Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 2 No. 55

2008-09-23 24:49 (Kristen) I took Jamie to school this morning and continued on to Hakobune with Liam. Despite dawdling, we were almost half an hour early. Liam was confused when I said that he could play in Goforth Hall for a bit *before* going in, but managed to have some fun before I sent him in to the daycare. I picked him up at 1:00, and called John to find that he and Jamie were already home from Browning, and working hard at Super Mario Galaxy. Jamie was very close to unlocking the final level, and he was very focused on getting it done, by his own or parental means. I stayed out with Liam, who fell asleep quite quickly, until about 4, then came home with him.

Liam's working on a new molar, which explains quite a bit. I can feel it just below the surface, but I'm not sure when it will actually show up. I do not dobut that Liam will let me know. He's been very restless at night, nursing a good deal, but not settling. I'm pretty tired too, now. He woke up just beforewe got home, and was pretty crusty for a little while until I got some snack into him. Regular snacks at 4:00 or so are making life go much more easily around here. John played with Jamie and rescued Princess Peach (the climax of the game) while I made dinner. We ate, Jamie played with Gary, and Liam and I hung about until it was time for bed. Jamie ended up with me and Liam last night, but he was willing to try again to sleep in his own room tonight. Liam has woken up once, but is sleeping soundly so far. So far, I say.

2008-09-24 22:34 (Kristen) Liam slept badly last night, but Jamie slept all night in his own bed. Win some, lose some. I was kind of tired, however, but a strategically inbibed coffee took care of it. I dropped Jamie off at school in the morning, and took Liam for a quick bite at the Second Cup after doing a little grocery shopping for dinner tonight. We had a quiet morning, and then ran out to help John get Jamie at the school. Liam insisted. John and Jamie went off to Hakobune, and Liam and I went home for lunch. He didn't eat much, but did sleep for two hours. We all met up at home, and the boys managed to get along and play together in one form or another until dinner. After dinner it was more of the same. Jamie had called Ross to tell him that he had rescued Princess Peach, so it was a chance to teach some phone manners, but despite Ross's invitation to go over and discuss it further, we didn't manage to get the boys together. Maybe tomorrow. Jamie was disappointed, unfortunately. We put the boys to bed around 9:00, when it was clear that they were getting tired, but Liam succeeded in staying awake in the dark until 10:30. This is how I discovered that the Sponge Bob bandage I have on my pinkie glows in the dark. How cool!

2008-09-25 21:15 (Kristen) I was up very late again last night, but still managed to get out of bed at the appointed time to take Jamie to school. I had some loose ends to wrap up, however, so Liam and I came home instead of going for our usual (lately) wander. I cleaned up in preparation for the descent of Jamie and his four friends Jake, Sam, Charlie, and Parker, for a big playdate this afternoon, and got a manuscript ready to return to its publisher. John took Liam to get the boys while I got lunch ready, and came back a little after 12. The boys were good if quite wound up, and everyone had a good time. I took Liam with me to UTP to drop off the manuscript, and he failed utterly to fall asleep. At least he behaved moderately well for an exhausted boy. I raced home to relieve John, and the boys continued to play happily until after 4. Jake was the last to leave, and so Jamie and Liam kept playing outside with a soccer ball, which they enjoyed considerably. John's mom provided part of dinner, and we ate well. John wanted to get Jamie's bike from where it had been forgotten (but locked up) at the school and to return some items to Daniel and Ross, so we all suited up to do that. I took Liam to buy milk, and he fell asleep in the stroller. I had been ready for that, and so he was all ready for bed in pajamas when he did. I stopped off to get Jamie and John from Browning, and took a crying Liam, who had woken up soon after the stroller had stopped moving, back home. I nursed him to sleep again, and that was that (about 8:30). Jamie has been playing with Gary, and seems happy if tired. The boys have Hakobune tomorrow, and will share lunch. I'm so tired that they may both get pizza for lunch. It's been a while, so it'll be a treat.

2008-09-26 23:46 (Kristen) Liam was up at 7:15 or so, ready to go. I was not so ready, but did get up. Jamie got up in time to have me make breakfast for him before I took Liam to Hakobune. It was a PA day, so there was no school for him, and he spent the morning doing this and that before coming with John to Hakobune. Jamie called me on the phone first, and chatted with me until he reached Goforth Hall, where I was waiting with pizza. Jamie had discovered it was a pizza day when he went into his lunch bag and saw there was no main course: just fruit. He was pleased.

Liam didn't fall asleep until we were walking up Spadina after picking Jamie up. This was about 4 o'clock. Augh! He woke himself up coughing, however, and I took the chance to get him up as this was just outside our house. Liam was in a horrible mood for the rest of the day, with huge meltdowns and other sadnesses. I guessed that he was feeling terrible, as he had three accidents today: this usually happens when he is tired or not well. I eventually put him into a diaper, which I have not had to do in over a month. Poor guy.

Liam's vocabulary continues to grow. He can say "too bad!" when Mario dies in Super Mario Galaxy, which is rather cute, and is regaling us with enough words that when he melts down, he can sometimes remember to tell us what the problem is verbally. Jamie and Liam love doing "work," and if one sees the other doing a workbook, they both have to be doing one. Liam is quite focused when he works, which he does voraciously since he discovered he gets a sticker for each completed page.

2008-09-27 34:16 (Kristen) We were all tired today, and there were many incidents of crabbiness. The worst offender was Liam, who spent most of the day not eating and going intomeltdown a couple of times after his nap. That's right: AFTER the nap. When I brushed his teeth in the evening, I found that the molar has cut through on one side, so all is forgiven. I was pretty sure that there was a reason, and there was. He was feeling completely awful all day: he has a cough and cold to go with his new molar, which is not smart accessorizing, as far as I'm concerned, but he's young.

It was a dim, rainy day to boot, so we spent a good part of it hiding indoors. Jamie and John went to Nisshu Gakkuin, where John was lunch monitor. He says that peas are not great good items for lunch, as he spent a lot of time cleaning them up! Liam and I went for a walk at 2:23, and he was asleep at 2:25. Score. He woke up at 4:00, and was darned unhappy about it, but I knew that he wouldn't sleep until late if he didn't wake up at that point. We had a leftover smorgasbord for dinner, which went over well with some and not with others, and hung out for the evening again. It wasn't an ambitious day by any means, but we needed to spend time at home. I fell asleep with Liam, and we didn't get up for almost 11 hours. We needed the sleep, it seems.

(John) Note to self: do not try to sing Jamie to sleep. First, he denies, it but he has a much better singing voice than his father, and it's embarrassing when he sings along. Second, he has a better memory for lyrics than his father, and can keep singing for quite a while. Third, he gets very excited and not at all sleepy when he does so.

2008-09-28 24:49 (Kristen) Jamie has been thinking a lot about cosmogony lately. He's heard a lot of different traditional versions, and tonight he started telling John his own version, which goes like this: A long time ago, God died. Then he came back, and was undead. He made the earth. Actually there was an old Earth, but he exploded it to make the new one. He used magic. In fact, he is magic. Yeah. He's a magic wand. God is an undead magic wand. No hands or feet: just a stick. And undead.

That's as close to verbatim as John can recall. I, personally, am speechless. I can't wait to hear the next iteration.

It was another lazy day here in the Chew household. Liam and I slept for 11 hours or so (woah), while Jamie seems to have woken up earlier than our 9:15. John stayed in bed until noon, thanks to the double dose of Reactine he took last night. The day was spent in the usual pursuits, except that we took the boys to the park for a little after Liam failed to nap. His failure was predicted, but still a bit of wear and tear on those around him. Jamie and Liam had a good deal of fun playing together today, which included some friction, but that wasn't surprising. There was romping, yelling, things being thrown, and much laughter. I think, despite the chaos, it's better than the two ignoring each other and only fighting. Yup.

Dinner went over well, and we concluded our lazy day with a bath and bed. Not a bad day, really. I should note that the photo of Jamie in a crown is of Jamie wearing a foam insert for an air filter, which he decided was a crown and pu on himself. I think he looks a little like Boy George (it's the way his hair is pulled back), but opinions may vary.

2008-09-29 24:00 (Kristen) So. Jamie was not particularly reasonable tonight: he was rather our of control for large parts of it, and melted down in spectacular fashion after getting uncharactaristically frustrated with Super Mario Galaxy (mind you, he was doing some hard bits) and I called time on him. After the bath, we noticed some red dots on his hand and one or two other places. John and I consulted, and while I don't think that it's chicken pox, we do think that some sort of histamine reaction (likely caused by a virus) is the cause of Jamie's unreasonableness. As John carefully pointed out, "Some people, when they have heightened histamine levels in their blood can be somewhat unreasonable."

Indeed.

The day went well enough. Liam was good in the morning, cycling through puzzles and other boys, while Jamie went to school (with some resistance). He later reported that it was a library day, and that it was photo day (which we knew, thank goodness). Ken took Liam for his walk, while I took Jamie to the Second Cup for some "work" and reading (really, mom and son bonding time). We had a nice time, but didn't do much "work" because Jamie wasn't all that interested in it. We went to the bookstore on the way back, and picked up a replacement copy of Freight Train (Liam's big book right now, and lost in the course of his walk). We also bought two Charlie and Lola books at Jamie's insistence, as well as a new book for him to read. He has promised, so we'll see how it goes. The book is pretty goofy, which he should appreciate.

It was dinner at Browning, which was fun. Liam made us all laugh by asking for "more moo," which eventually was decoded as "milk, please." He laughed himself when I called the milk "moo juice." It may remain that for some time. I realize that John will be out of town this weekend, as will Tom and Michelle. I had better get some sleep now, as I'll not be resting much while they are all away.

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

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