Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 2 No. 58

2008-10-14 22:30 (Kristen) I forgot to mention how much Liam enjoyed the music last night. When he was finished eating, he went to play the piano, quietly, and sang to himself as he did. When he was finished with that, he looked seriously at the sheet music, turned pages as he pressed the keys, then moved on to sit beside his uncle Ted as Ted played the violin. It was lovely. Jamie, it is reported, used very polite Japanese with his grandmother, which pleased her, and surprised us. It turns out that they're working on it at Japanese school, which was great.

Everyone was tired today after all the turkey yesterday. I took Liam to Hakobune, and came back to take Jamie to skating. The entire skating class, however, really wasn't into it in individual ways. One boy just cried. Another lay down on the ice. Others just stood there, and moved when they had to. No one had high expectations. When the kids got off the ice, we dropped them off at Parker's house for a playdate, and I arrived at home just in time to go with John to pick up Liam. We were met with a huge smile and big hugs by Liam, then went grocery shopping. When we got home, I took Liam out for a walk and he slept for a bit, and Jamie came home while we were out. It was a quiet evening afterwards, and the kids were in bed earlier than last night, but not as early as we'd like.

2008-10-15 24:26 (Kristen) I decided to get Liam out of the house today, to cut back on the amount of television he's watching. Well, not television exactly, but more the Backyardigans marathon he's instituted. We went to the toy store, where he is just as interested in the toy house and in the little rabbits with their tiny furniture as he is in trains. We bought a little puzzle, and after a quick trip to the library, played with it as we went to Mocha Mocha to split lunch. He enjoyed the quesadilla, particularly the avocado, and then I walked him until he fell asleep (a whole ten minutes). When I got to the Second Cup, the barista I usually chat with told me that she'd seen Jamie earlier in the day, as he came in for his rice krispie square. She said that he was very excited and happy, which was wonderful to hear.

Liam slept for two and a half hours, and was only a little crabby afterwards. We headed home, for dinner and a quiet evening. It was the usual; nothing new or remarkable to report. Jamie was, I should say, wonderfully helpful tonight. He brushed and flossed his own teeth, and watched Liam for me for (very) short periods of time. He can read "One Two Buckle My Shoe" too, which he is proud of.

2008-10-16 22:57 (Kristen) Liam slept through the night until at least 6 am this morning, which was amazing. Those teeth must really have been hurting, and it's a huge relief to know that they're letting up on him at least a little. We got up with Jamie and John, and puttered about at home in the morning, doing a bit of this and some of that. He's taken to watching one episode of the Backyardigans per DVD, before asking for another DVD. This is somewhat exhausting, but it means that it's easier to keep track of how much he's watching. We went to Browning for lunch, and Ken took Liam for a walk in the afternoon. Jamie had a playdate at Jake's with the posse, which sounds like it went well. I was thinking about the whole concept of playdates, and how lucky we are that Jamie has a group of friends to play with, and not just one or two other boys. When I was growing up, we'd swarm out the door in the morning, play with the neighbourhood pack, and swarm back in for meals and bedtime. Now, in our neighbourhood, the kids are spread out enough that you have to arrange for them to play together, and letting them roam free outside without supervision is not something we can do at this age. In part, it's because the street is so busy and in part it's because we don't have the big, kid-friendly spaces close to home that suburban areas have, with their large, contiguous front lawns and huge, fenced-in back yards. In part it is the culture of the big city downtown, with its fears of other people, cars, and the random unknown. Having Jamie run with a pack gives him the closest approximation of that feeling of unscripted freedom that we all took for granted. They run off and play with each other, hiving off and coming back together, as the social dynamics and energy levels require. They may not be exploring back alleys and climbing fences, or getting muddy looking for frogs in the local creek, but they are using their imaginations and stretching their legs, and making it all up for themselves as they go along. We just let them go, and pick them up when it's time to go home. I'm not sure how much better we can make it for them, under the circumstances. People worry about "overly scripted" children, but don't spend that energy towards making the world safer for those children, or changing how we organize urban space to accomodate more "free play." Perhaps they should.

Jamie was happy but exhausted when we got him home. We think that he might be fighting off yet another virus, as his nose was runny. Liam was delighted and delightful. When Jamie was doing his homework (which he finished today, and was very pleased about), Liam insisted on doing his "work," which consisted in the main of doing 18 pages of stick and paste. He was surprisingly good at it, and kicked and screamed when I told him that it was time to stop. The Kumon instructions to parents say that you should stop before they get tired or bored to keep interest up, but this was ridiculous. We ate dinner, Jamie played a bit with Gary, and Liam and I did a little of this and that. Then it was time for bed, as Liam told us loudly, and we did.

2008-10-17 24:12 (Kristen) It was a Hakobune day for both boys, and therefore Pizza Day. They've come to expect pizza on Fridays, and as we have a great pizzeria nearby the daycare, and they'll not only sell you a quarter of a whole pizza for $4, they'll cut it into three pieces for you so that kids can eat it, it's easy to do. Yay, Cora's! One Hawaiian pizza slice to go. I wasn't there when Jamie arrived with John after his morning at Jackman, but I made sure that I gave him a hug when I took Liam out. He's been very snuggly lately, demanding extra cuddle time and giving me huge hugs. It's been very nice, really. This afternoon, after we were all home, Liam, Jamie and I spent about twenty minutes playing on the bed in the blue room, making tents and cuddling. Liam took this as a reason to discuss whether it was time to nurse or not, but knew, really, that there was no chance of that happening. Liam is very verbal about nursing now, and lets John know when he's done with the bath, and would like to "nurse nurse nene*." Then he gets out, and gleefully runs for the bedroom. Usually dried off.

Liam napped for about an hour and a half, and was happy. Liam has been obsessed with the Backyardigans episode about travelling the world for the elements for the perfect cup of tea. Possibly it's the Celtic pastiche music that he likes, but he practically mugs me for "Tea! Tea!" Jamie spent a good deal of time drawing on the magnadoodle that we gave to Liam for Christmas, but which Jamie has gotten the most use out of. Dinner was at Browning, and the boys were good and tired when they got home, which is as it should be.

2008-10-18 22:20 (Kristen) When I got up with Liam, John and Jamie had already left for Nisshu Gakkuin. I am told that there is a seating plan now for the students, and that Jamie and his friend Yutaka are now seated on *opposite* sides of the room. This is not a surprise. When John came back, he took Liam to the market, while I stayed home and did some stuff around the house. When they came back, it was getting close to lunch, but Liam had already eaten quite a bit at the market. We got out of the house late, as a workman came by just as we were about to leave who needed to work on the gas lines, but the delay meant that we were able to see the Lancaster bomber fly over twice before we were on our walk. Liam ate almost a whole samosa before falling asleep for almost three hours.

Liam woke up as I was buying new bungie cords and straps for our green bin, as I'd found it in the middle of the back lawn today, pillaged by raccoons. We went home, Liam happily eating an apple, and got in a little before 6. I asked John where Jamie was, and he told me that he'd just gotten up from a nap himself to find Jamie asleep in his own bed in the blue room. He had run around a good deal after school, eaten a good deal, and just ran out of steam. We woke him up about a half hour later, when dinner was ready. We spent the evening playing, and watching videos. Liam, John, and I had a hilarious game of 'chase' going through the main floor, which kept Liam in hysterical laughter, and Jamie played with Gary. We didn't put the kids to bed early, because Liam had woken up at 4:50, and Jamie had napped, and that was a wise move on our part. We put them into the bath around 10, and Liam was asleep around 10:30 or so. Jamie hung on until well after 11, but that's to be expected.

2008-10-19 22:35 (Kristen) Liam was up at 8, so I was too. Jamie and John didn't peek out of their rom until 9:45 or so, which sounds like it was nice. Breakfast was eaten, laundry was folded, games were played, and the inevitable television was watched. John took the boys for a walk in the valley, which sounds like it was a lot of fun. They saw a woodpecker, and Jamie was full of news about it as I met them near the Dairy Queen. Liam was delighted to see the DQ after a long walk that he did almost entirely by himself ("Red house! Re house!") and cried out "yay!" when we walked towards it for lunch. I took Liam out for a walk and a nap after we finished lunch, and it took him a surprisingly long time to fall asleep, given his exertions of the morning. John and Jamie went home to veg out while we did this. Liam fell asleep, complaining that it hurt, and woke up an hour and a bit later, doing the same. Investigations have revealed more molar breaking through the surface, which would explain his discomfort.

It was macaroni and cheese with broccoli for dinner, which went over well enough. We played, watched tv, and "did work" into the evening, which was nice. I tried to get them to spend a little less time watching television, which was challenging as they both express boredom in different ways. Jamie tells us that he has nothing to do, while Liam randomly destroys things. However, they both like sitting at the dining room table and being creative, so that works out well for me. They're both asleep now, and we're back into the groove tomorrow.

2008-10-20 14:35 (John) Got up, fed and dressed Jamie, ran after him while he rode his bike to school. Must get in better shape, ride own bike, or get Jamie to slow down. Confirmed plans for rest of day with grumpy posse moms. Walked home, lending Jamie's bike lock to Parker, who couldn't remember his combination. Got Kristen and Liam out of bed and into car, drove to meeting with financial advisor, then back home again for half an hour of desk work. Drove back to school, picked up Jamie and Sam, took to indoor soccer class. Jamie is not the most disruptive member of the class, and is in the upper half in ball-handling skills. Where he unexpectedly excels is flexibility: when the instructor asks him to sit with the soles of his feet in front of him and touching each other, his knees out to the sides, then bounce his legs up and down like butterfly wings, he has trouble understanding the exercise as his knees are flat on the ground on either side. When he is asked to sit with his legs straight and as wide apart as he can comfortably put them, it's almost painful for me to watch as he puts them at about 160°. After soccer, it's back to our house with Sam for an impromptu playdate, which so far has consisted of leftover macaroni and cheese, Smash Bros. Brawl and drawing with his new Super Mario pencil crayon set.

2008-10-20 24:13 (Kristen) Not much else to add; Jamie was tired after Sam left, and Liam was full of beans after his nap. Both boys did work, and Liam finished his sticker and paste book; he went through it in less than a week, and there are 39 pages. Whew. He likes his glue. He also likes endless games of 'chase.' He was hilarious at many points today, especially when he hunches up his shoulders and puts his hands in front of himself, like he's trying to sneak. That, and the laughing. Jamie read a good deal of a Thomas Stage 1 reader, despite protesting that he doesn't like Thomas the Tank Engine anymore. He got into the book anyway, reading quite fluently. I was surprised. Still a little trouble recognizing long and short vowels, but that's to be expected, I should imagine.

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

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