little of his new Kumon workbook (Rhyming Words and Phrases), and read a little, but was really too tired to do much else. We went home, because Jamie needed some down time, and hung out a bit before dinner. I read to Jamie, and Liam watched his Japanese video with Shimajiro, the little tiger. Jamie did too, and sang some of the songs later.

Jamie was quite spun by this point, and obviously very tired despite his long sleep last night. He was very anxious to go to Browning, and we did. Ken and Tami made dinner in John's absence, and the boys had their usual good time. Jamie came home with Gary and Ayami, and Liam came home with me and Grammie. Both boys were exhausted, and Jamie was asleep by 9:20, two minutes after his head hit the pillow. Liam, on the other hand, was very much bothered by his teeth, and took until 10:00.

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

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