Back to Vol. 2 No. 58, or up to Jamie Chew's Web Log Archive. or forward to Vol. 2 No. 60.

Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 2 No. 59

2008-10-21 34:05 (Kristen) We have been feeling oppressed by the number of toys the boys have in the house, and I finally went through them today, packing up the toys that they don't play with and the ones that they are too old for. I will keep some of the better ones around for very small visitors, but the rest will be put into storage. My policy is that if they haven't asked for the toy in over a year, I can donate it to charity or some other person we know. I have not actually done this yet, and we have another very large box of stored toys in the garage, but I know that I will someday. Now the toys are organized, easier to access and much less crowded, and I hope they will play with them more. Last night Jamie was back into the Lego, building this time, and Liam was enjoying poking about at toys he hadn't seen in a while too. Jamie says that his favourite toys are the Wii, his magnadoodle, and the television, but I'd put Lego high up there, too.

John took Liam to Hakobune in the morning, which reduced the amount of running around that I had to do considerably. I took Jamie to skating with Jake and his family, and after a poky beginning, really did well by the end. He's starting to get used to the sensation of gliding, which I think startles him with the feeling of a lack of control. However, it seems like he's getting over that. We went to Jake's for lunch, which was fun, and brought Jake back for some Wii time while his brother went swimming with his mom. Liam had fallen asleep in the car on the way home, so John stayed out with him for two hours until he woke up.

It was the usual quiet evening, with the exception of my tearing the toy room apart and putting it back together. Jamie's reading continues to improve, and Liam is still mad for his cutting and pasting "work." They were both asleep around 10.

2008-10-22 23:42 (Kristen) The day started off well enough for me, although John slept in and so spent the morning in a mad panic trying to catch up. I decided late to go out to buy socks for the boys (holes everywhere in heels), and so Liam and I tagged along to Hakobune with John and Jamie. Jamie notified me of every raisin he found in his raisin cookie, made sure that I saw it, and gave notification that he'd eaten it. One. By. One. This is a family joke that started a year ago or so, and the idea is that you Drive Mom Nuts with raisin updates. Then Liam started into it. And these particular cookies have a lot of raisins...

Liam was not in the mood to sleep, and so did not, despite much encouragement. I did buy the socks, however. Liam got some train table time at Indigo, which made him happy, but very unhappy to get into the stroller. We played some more at Hakobune, after we met John and went there together to pick up Jamie, and came home. Jamie ate all of his dinner and a good deal of Gary and Ayami's (Gary remarked with some amazement that Jamie can eat a good deal of broccoli), but Liam didn't eat more than three or four bites of dinner. Then he melted down completely after I bathed the boys early (at 6:30 or so), and ended up having to go to bed early. He kept complaining that something hurt, but I didn't know if a tooth was causing the pain or his tummy hurt because he'd not eaten enough. He's sleeping fitfully, despite the painkiller I made him take, and has woken up three times so far. As he's been sleeping through the night for the last week, this is sad on so many levels. Jamie came upstairs and went to bed a little after 9, as I was busy putting Liam down again, and took a little while to fall asleep.

2008-10-23 20:28 (Kristen) When I put Jamie to bed last night, I noticed a bunch of bright red bumps all over his left shoulder and surrounding area. I told John about them this mroning, and he said that he was 50% sure that they were chicken pox. So, we notified the mothers of his friends (who all have had the chicken pox vaccine), and kept Jamie out of school. John reported that Jamie's teacher, when told, said to John that "Jamie was not acting like himself yesterday." Hmmm. We got an 11:30 appointment for Jamie, and he was still not himself. Dr. Kennedy saw us immediately once she knew the reason we were there (I met her as we were checking in with the secretary), and sure enough: chicken pox. Rats. A look at Liam revealed that the red bumps he's had on his legs for the last couple of days are also chicken pox. Yay. So we have two boys home for the next week or so. I predict much "family time."

It was, needless to say, a quiet day. I did take Liam out for a walk, but avoided people in general as he slept (no Second Cup). Both boys were very needy, and it was not a particularly restful day. We're about to get them ready for the bath, and will be using a Benadryl spray on both of them afterwards to reduce some of the itching. Poor guys. Neither one has a severe case of the pox, but neither one of them is feeling properly, either. I hope very much that they're better soon, as Jamie is going to miss a number of Hallowe'en events, some lessons, and a few playdates. We're not telling him, as it'll make it all worse.

2008-10-24 23:41 (Kristen) One of the unexpected side effects of the chicken pox is that it fills small boys up with histamines, which in turn make them crazy. In Jamie's case, all sentences must BE YELLED! and one must run, not walk. Liam is manifesting by being more strong willed than usual, and needing to meet all suggestions of activities that don't involve watching Backyardigans DVDs with yelling and throwing himself backwards so that he hits his head on the floor. Great fun! I exaggerate, but only slightly. Liam has only one new pock (or maybe not), while Jamie is starting to get some on his face. He is very very good at not scratching.

John had some errands to run at the Eaton Centre, so he dropped the kids and me off at Riverdale Farm. It wasn't that busy, so we were able to avoid other people, and the boys enjoyed running around the park at high speed. I talked Jamie into going to see the chickens and the pigs, and also into going into the big barn (which he insisted was smelly, and he didn't want to do that). Once we were in, he was enraptured by the Nubian goats, which he pronounced to be "very cute." When John came back from his errands, Jamie insisted that pictures be taken (by Jamie) so that he could look at them tomorrow and after that.

I took Liam to the Sobey's so that he'd fall alsepe on the walk (easily done) and so that I could buy some ammonia to spray in our attic to drive out whatever has taken up residence there. Whatever it is has chewed through our eaves, so I'm not feeling charitable. John went out again later in the afternoon to pick up his computer, and brought back a new Backyardigans DVD for the boys. There were huge cries of "Yay!" and the boys were delighted to sit down and watch them for the evening, after both ate huge meals. I was surprised but happy about that. Liam is sleeping lightly, and Jamie is out like a light.

2008-10-25 25:08 (Kristen) We all slept in this morning, and I was shocked to realize that Liam and I were still in bed after 10:00. John and Jamie were up around 9, and Jamie had already stuffed himself with various food items for breakfast. He's eating a *lot* lately. John went out and did the groceries, and came back with Jamie's Japanese school homework and some Hallowe'en cookies that his teacher had baked for the Hallowe'en party that Jamie missed today. He was all right about it, which was a relief. Liam melted down a few times today, throwing himself backwards and hitting his head on the floor in a way he hasn't done since he was 12 months old or so. Sigh. We went out for a walk later in the day, and Jamie and John chose to ride their bikes around the neighbourhood. Liam wanted to take his Thomas the Tank Engine umbrella out for a walk, and happily did so to the amusement of passers-by.

I got Jamie to do some spelling pages, and Liam did some pasting after dinner, and it was another quiet evening in for the four of us. Liam is having a hard time sleeping, however, and keeps waking up while crying out that it hurts. We are unsure of what the exact problem is, since there are so many to choose from.

2008-10-26 25:02 (Kristen) Liam had not presented with a new spot in over 24 hours, and seemed well enough when we got up this morning. Jamie was still with spot, but the big ones were scabbing over, and we seemed to be doing well. I took Liam with me to a friend's house for tea in the afternoon (everyone there immune to the chicken pox), where he woke up after half an hour of nap. I picked him up and rocked him a bit while he complained, but then sat down with him on my lap, facing me with his head on my shoulder. Darned if he didn't fall asleep again for another 45 minutes. Surprised me! Liam enjoyed meeting the large, furry, and friendly cat after napping, and also liked the small train set kept aside for small children. Feeling a little freedom, I took Liam to pick up a few things at the local cooking store, and to play with trains at Treasure Island while I picked up some small items to keep Jamie amused while he continues to convalesce. When I got home, he and John were playing Super Mario Galaxy, and Jamie had (to John's amazement) finished off two more tricky comet levels. He had also done eight (8) pages of Nisshu Gakkuin homework, and solved a tricky "fill in the hiragana" story that John didn't think that he'd solve on his own. He had a good day, in that regard.

Of course, when we looked the boys over tonight before getting into the bath, Liam had a new spot on his elbow. @@$!!! My apologies to anyone who came into contact with Liam today. I was *so* sure he was better. Jamie, too, has a clutch of new spots on the backs of his legs, so he isn't going anywhere soon either. John went out and bought him a Hallowe'en costume today, as I'm having great difficulty getting out to Value Village and other like places to buy components for a Super Mario costume, and John was getting anxious. He found a dragon costume that Jamie likes, which will (admittedly) go very well with Liam's knight costume. That could be very cute indeed.

2008-10-27 23:52 (Kristen) Liam's been fooling me with his pox outbreak more than once. I don't see spots for 24 hours, everything is nice and scabby or otherwise looking good, and I get lulled into a false sense of security. I check him out from top to toe, see nothing, take him out and boom! More pox. Pox outbreaks are supposed to last 7-10 days, I have learned today, but because Liam has a mild case, it's much harder to tell if he's still breaking out. I've done this twice now, and I'm just not taking him out anymore until Friday. End of discussion. I spent time at the Second Cup today, and now I'm worried that I've infected the neighbourhood. (ETA: In retrospect, after doing some research, Liam's not that infectious right now, but we're still staying away from people until Friday.)

Jamie is breaking out more obviously, but is still a mild case, I'd say. Jamie, I should say, just amazed me tonight by reading a book for me with an almost regular pace of speaking, and that I'd only read to him once or twice at bedtime: My Friends by Taro Gomi. It has a lot of words that repeat, but it also has single words like "school," "monkey," "rooster," "march," and "crocodile." I was very very happy with him, and Jamie glowed under the huge amounts of praise that John and I heaped upon him. "You can read!" I exclaimed, and he had that "oh, yeah, I guess I can" bashful smile on his face. We made a list of books that we can read together tomorrow, and we all couldn't be more pleased.

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

Back to Vol. 2 No. 58, or up to Jamie Chew's Web Log Archive. or forward to Vol. 2 No. 60.