Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 2 No. 30

2008-04-01 22:45 (John) Jamie had his first skating lesson today, with his best friend Jake. Flipping through the four dozen photos Kristen took of the event, I was shocked to feel an unfamiliar emotion coursing through my heart: the hope that my son would grow up to play (professional hockey) for the Leafs. Of course it passed quickly, and was replaced by the hope that he becomes a lawyer or doctor.

(Kristen) I hope that he becomes a doctor or a lawyer because that means that I won't be sitting on my butt in a cold, dark arena at 5:00 AM anytime soon. That, and I realized that I will be a rabid hockey mom, and my heart will seize up every time he steps onto the ice. It was difficult as it was to watch him go out and try to skate. He really gave it his all, but he wasn't getting very far. He could, by the end, stand up with his arms out and not fall, which was great, but I had to get him off the ice and tie up his laces twice as tightly as I had the first time (and I thought I'd tied them tightly) because he didn't have enough ankle support to get any forward momentum. He worked really hard, despite falling and getting up at least twenty times. I was so proud of him, for being just so game. He was tired, and wanted to get off the ice near the end, but when it was over, he wanted to go back and do it some more. We'll see about getting some ice time this weekend.

(John)It wasn't even the most exciting thing that happened to Jamie though, because it was his turn to be Ms. Schofield's helper this morning, and he got to show off his Voltron to the class, who all agreed it was very cool.

In the afternoon, Parker came over to join Jamie and Jake for a first three-handed playdate. It went well, better perhaps than with just two. They did the usual things: watched Pythagoras Switch, ate cookies, and played Marble Blast.

Liam has been very happy but a little clingy today. He bursts into tears whenever I leave him, even momentarily say before guilt drives me back and I take him along on the errand after all. He also threw up his lunch, I think because he started to choke, but maybe he is fighting a bug. He's completely forgotten his fear of joining me in the bathtub, which I think was because the water was too hot one night and he had a sensitive bit of diaper rash. In any case, he can be tempted into the bath by repeatedly singing the ABC song while pointing at the foam bath letters on the wall, which is a welcome break from endlessly reading Rolie Polie Olie or singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to him as he sits on the potty.

2008-04-02 24:14 (Kristen) I was woken up around 7:30 this morning by a wide-awake Liam saying "Wow! Wow!" loudly, over and over. Jamie was up, and soon John was too, and I hid under the covers in denial for not much longer than that. The morning passed with Jamie at school, and John, Liam, and I going to the St. Lawrence Market for tournament supplies. Liam was very cute at the bulk store, and one of the staff gave him a Kindersurprise egg. Liam knows all about those, and was very insistent that I take it apart for...the toy. The chocolate fell by the wayside: he knew what he wanted. We dashed back to Jackman to get Jamie, and Liam and I stayed behind to do errands in the neighbourhood while John and Jamie headed off to Hakobune. Jamie has been protesting going to Hakobune, and we've been mystified as once he gets there, he's happy and doesn't want to leave by the end. We think that he might be tired of the stories, as he shows signs of boredom then. We asked what they were reading, and apparently it's been "Momotaro," a story that Jamie is very very familiar with. We'll see if a change in story helps. He's going to Hakobune with Liam on Friday morning, as he has a PD day, and they're looking forward to spending the morning there together.

Liam hoovered some California roll, and fell asleep around 12:30. He slept for two hours, and I thought that he'd woken up, so I took him out of the coffee shop and went to get groceries, and he fell back asleep/ He slept for about three hours, in total, and was in a good mood when he woke up. I have been slowly phasing out his nursing sessions, and we are (as of today) down to one in the morning and one at night. Circumstances lately have meant that he's not asking when he wakes up without me after his nap, and I'm not offering. If I remember correctly, it's the night nurses that are the worst to phase out. Those will be last. Jamie was dropped off by John, who had to go to do some work at his parents' house for their return today, and he, Liam, and I played outside happily for at least an hour before we went in. The weather was lovely, and the boys ran around, got chased, rode Jamie's scooter (Jamie and I pushed Liam), and went down the small slide in teh backyard many amny times. It was a very good time.

I made quesadillas for dinner, which went over well, and took Liam to Sobey's for groceries while Jamie played with Gary. Annoyingly, I still didn't get milk, and I hope that Jamie doesn't want cereal tomorrow. John was out when we got home, as his parents had returned from Mexico and he walked with them to the Danforth, but he was home soon after. Bathtime went well, and I read the boys Big Time Olie, a new Rolie Polie Olie book that I picked up at the library for them. It went over well, and they were also very pleased to see our friends Sherrie and Gregg, who will be visiting us for the next week. Liam woke up around 11:30 inexplicably screaming, and I finally figured out that he needed a tummy massage; likely gas. Poor baby. It really does bother him.

2008-04-03 21:20 (Kristen) Liam woke up at 7:10 this morning, and I was unhappy about it as one might imagine. However, he made up for it by asking to poo in the toilet and then producing one (in a diaper, but quickly tranferred to the toilet). His failure to have a fully successful event was mine, as I was too tired to pick up the "this is not a drill" look on his face fastenough. Still, a milestone of sorts.

After Jamie went to school (dawdling in the way that only a four-year-old boy can dawdle), I took Liam to the Big Carrot for milk and other staples before stopping off at John's parents' place on the way back. Liam seemed happy to see John's parents, and they were definitely happy to see him. Liam pushed the wagon a portion of the rest of the way, and alternately walked or rode the reset. We stayed home, ate lunch, and then Ken called to see if Liam was free for a walk. He was, and so they went out together. Liam was fine until Ken took him away, and then started to cry. I think that Liam is having some separation issues, as he has spent a good deal of time cuddling lately. After he woke up from his nap (ony an hour and a half...woe!), he spent twenty minutes cuddling happily on my lap, wrapped up in my arms and happy as a clam instead of wriggling around, getting down, and terrorizing the immediate area. I hope that it wears off soon. The cuddling impulse can stay.

Jamie enjoyed playing with Sherrie and Gregg, and Liam enjoyed the attention too. The kids were both fun and happy to be with, and (John) I'm not sure what Kristen was about to say at this point, but she's gone off to bed. I was out getting the CNSC set up with Sherrie for most of the day, and helping run Scrabble Night In Canada in the evening. I saw Liam a little in the morning, played with Jamie after Jackman and after Hakobune. As Kristen said, Jamie has been enjoying playing with Sherrie and Gregg, fueled in part by the Timbits we bought on the way home from day care.

2008-04-04 23:24 (Kristen) John was gone before we got up this morning, as he will be running the Canadian National Scrabble Championships all weekend. Our houseguests, Sherrie and Gregg, are at the tournament too, as is Gary. It's just me, Liam, and Jamie for the weekend, but we're managing nicely so far. I took both boys to Hakobune this morning, as Jamie didn't have Jackman today. Jamie had a great time, and Liam enjoyed having his brother there. Jamie was very helpful, as he kept Liam laughing and played beside him after I left, keeping his brother happy and secure. Liam cried and asked that I not go farther than five steps away from him the moment we arrived, and after I managed to sneak out the door, I heard him cry for about ten seconds before he was distracted by cars or something. When I came back to pick him up, he just smiled and came to me for a hug; Jamie's influence, I think.

I picked up Liam at noon, and dropped off pizza for Jamie for his lunch. Liam ate his own pizza in Goforth Hall, and when Jamie was done, we went down to the streetcar, and over to the venue site to visit John. Jamie stayed to help John with inputting, while I took Liam around (Liam only slept for 45 minutes; arrrgh). I took the boys home around 3:30, and they were both a little crazed by 4:00. Jamie melted down, but was mollified by a snack and some juice. We puttered around, cleaning and doing this and that, until 6:00, when we went to Browning. The afternoon's excitement was when I though that Liam ahd broke nthe VCR until i finally found the fridge magnet he'd stuffed into it. Grrr.

The kids were good and happy, and ate well before we came hom around 8:45. I read two books to them, and they fell asleep quickly. I managed to soothe Liam back down with a backpat and other techniques, instead of offering a nurse that he wasn't seeking out. Yay!

2008-04-05 23:08 (Kristen) It was a day of near disasters. In the morning, John managed to find our friend Junko, and she took Jamie with her up to Nisshu Gakkuin. This was good, as I'd forgotten that our cleaning lady, Trifina, was coming today and I would have been out of the house when she arrived if I'd gone up with Jamie myself. Liam and Jamie were both tired when they got up, and in Liam, this manifested in a continuation of an experimental streak that started yesterday. I was only a heartbeat behind him when he put a round coaster into the DVD player and hit the 'close' button on the DVD tray. After unplugging the device, I was able to get the coaster out by gently pressing down on it with a Swiss Army knife, as it was stuck up above the DVD tray in the machine. I fear for the continued health of our electronics, however.

I took Liam out at that point to the library, and then up to pick up Jamie at school. Jamie was understanding about leaving early, so that we could go down and see John, as he was not entirely happy with not seeing Papa last night or this morning (John arrived home after Jamie was in bed, and left before Jamie woke up this morning). He played a little with Hari-kun first, and then it was back on the subway and to the tourney. We stayed for about two hours, and Jamie was very well behaved the whole time. By the end, however, it was starting to be a strain to keep quiet, and Liam (who had been asleep the entire time) was in danger of waking up crabby. Sure enough, he did wake up in that state on the subway, and was unhappy until we got home and he could have a nurse.

The boys were good, if wound up, for the rest of the day. They had fun playing with Sherrie and Gregg when they returned, and were otherwise occupied by books and television. The Rolie Polie Olie crazecontinues unabated, and Jamie was full of questions tonight as I read the story to them. Liam insisted on having each person in the picture identified. It was a good thing that we only had one book.

2008-04-06 23:09 (Kristen) The boys and I got a chance to sleep in this morning, which was very much welcome. We were very tired, and it was almost strange to feel close to well rested. Jamie slept in until 9:30; Liam and I were up at 8:50. We puttered around the house, reading books, having breakfast, and otherwise having a good time. John has noticed two new words from Liam: 'wa' is clearly "walk," and "yo" is clearly "yoisho," a Japanese word that mean to call attention to the physical effort that a person is making ("See me going up these stairs? Yoisho! Yoisho!). "Wa" was clearly used with me today when Liam wanted me to walk in to the living room.

We joined John for lunch at the Scrabble tournament, and the boys attracted much positive attention for their matching outfits, and general likeness to each other, as well as for their good manners around a tournament. Liam slept for close to three hours, and Jamie was very good again at keeping his voice down and being unobstrusive. I took the boys home around 3:00, and we puttered around again for a bit until it was time to go to the Silk Road for dinner with Sherrie, Gregg, John, and John's parents. The boys were well behaved again, and we appreciated that the restaurant left out chopsticks with elastic bands and spacers ("training chopsticks," in essence) for the boys for when we arrived. They hoovered back their food, and wandered about with either me or John. Jamie kept us all "entertained" with his limited stock of knock-knock jokes, but has improved his delivery considerably and enjoyed Gregg's 'interrupting cow' knock-knock joke.

Tomorrow is the last day of Scrabble madness, and John and the rest will be out the door at 7:00 to set up for the finals between our friends David Boys and Adam Logan. They're both Canadian champions (former and defending), and we're delighted with whoever is the winner tomorrow. I plan to take the boys down after I pick Jamie up from Hakobune to catch up on the fun.

2008-04-07 23:21 (Kristen) John was out of the house before Jamie and Liam were awake, but the boys woke up happy and ready for books in bed. Reading at least one book first thing in bed in the morning seems to be the thing to do lately. We went downstairs, ate breakfast, and headed out the door in a panic only to arrive a few minutes before it was time. Whew! Liam and I headed home, and had a pleasant morning of puzzles an other activities before heading back out to get Jamie.

Jamie was reluctant to go down to the Scrabble tournament, citing fatigue and a desire to go to Daniel and Ross's house, but I managed to get him onto the subway and down to the event site. Once we were there, we ate lunch and visited with John and Gary before the next round of the finals started. I took the boys downstairs to the food court for a slice of pizza (the sandwiches were too imposing) and then Liam out for a nap before returning to the room. When I asked Jamie what his favourite part of he days way, he said "Being at the Scrabble tournament." I reminded him that he hadn't wanted to go, originally, and he smiled at the floor, and said "Yeah." Liam slept for most of the rest of the afternoon that we were there, and Jamie played with Gary, read with me, and helped Gary to put words on the big Scrabble board during the games. Eventually, the championship was over (congratulations, Adam!) and we headed home.

Gary came with us in on the subway, after Jamie, Liam, and I had picked up a few treats to eat on the train. Jamie struck up a conversation with a girl beside us, and had a great time. We made it home, where Gary had a new Exoforce waiting for Jamie (the Chameleon Hunter). Jamie was (as expected) delighted. He, Liam, and Gary spent a happy hour putting it together, and Liam surprised us all by clearly saying 'ease' for 'please.' No pieces were lost and everyone behaved. John and Sherrie headed out to a Scrabble fundraiser tonight, and Gary, Liam, Jamie, and I went to Browning for Monday night dinner. The boys had a good time, and Daniel walked us home tonight, instead of Tom, but he still had a hard time leaving Liam behind. It was getting late, so we read two books and it was lights out. Liam had trouble falling asleep, but Jamie was out like a light.

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

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