Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 2 No. 57

2008-10-07 23:00 (Kristen) Liam hates taking medicine, no matter what. Even if I explain to him that it will make him better, or make the pain stop, he won't do it. We've had some pretty traumatizing fights about it. So, when I saw Liam watch Simon take some painkiller in a little cup (they come with the bottles), and Peter told me that he had a look of incredulity on his face, I had an idea. Tonight, knowing that he'd be cranky, which could mean tooth issues, I offered him the little cup and asked him if he wanted to drink it himself. He looked skeptical: no. Then I told him he could drink it with no help from me. Oooo...autonomy! He did, and was completely delighted as he finished drinking. And that was that: no fuss, no muss, no screaming, mess, or crying as with the little syringes. That was cool.

Jamie was dead tired when he went to school this morning, complaining and making a fuss about it. He was fine when I picked him up from school to go skating, and he had a good class although he tired easily, I thought. We were to go to Parker's after skating, but Parker was not feeling well at all, so we went to play with Jake instead. John and I took Jamie to see Dr Kennedy afterwards to look at the bumps on his thighs to see if they really were flea bites. Turns out that the doctor thinks that they're some sort of virus, which would explain much. Liam cried for a few minutes in the office until he realized that he wasn't getting a shot, then liked watching the fish. Both boys quickly tired of being there, however, and didn't get pulled out until a few minutes after they lost it, instead of before. I was deeply unhappy about that. We went home, and spent a quiet evening at home. Liam was in bed by 9, but Jamie didn't get out of the bath for another half an hour, and wasn't asleep until a little after 10 again. Once again, we'll try tomorrow to get him to bed earlier.

2008-10-08 25:09 (Kristen) Jamie wasn't feeling very well today, and fell asleep in the car on the way home from Hakobune with John. He seems to be running a bit of a fever, so we're up in the air as to whether he's going to school tomorrow. Poor guy: it's Posse Day at Jake's tomorrow, but he must be feeling pretty crummy, as he was resigned, not actively upset, at missing it.

Liam was up, and relentlessly cherrful and chirpy, at 7:30 AM after nursing what felt like all night. He really does not want to give up that night nurse. He woke up Jamie too, and so Jamie actually got up, had breakfast, and had time to play before he had to leave for school. Wow! It was a rainy, cold day, so Liam and I spent most of the day inside, as I cleaned up in preparation for the arrival of my sister and her friend Kirsten. I took Liam out for a walk at 1:15, and he fell asleep almost instantly, and stayed asleep until I woke him up at 4:00. Wow again. He had trouble falling asleep tonight, but I expect it was because of a lack of exercise. Jamie fell asleep pretty quickly. Liam may not be feeling well himself, as he had a full-on accident at lunch, which required a fair amount of cleanup. He doesn't want to sit on the toilet for some reason either, but wants to pee standing up into a potty cup, which isn't optimal. I'm unsure what's going on there, but I'm not worried about it. John was out at Scrabble, so we had a quiet evening in. The boys are happy to see their aunt, and gave her big hugs and kisses before bed.

2008-10-09 22:36 (Kristen) Jamie had a fever in the night, but was fine in the morning. He didn't want to go to school but did want his playdate with the Posse, so he sucked it up and went to school. Both he and Liam didn't sleep very well last night, with both boys waking up fully and needing one thing or the other. I didn't sleep very well either, as a result. However, Jamie was out the door with me, John, and Liam, and on time at school. Jake's mom had called earlier to say that Jake was sick, and so they couldn't host. John stepped up to the plate, and offered our place, which worked out well for us. We told his friends, and that was good too. Liam and I did some errands, including a trip to the library and one to the toystore to buy a little toy for our doctor's office. Liam broke a little eyeball toy when we were there last, and I wanted to replace it, as toys make visits easier for everyone. We went home, and John took Liam with him to the school to get Jamie while I cleaned the kitchen and got llunch ready.

John says that Jamie came running out with his classmate Makaiya, and introduced her to John as his girlfriend. I think that Makaiya has been working on this for a little while, given the very pointed and cheery "hi!"s she's been giving him. Jamie was a little perturbed when she followed him into the bathroom at school, but his teacher was on it. John reminded Jamie tonight that one must never forget the name of one's girlfriend, when Jamie blanked on it in conversation. The posse was only at half strength, as Charlie was grounded and unable to come. Sam and Parker had a good time and ate enough for four kids. Jamie was punky again, however, as his fever was coming back, but I gave him some Advil and he perked up again. They all had a blast playing soccer in the driveway, which was lovely to see.

Liam did not nap today, despite John's efforts, likely because he left the house for his nap too late in the afternoon while wound up by the friends of his brother. He was pretty much done like dinner after dinner, and I had to put him straight to bed at 8:00. He's woken up once, but I hope that he'll have an easier time than the last few nights, for the sake of my own sleep. Jamie was very sweet, and made sure that he'd met his daily quota of hugs and kisses for me. I will miss it when he's too old for that sort of game. Oh: I should ad that the boys had a very nice time playing with Kirsten and Jennifer when they were here for dinner, and that the boys will miss them when they leave tomorrow.

2008-10-10 22:42 (Kristen) Both boys seemed fine this morning when they woke up. Liam had a disturbed night again, and Jamie's on-again-off-again rash is on, but they were healthy and happy enough to go to Hakobune and school. Jamie's teacher has asked John if Jamie has mentioned Makaiya, with whom he has been spending a good deal of time at school. John said yes, but that Jamie forgot her name, which Ms. Mikoza though funny too. Liam didn't eat much lunch, but did snack more on his pizza slice before falling asleep. He slept badly during his nap, and woke up after 90 minutes or so. He'd woken up earlier than that, but I'd convinced him to go back to sleep. However, after we picked up Jamie, Liam almost fell asleep on the subway, and did fall asleep on the couch: something he hasn't done since he was a small infant. This set off warning bells. He was also getting quite warm, which set them off further.

We went to Browning for dinner, but Liam was starting to complain constantly of being in pain (he'd mentioned it when he woke up from his nap too, leading me to believe that he had the same thing that Jamie did a day or so ago). John took him outside when he started to really wail, to distract him long enough to take the Advil we had for him. A minute or two later, I heard John yell from outside, where Liam was throwing up at the edge of the sidewalk. Ooops. We cleaned him up, and I rushed him home, where he threw up on our lawn. I got him in, changed him into his pajamas, and laid him down on the couch No good. He lay on top of me for about an hour or so, until he was calm enough to take his own medicine (he WILL NOT let me give it to him). Then the fever started to come down far enough that he was hungry. John came home soon after with food for me, and Jamie and Gary came home half an hour later. Liam, by this point, wanted some rice, so I gave him rice, water, miso, and some umeboshi* (Japanese pickled plum, which settles your stomach or voids it, depending upon your state of ill health). He was pretty hungry, but I held him back so that we didn't trip over his already touchy stomach. We bathed the boys, and put them to bed. Liam was asleep again by 10 (an effort earlier in the evening was abandoned), and Jamie later than that. I hope that Liam sleeps well tonight, and kicks whatever this is by tomorrow.

2008-10-11 46:25 (Kristen) The boys had a quiet day at home, with Liam recovering from his flu and Jamie needing a quiet day on his day off from Nisshu Gakkuin (no school for the holiday). John did the Thanksgiving food shopping, and bought me a pumpkin latte, which saved him when the mother of one of Jamie's schoolmates appeared behind him at Starbucks, and wanted to know what he was doing out without the kids. Dinner was at Browning, as we are all occupied on our usual Monday night salmon night, and the kids were fine. Once we got home, however, Liam woke up six times or so after lights out, crying and saying it hurt. I finally got some painkiller into him, but that only took the edge off, it seemed. As he only stayed asleep when I was in bed with him, that was lights out for me.

2008-10-12 22:38 (Kristen) Yesterday was difficult because Liam, feeling rather unhappy, was very resistant to being put down, and because Jamie was feeling out of sorts as well. It gave the day a fragmented feeling, as anything I accomplished was only done in fits and starts: like cleaning up the back porch, where the raccoons had tipped over the compost and smeared it beneath them as they ate our garbage. Ayami looked after the boys at that point, as John was out grocery shopping. That sort of thing. Today was much the same, as it seemed that the more that I tried to do, the further behind I got. Liam woke up in a cranky mood, which stayed for most of the day. It was only after I checked out the other side of his mouth that I felt the second tooth coming through, and remembered exactly why it is so` miserable it is when he teethes: it's always more than one. It is misery compounded by the fact that he won't take the painkiller again, even if it is in a little cup and he can drink it himself. I finally resorted to mixing it with the apple juice in his bottle and the water he drank before bed, but he didn't drink the juice much or at all, and only half of the water. Sigh.

Jamie, after a morning of watching Toy Story and playing video games, was not in the mood to go to the Apple store in the afternoon, and melted down quite thoroughly for about half an hour before we finally made it out the door. It was a classic meltdown, as his demands were on the far side of unreasonable, and he was constantly looking for the next thing to melt down about (probably not consciously but in effect). He eventually calmed down, and had a good enough time eating sushi and riding the elevators at the Eaton Centre. When it was time to go home, I took Liam out for a walk while John took Jamie home for a rest, as it was obvious that he was awfully tired. Liam fell asleep for only half an hour or so, before waking up in pain once again. In that half hour, I did manage to finally buy Jamie's new shoes, which he (mercifully) likes. I took Liam to the Second Cup for some pumpkin tart ("pie!"), which was the only thing in half an hour that made him smile. We played together at the park nearby for an hour until it was time to meet John, Jamie, and Jack at the Sher-e-Punjab for dinner. The boys ate modestly but well enough, and we then stopped off at John's parents' place to say hello to Alice, Ted, Amy, and Ian, who are here for Thanksgiving, and to give them their Indian food. It was loud but good, and we then took the boys home. John and Jamie rode their bikes home the long way, which they seemed to enjoy. Then it was time for bed. Liam eventually got enough painkiller into him to do some good, and is sleeping lightly so far. Jamie went to sleep a bit after 10, and will, I hope, have a good night's rest.

2008-10-13 23:37 (Kristen) Jamie was very excited about it being Thanksgiving today, which meant a big family dinner. It was fun to see him so excited. Everyone slept in today, which was nice as we all needed it after long nights. Liam and Jamie both (unusually) woke up in the middle of the night to pee. Liam sat up and said "Pee!" which was clear; we went, we peed, we went to sleep. Jamie, on the other hand, got up and insisted that John accompany him to the bathroom because it was dark. John told him, still half asleep, that he could hear Jamie from the bathroom if anything went wrong. This worked out well enough, but Jamie still ended up in bed with John instead of back in his own bed.

After breakfast, Amy, Alice, and Ian came over to play with cousins and to help with Thanksgiving food prep. As I had two pounds of sugar snap peas to de-thread, this was more than welcome help as well as welcome company. The kids romped over the house happily, and seemed to get along very well. Amy was in the hospital for a week not too long ago with asthma-related complications, but was doing much better if being still somewhat fragile. The boys had a great time, but Liam was starting to melt down around 2:30 or so. We tried to get some food into him, but he was still having none of it: the teeth, again. I did, however, discover that grape juice hides the taste of the Advil (simulated grape flavour) and so have taken to hiding it there. It works much better than the apple juice. John took Liam out for a lovely walk (but a fruitless quest for sleep), and came home just before all of us were ready to go for John's parents' place for the last stage of food prep. The boys walked or ran, respectively, with Amy and Ian to Tai-Tai and Ho-Ho's house (Liam calls him "Uh-Oh"), and resumed playing.

Both boys enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner very much, and inhaled a great deal of very yummy food. Jamie particularly liked the cranberry sauce Auntie Alice made, as did Liam. We took the boys home around 8:00, and had Liam in bed by 9:00. Jamie had a very hard time falling asleep, despite lights-out by 9:45 (early, these days, sad to say), but was asleep around 10:10 after crashing out, as he did when he was a baby, while nibbling on an apple.

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

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