Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 2 No. 41

2008-06-17 24:24 (Kristen) Liam was up before 9:00, despite his late bedtime last night, but was his usual cheerful self. This meant that he got to go to school with John and Jamie, which he thought was just fantastic. He loves being outside, and doesn't much want to come in when the time rolls around. It was a quiet morning before we went to get Jamie, spent doing puzzles in the main. He is getting quite obsessed with puzzles, and is downright snarly when he has to stop before he's ready. We picked up Jamie and Jake, as Jake's mom was going to spend the afternoon packing for a trip, and went to Browning for lunch. Jake was quiet, until Daniel asked him if he was always this quiet and polite. Jake looked at Daniel, and said "You are a banana head." Poof! Daniel's new nickname for the day. We liked it. Daniel was his usual amazingly good sport-like self, and not only played Super Mario Smash Brothers with Jamie and Jake, but came over to our house to play Indiana Jones for the Wii and to be beaten up not only by Jake and Jamie but by Charlie, who arrived with his mom around 3:00 to pick up Jake. Much fun was had by all.

Liam went out for a walk with Ken, and slept for three hours. John brought him home and woke him up a little before 4:00 so that we could go out and walk Photon the dog again. Daniel got dragged along again. Jamie rode his run-bike, and Liam (officially, but less in reality) had his stroller. The weather was alternately rainy and not, and we were caught in a few downpours before we arrived at Photon's house. She was happy to see us, and we all headed out to the park. There many balls were thrown, and many dogs observed. Liam has an utterly adorable way of signing "big" and "little," which involve him throwing his hands up in the air for "big" and scrunching himself down a bit as he makes a tiny gesture with two fingers for "little." The boys had a very good time, and Daniel and Jamie experimented with keeping Photon in the leash-off zone using wave and slit theory. Appropriate for Photon!

We dropped Photon off at home and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant on Gerrard. Liam amazed us with his determination to use adult chopsticks to eat his vermicelli, and with his ability to actually eat vermicelli using adult chopsticks. After eating a large meal, we headed home and dropped off Daniel. Jamie played with Gary for a bit, and Liam did some more puzzles before bedtime. Liam was exhausted, and didn't even want a story, so we had lights out while John ahd Jamie read "Nihon no Warai-banashi" and "Julie Blackbelt" in another room. Liam still took a long time to fall asleep, and he's been stirring recently, but he's asleep for now.

2008-06-18 24:10 (Kristen) Both boys were up relatively early. Jamie was feeling cuddly, but Liam was full of vim, so we got up. The morning went smoothly, despite my being rather tired, and I got Liam all dressed up to go with John and Jamie on the bus to Hakobune. I walked to the school, and found out that the classroom assignments had been given out for next year. All of Jamie's posse (with the exception of Dylan, who will be in Grade 1) will be in the morning SK class next year together, which has pleased all the parents to no end. With a spring in our step, we headed off to the subway, Jamie riding his runbike the whole way. He really has gotten very good at it. I took the runbike home as the boys went onto the subway and headed home. I called John at one point to hear that Liam had only just then stopped screaming in total fury and consented to play 'dig dug' in the churchyard. Apparently, John did not allow him to go into Hakobune with his brother, which was totally Unacceptable. Food did not mollify him, or other offers, apparently, but 'dig dug' eventually did. This is the boy who wouldn't go in there without screaming a month and a half ago. Sigh. I suppose it is better this way, but John's ears may disagree. They made it home later, and I took a sleeping baby back out to pick up Jamie as John had an appointment. Liam woke up as we entered the church, and was happy to play (!) for half an hour until I could extract his brother.

We made it home, overly wound up after playing while hysterically tired, and the boys watched an episode of Magic Schoolbus to calm down. I made dinner, John ate with us before going out to Scrabble, and Jamie counted the minutes until Gary got home. He played there for half an hour, while Liam and I did puzzles, and then it was time for bed. The boys were good, Liam chose the book, and the boys fell asleep relatively easily.

2008-06-19 24:18 (Kristen) A regular morning for us. Jamie went to school, and Liam stayed home with me to watch Shimajiro tapes and do puzzles. We went to pick Jamie up at school, and then I took Liam to Browning for lunch while Jamie went to Hakobune. Liam had a good time making Gary play Super Mario Galaxy, and otherwise bending the world to his will. Ken took him for a walk in the afternoon, and Liam slept well for about two hours before he woke up, crying. I told him that his crying was scaring off all the cats and he didn't want to do that, did he? He subsided, and we found Jasper the cat near our house, ready and willing to be interesting to Liam.

Our friends Stewart, Julie, and Jasper Holden are staying with us tonight on their way to England tomorrow. John was telling Jamie about Jasper staying with us, and Jamie was somewhat confused. John, to clarify, said that Jasper's parents were going to stay with us too. "Jasper's parents are cats?" he asked guardedly, and John realized that Jamie was making the mistake that I assumed Liam would make: confusing Jasper the boy with Jasper the cat. He clarified and Jamie was happy. John and Jamie arrived home around 4:30, and our friends came by not long after. Liam and Jasper are getting along well--Jasper is eight months older--and Jamie is as well. We went out for dinner together on the Danforth, and played at St Barnabas, and came home when it was time to get ready for bed. The boys went to bed relatively easily.

2008-06-20 23:30 (Kristen) Because we had guests, we decided to do things a little differently this morning. John took Liam to Hakobune, and I took Jamie to Jackman, with John and Liam coming too before going off to Hakobune. The morning was quiet, with Jasper reading books and playing with trains, before we all went to the playground to meet up with Jamie, play a little, and see Jamie off with John as John went to Hakobune to exchange boys. I got my Jamie hugs, and he went off cheerfully. I am told that he stopped by the Second Cup for a cookie before reaching the daycare. John tells me that when he dropped Liam off in the morning, Liam took Blue Pony, left him by the door, and roared off into the daycare while John and his mom spoke with Mrs. Sasaki. She then noticed Liam with the attendance books and stickers, and went to take away the one that Liam had to give him his own. She then realized that the one Liam had *was* his own, and that he was putting the sticker in the way that he was supposed to. Clever boy. John says that Liam didn't even notice him leaving.

Liam did ask where I was when John picked him up, as I'm the one who normally picks him up, but John told him that I was at home. That was all right, but could he have his pizza now? John bought him pizza, and drove home with him. We met up at home, and Liam ate a bit more before Ken came by to take him for his walk. I picked a sleeping Liam up at 2:30, and went off to get Jamie. Jamie and Kakeru-kun were in fine form today, doing the "oshiri furi-furi" dance (which involves a lot of bum wriggling and laughter) all the way up Spadina, after the obligatory chasing about by the tickle monster (yours truly). We said our goodbyes, and headed for home. We went to Browning at 5:30, so that Tom and Michelle and Gary could babysit the boys while John and I had dinner with Chris Cree, Dave Wiegand, Joel Wapnick, Robin Pollack-Daniel, and Nathan Benedict before the Can-Am tournament this weekend. It was a fun meal, with great company, and it was a strange notion (as always) to be out without the boys. They didn't miss us at all, apparently, although I did get a big grin from Liam as he washed dishes in Tom and Michelle's sink when I arrived. Jamie was playing video games with Gary and had no interest in going home, but we got the kids home relatively quickly and into bed at 10:05. I think that they were asleep about five to ten minutes later.

2008-06-21 23:27 (Kristen) Junko took Jamie up to Nisshu Gakkuin for his last day of school this morning, as John was off to direct the Can-Am Scrabble tournament this weekend (off to the airport area every day; not actually getting on a plane this time). John got up with him and got him ready to go; Liam and I stumbled out of bed not long afterwards. Liam was offended to the extreme that everyone was leaving the house without him (I, as support staff, do not count as one of the 'everyone'), and sat down to watch videos to make himself feel better. We were due up at Jamie's school for 10:25, as there was a little parent part of the morning during snack. Jamie will have the same classmates next year, which is wonderful, and his teacher asked that he work on his hiragana and katakana (writing) over the summer. He has homework for the summer, and I think that Nishinori-sensei will be his teacher again, which is good as someone will have to mark it!

After snack, there was no more 'formal' school, and the kids played until 11:30 outside. Liam picked up some wood chip splinters in his knee somehow, which I had to remove when we got home (that was unhappy). He played well with Jamie and with Harry-kun, but Jamie was disappointed in the extreme when he realized that playtime with parents was not the end of the day, and that pizza was not forthcoming NOW. He was non-compliant at each transition period for the rest of the morning as he asked again and again when he was going to go for pizza with Harry. Sigh. The class trooped upstairs for a short bit of final assembly, played with toys, and then dispersed for the summer. We picked up Maya and Rayna, who are Junko's daughters, as I had agreed to take them home on the bus earlier, and took them with us for pizza as Jamie would have had a nuclear meltdown if pizza didn't appear after all that anticipation. We ate pizza, had a good time, and then headed back home. Jamie was tired, and so was Liam, but I convinced him to get his run bike and go to the Second Cup. Liam fell asleep, Jamie did a page of writing work at the Second Cup, and drew many letters in Blah language for me. He surprised me by knowing how to spell 'cat' and 'dog' without writing the words down, and can actually spell three-letter words with some facility (at least, he can spell 'bug,' 'mat,' and 'man.' 'The' gave him some trouble) by sounding them out. Yay! Liam woke up badly after the hour mark, and we rushed him out and back home. Jamie stopped to play at Jackman for a bit, and we left just as Liam was waking up.

After an episode of Magic Schoolbus and some Baby Einstein (!) I got the boys to spend the rest of the day playing with toys (blocks, in the main). We ate dinner, and Jamie eventually managed to escape us for an hour of play with Gary. Liam played happily with blocks, needing me to narrate occasionally, and all was good. John was still out, so we got ready for the bath and for bed, reading two books, even though it was after 9:00, because it was a Saturday night and what else is a Saturday night for? They were asleep pretty quickly. Tomorrow, we look for a birthday/get well present for Jamie's friend Parker, and will hopefully drop it off to him. Other than that, we are free as birds and the world is our oyster. Milkshakes may be involved.

2008-06-22 23:31 (Kristen) We got up around 9:30, which was worrisome, as it meant that Liam's afternoon nap was in question. He won't nap if he wakes up at 10:00, but I wasn't sure if he'd nap if he slept in until 9:30. Turns out that he doesn't, but I am getting ahead of myself.

John was out at the Can-Am again today, and so I decided that the boys and I should go out to get Jamie's friend Parker a birthday present at Treasure Island. We made it out by 11:15, which was only 15 minutes later than I'd wanted, and both boys were in fairly good if tired shape. Jamie rode his run bike, and was a little bored waiting for Liam to talk along (I wanted him to get some exercise). I eventually put Liam into the stroller after his quest for rocks sent him off in the completely opposite direction to me and Jamie and I had to run the length of a block to get him. We walked past Parker's house, and saw him out with his parents. Parker was sick all last week, and it was an iffy thing as to whether or not he'd have his birthday party on Saturday. As it was, he was well again on his birthday and had his party. Jamie didn't go because it was his graduation day at Nisshu Gakkuin, and Jamie had known this and had been all right. However, when he saw Parker and heard me ask about whether or not the party had gone on, Jamie completely lost it and sobbed his heart out that he had not been able to go. It turned out that Jake and Charlie had been unable to go as well, and Parker's parents were thinking that another, little party might be held to make up for it as Parker was sad that the boys were unable to come as well. After crying for about five minutes, Jamie finally pulled himself together to agree to a playdate at Parker's tomorrow, which was a relief. Poor guy.

We continued on to drop a book at the library and to Treasure Island. We left when Liam was starting to get a little grabby with things he wasn't supposed to grab (piggy bank! augh!) and overly vocal at being deprived of them. Jamie learned a little more about purchasing power and savings when he flitted from item to item, trying to figure out what $13 would buy, and how long he'd have to save for an item that was $36.99. He ended up buying nothing, and having me lecture on the evils of impulse buying (an evil I know all too well!). We went to Wimpy's for lunch, with the boys dividing a kid's meal and Jamie finally having his strawberry milkshake (he's wanted one for some time). I tried one last time to get Liam to fall asleep, but eventually gave up and let the boys play at the playground at St. Barnabas. We headed home when Jamie asked to find Gary, and because the sky was starting to look ominous in aspect. We watched a video, played with blocks, and otherwise whiled away the time. I made dinner, Jamie made a Lego Mars lander tank with Martian fighter (the set is not as connected to the Phoenix mission as I'd initially thought, boo) with Gary, and the boys had fun with Ayami. I put Liam to bed at 8:00 but he woke up at 9:00 screaming. It took a long time and some Advil to put him back to sleep, as he managed to communicate to us that his mouth hurt. Poor lamb. Jamie didn't fall asleep until close to 10:00, despite biking all over the neighbourhood and being quite tired.

2008-06-23 20:41 (Kristen) Jamie woke up well enough this morning, and Liam was all cute and chirpy after a twelve-hour sleep. The boys went with me and John to the schoolyard, and Liam rode back with Jamie's helmet on his head. 'Cause it's his brother's, and therefore the best. We hung out with John's mom in the front yard, blowing bubbles, for an hour before heading in for some Shimajiro. John took Liam with him on some errands, and we all met up at the school yard to pick up Jamie. When Jamie got to Browning, however, he wasn't his usual perky self, and hardly ate a bite. We checked him out, and he was running a fever, poor guy. We watched him over lunch and it didn't get any better, causing me to cancel his playdate with Parker this afternoon. Jamie lay down on a big armchair and fell asleep; Gary carried him home and put him to bed, where he stayed asleep for over two hours. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the surest sign that your child is sick: they sleep in the afternoon when they have a long-awaited playdate. Liam slept for two and a half hours himself, and woke up ravenous as he'd turned up his nose at lunch as well but out of distractability rather than illness, I believe.

I gave Jamie some Advil when I got home with Liam, and it seemed to lower his fever and ease the headache he'd been complaining about. He started to perk up later in the day, and got more interested in food and the world around him. John and Liam left for Browning for the usual Monday night meal, and Jamie and I stayed home. We played karuta*, had Lego battles, and watched an Anpanman episode. Gary came home around 8:00, and Jamie played a little Rockband with us before requesting a switch to Lego Star Wars. They've got another few minutes or so before I try to put Jamie to bed. I have no idea if that'll work or not, given his long nap of earlier today, but his fever is starting to spike again and I'd like him to try and get to bed before it gets too much of a hold.

(John) I've got Jamie's bug too, which makes us good nap mates, except for the coughing. Thank goodness Kristen has demonstrated that it only stays around for a week or so. Yeesh.

Jamie asked me on the weekend if English had kanji (ideograms) as well, and was disappointed when I said no. I've often thought that we should in fact write English with kanji, to make it more mutually intelligible with Japanese and Chinese. Today, while I was reading the latest Bond book to fall asleep, he looked at me oddly and asked me how I was doing that. "What?" "Reading without talking." "Try thinking of a word without saying it." "Okay." "That's how." "Oh!" A very inquiring mind he has.

It's a good thing we have different video games here and at Browning, or we'd never get Liam to go anywhere. I tried everything to get him to leave there after I finished making dinner tonight, including offering him a quick nurse before bed, on Kristen's behalf. No deal, until I offered to play Mercury Meltdown Revolution with him on the Wii. "DA! Warwarwar!" and we ran home stopping only once in the alley to pick up the obligatory rock "Wacch!" to admire and carry home.

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

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