Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 2 No. 44

2008-07-08 23:28 (Kristen) John is feeling better today, which is great, and it's likely because we all slept in this morning. Liam and I crawled out of bed at 9:00, and John and Liam did the same around 10:00. It was a quiet morning before Becky and I got the boys together and we headed out to Hakobune at 11:30 to drop Jamie off. Liam has been very Mom-centred lately, and so I took him along with me both to keep John out of the nasty heat and to keep Liam with me and not anxious.

We had fun getting to Hakobune, and bought pizza for everyone for lunch. Jamie went in, and Liam protested that he couldn't, but was pacified by pizza and play. He fell asleep very quickly on his walk, and didn't wake up until we left Aroma to go and pick up Jamie. We played a little, and then headed home. I did some reading with Jamie before letting him play some SSBB, which was fun. Tom generously offered to make dinner for us, and we of course accepted, and we had a great time doing the usual. We left for a short time to visit Alexandria and wish her happy birthday, but Liam and Jamie followed us there (with Tom in tow), and I ended up going back early to Browning with Mom-centred Liam and Jamie. It was a late night, which was fine, but both children have Hakobune tomorrow, and Liam is going to stay for lunch for the first time. It's very exciting.

2008-07-09 25:00 (Kristen) I slept in a little, but still managed to get both boys and Becky out the door one time to go to Hakobune for 10 AM. Liam was ecstatic to be there, while Jamie neede the maternal equivalent of a bomb to get him out the door and away from SSBB. He unlocked the Sonic the Hedgehog character, which is consuming much brain space right now. He perked up once we got going, however, and was happy to be at Hakobune too when we got there. I left a little late, however, as I ended up chatting for a minute with Sensei, got tackled by toddlers, and found Liam a puzzle to do before I went. Liam started to cry when I left, but I don't think that he would have if I'd just left after he'd happily run into the daycare. Jamie paid no attention to me at all once he was in, of course, as he had serious Lego-style block work to do.

Becky and I picked up the boys after lunch, which was also Liam's first time eating lunch at Hakobune. He didn't eat much, which didn't surprise me, both because it was going to be a very distracting experience and because it was going to be too hot for him to eat. Jamie didn't eat much either. We went home, and I took Liam for a walk from the subway while Jamie and Becky went homeby bus. On the way, we lost Liam's blue pony, and I am just crushed. I don't know if he dropped it on the street and someone took it home, or if we lost it on the subway, and someone might turn it in somewhere. He's not missed it yet, and John and I are desperately searching the Internet for a replacement. We love Blue Pony (a Gund "my first pony" in blue), and it has (of course) been discontinued by Gund. Sigh. Usually I notice that a stuffed animal has dropped off the stroller, so I'm a little irritated with myself. Hopefully, one of the two leads we have will turn up aces. I, of course, searched where we had walked, but to no avail.

Liam slept for an hour, then woke up miserably. I finally got him cheered up and on the way home, then I went out again, solo, to look for Blue Pony. Sigh. Dinner was quesadillas, the tired mom's dinner, which both boys ate well of. John and Becky took the boys to the playground in the evening while I baked muffins (leftover batter needed baking), and I met them on the way home. I should note that Liam enjoys calling me and John by name now, calling out "Muh-ma!" and "Pah-pah!" whenever he wants to get our attention (which is often). He entertained himself by picking up rocks and carefully putting them into the front pocket of his jean overalls while declaring "Rock!". Very cute. Jamie zoomed about on his run bike, which was great. I should note that we found Jamie's Japanese school report card, and it too glowed like a thousand-watt bulb. Yay, Jamie! We put the boys to bed at 8:30/9:00, and they've been sleeping well since. Jamie still likes falling asleep in the blue room so that he can watch an Anpanman video before he falls asleep. John is sleeping with him for now, but hopefully one or both of them will be back in the other room. I don't think that Jamie's ready to sleep by himself yet (even if we are!).

2008-07-10 24:01 (Kristen) We slept well last night, which was a lovely thing. Liam woke me up twoce, nursing furiously, but I don't think that it's teething. Jamie didn't get his molars until he was two years and two months old; likely, he's not having fun with the antibiotics, although he's finally starting to get a bit better with my giving them to him. Plus or minus a nightmare or two. I take my medicine at the same time, which makes him smile.

John drove Jamie to Hakobune, while Becky, Liam, and I went to Browning for lunch. Ken wasn't there, as he had taken Ross to the dentist, but we had a lovely time there anyway. Becky and I walked Liam to the Second Cup (still no Blue Pony), and then left to walk to the subway in order ot pick Jamie up. Liam slept for a long time, and while he woke up a bit while I went into Hakobune to get Jamie, he fell asleep again and didn't wake up until we were home. It was a lazy day afterwards, with edamame* and eel for dinner (tofu for Becky), and an hour at the playground before bed.

2008-07-11 24:34 (Kristen) Both boys have developed or are developing very funny senses of humour. Jamie is beginning to spread his own little sarcastic wings, stepping out from behind the formidable shadow of his father. Liam, on the other hand, is more into slapstick and physical humour, as well as theatre of the absurd. I am sure that he'll be another padawan for John, Dark Lord of Sarcasm, in a few years. This evening, while we were eating dinner at Browning, Gary had not arrived by the time Jamie had finished, so Jamie had gone to the living room to play Wii. Jamie didn't see Gary come in; I only saw him when Gary was standing by the stove in the kitchen, getting his dinner. I called out to Michelle, who was also in the kitchen (and Gary's older sister, for those who are new to this blog), "Michelle! What's that smell in the kitchen?" (meaning, of course, Gary, because these sorts of juvenile abuse are how we express our esteem). Jamie immediately perked up and said "Gary!" and ran to see him. I guess I've used that insult before: time for new material!

The same kind of love was part of the evening's festivities later on. After reading a book called Hug Time by Patrick McDonnell, Daniel, Becky, and Jamie (likely in response to some sort of comment by Gary, but I'm just guessing) subjected Gary to about five group hugs, pursuing him all around the house as Gary "tried" to hide from his affectionate fans. Finally, I came across him in the kitchen, where I gave him a hug too, and at which point Becky, Jamie, and Daniel, who had been talking about the practice of "rickrolling", came and pounced upon him as well. Gary cried out for us to "give it up," which caused us all to break into song, declaring that we were "never going to give him up," etc. Jamie was well in the middle of it, and can rickroll with the best of them now. it was very funny.

In the meantime, Liam has been indulging in new forms of imitation. He saw a little dog at the Second Cup, and amused us all by imitating the dog's high-pitched bark. Later, in response to a comment about the kid's program Pingu, he made a credible imiation of the theme song, surprising us a lot. He's going to be a dangerous mimic if he keeps this up. He was at Hakobune this morning, and John took him there. Liam will cry if either of us lingers, so we'll be clearing out of the daycare as soon as he cheerily runs in, to avoid crying in future. John says that Liam barely registered him when he went back to pick him up, and instead asked where I was ("Ma ma?" *hands spread outward in a questioning shrug*) and left the daycare, waving and walking backwards, after agreeing that going to find me was what he wanted. He's in the middle of a big mummy-centred phase, which I hope will pass before we head off to Orlando. While Liam was at daycare, Jamie and Becky painted pictures in the kitchen. They both had a fabulous time, and Jamie declared that he wanted to paint hundreds of pictures with Becky after they had used up all their paper. They made butterflies by painting one side of a picture and then folding the paper over to get a symmetrical image, and so on.

We spent a good deal of the day with Daniel and Ross, and got out and about for exercise, a Second Cup run, and a short nap for Liam. It was, all in all, a great deal of fun.

2008-07-12 22:13 (Kristen) John was woken up by a phone call at 8 am this morning, and the rest of us stumbled out of bed in more or less of a conscious state not long afterwards. Because we were up early, we got out to the market an hour earlier than usual, which meant that we got stuff that we often miss, like broccoli pies for Becky. We headed home around 12:45, and John took a nap. Liam, in the meantime, started to melt down, and so Becky and I took him out for a walk. He fell asleep relatively quickly, and that gave us a chance to pick up new poster paper at Treasure Island and to go to the Second Cup for some reading, drawing, and working. Liam woke up in a foul mood, and I let him nurse (a rare daylight event) before heading out again. We were to meet up with John and Jamie at the park, but it started to rain. Also, I'd forgotten that I was to be at a party at 5:00 for my friend Heather's 40th birthday party, and it was 4:15. Oops! Becky and I ran home to where Jamie was still playing SSBB, and a large rearrangement of plans was put into effect. I headed out, with only a minor meltdown from Liam (he was distractable within five minutes of initial departure attempt), and John stayed behind with Becky and the boys to make dinner. Jamie had asked for ten-don (John: tempura served with its sauce over a don-buri bowl of rice) for dinner, so that is what John made (Jamie asked for tendon, and I told him tendonitis). I am told that the boys ate and ate and ate, and this may have to be a repeat item on the menu. Liam liked it so much that he wouldn't leave the house without his bowl when John and Becky took the boys to the playground for an hour before bed. I got home at 8:45, and we put the boys to bed. Jamie was overly tired, and Liam was oddly restless as he was falling asleep, but Jamie is still (unfortunately) awake. I say unfortunately because he's very tired, but also because we're going to get up early tomorrow morning to get prepared for the 7:00 AM wake ups we'll have next week when Jamie goes to space camp. Maybe we can talk Jamie into a nap tomorrow afternoon? (John: Jamie fell asleep sucking on a piece of apple (his recent bedtime snack, with cheese), which he hasn't done in a few years, and brings back happy memories of Jamie as a toddler.)

(John) Liam has been using a lot more words lately, which has had the curious effect of making him harder to understand. For example, he now says "och" for "open", "off", "up", "out" or "fork". "Ba" can be shorthand for pretty much anything that starts with a B, including "ball", "bum", "batchi" and "papa". He's also making up signs slightly faster than we can learn them and eagerly picks up ones that I teach him. Tonight in the bath, he signed "three little fish" while reading a favourite bath book.

2008-07-13 22:13 (Kristen) We all slept in today. Really slept in. As in, John and Jamie got up at 10:00, Liam and I got up at 10:40, and we woke Becky up at 11:00. It kind of threw us off for the day: we had a breakfast that was more of a lunch, lunch at 3:30, and dinner at 7:00. At least we were all on the same schedule.

We kept both boys entertained by having Becky paint with them. Jamie was very happy to paint, and Liam started to say "uh! uh! uh!" very rapidly, pointing frantically as he saw Jamie paint. So Liam painted too. He likes to layer a lot of colours in a small area. Like oils. Afterwards, I took Liam for a walk for half an hour, failing to convince him to have a nap (I was unsurprised, given the time he'd woken up at). When we got home, John made zarusoba for lunch, and we ate huge amounts of it before we got ready to go out and walk Photon, our friends Peter and Laura's dog. Peter cracked his head falling off a ladder while cleaning eavestroughs, and so we come by to help by borrowing their lovely and talented dog Photon to give her a walk, and play with her for an hour or two and exhaust our own children. It works for everyone. Daniel had come with us, as our plan had been to walk the children into exhaustion, go and eat Chinese food at the Pearl Court, and then go home and put the kids to bed. Jamie has space camp tomorrow, and has to be up at 7:00, so we needed to get him tired enough after getting up at 10:00 to go to bed early tonight.

Jamie rode his bike the whole way, and Liam and Jamie both enjoyed playing with the dogs at the dog park. We had a huge meal at the Pearl Court, and Jamie was delighted because we remembered to order his favourite Shanghai noodles. the boys were happy and tired when we got home. Liam was, in fact, overly tired and didn't last until the bath. We dipped him into the bath, dried him off in record time, and put him straight to bed. Jamie took a little longer, but was asleep before 10:00. I think that he's going to be tired tomorrow, but I am very hopeful that he'll have a good time with his posse at the Science Center.

2008-07-14 23:29 (Kristen) Today was the first day of Space Camp, and we got up at 7:00 (and staggered times thereafter) to get Jamie out the door. He was very tired to start, but was very excited to be going. John tells me that Jamie is part of the Asteroid group with his posse (Sam, Jake, Parker, and Charlie), and had a nametag with "Jamie Asteroid" on it. How incredibly cute is that?!

Becky, Liam, and I settled down to a Jamie-less morning. We didn't do very much that was interesting or out of the ordinary; some painting, and Liam tried to get Becky to keep changing DVDs in the little DVD player for him. Over and over. He was tired too, as he'd woken up around 7:30, and was prone to deep complaining when we got him to Browning for lunch. He had a good time, and was very much ready for his nap when Ken took him out. Becky and I were at the Second Cup waiting for him to show up with Jamie when my phone rang; it was the Science Centre, telling us that Jamie had fallen asleep after lunch, and wanted to come home because he was so tired. I spoke with Jamie, who did sound genuinely beat, and John went off to get him. John brought Jamie to the Second Cup, where Liam was now wide awake, and had an Italian soda and half of a cookie. Liam protested when John broke the cookie in half to share between the boys, as he likes things to be unbroken, but John just looked at him and said "Too bad." Liam then to our shock shrugged and ate his part of the cookie. Total parental surprise. Jamie perked up a bit afterwards, and went with John to get Sam, whom we had agreed to drive home from camp earlier one, and played with his friends outside. There was some concern expressed by the camp counsellors who saw him that he might not be ready for a full day camp, but we think that he just hadn't had enough sleep. Further proof may be in that Jamie ran into a pole and gave himself a rather impressive goose egg on his forehead.Jamie was full of talk about how much he loved space camp and how much he was learning. So I am full of hope that tomorrow will be better.

The evening was at Browning, where we made dinner over an hour earlier so that we could get the boys to bed early. Liam melted down and fell asleep a little after 8:30 but Jamie had a great deal of difficulty calming down and didn't fall asleep until 9:45. We're going to wake him up at the last possible minute tomorrow, and try to feed him breakfast in the car. That way, he'll have enough energy and enough sleep to make it through the day tomorrow.

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

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