Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 2 No. 62

2008-11-11 21:06 (Kristen) Jamie came into the bedroom early this morning, and was shyly delighted when I sang "Happy Birthday" to him. We had a cuddle before Liam got us up and on with our day. Jamie was the teacher's helper today (because of his birthday) and brought his two new Transformers to show the class. He got a Birthday Boy Crown, which he was very reluctant to remove. Liam went off to Hakobune with John today, and was very happy to go.

I picked up some presents for Jamie from John's aunts at Treasure Island, and spent the last of Liam's birthday money on two presents for him (a toy helicopter with veternarian and sick animals, and a book with stories and some train track and a train in it). Then I went to take Jamie to skating with Jake. When we got back to Jake's house for lunch, Jake's mom Michelle had bought little cupcakes in honour of Jamie's birthday and lit a candle in one for him. Jamie was very pleased. The boys played for a bit, and then came back here for some more play before it was time for Jake to go home. Jamie did some homework and Liam did too, until it was time to go to the Silk Road for Jamie's borthday dinner.

I should note that Jamie wasn't expecting any more presents of note, and told me on the way home that he was saving up all his allowance for a Nintendo DS. I was delighted with this, as we'd already bought the DS! He was quite fixated on it. When he opened it, he didn't recognize the box, but read the letters DS when they were pointed out to him, and he was more than delighted. It is a limited edition Pokemon DS, which is rather cool. He and Gary were playing head-to-head games within seconds (Gary and Ayami bought him some games to go on the DS, as well as making sure that it was all set up and ready for play when Jamie opened it, as well as picking it up for us). He also got a reptile sticker book, a maze book, a book on the earth, and a sorter game that looks quite cool. It was a good haul, complete with a phone call from Grammie, Auntie Jennie, and his cousins Anna, Owen, and Becky singing "Happy Birthday" (his little face glowed). There was ice cream with a candle and another chorus of "Happy Birthday," and the evening was complete. Yay!

And now I have a five-year-old boy in my house. He's pretty awesome, as is his brother. For five years, now, I've been someone's mother, which is a remarkable thing in itself, but that I've been fortunate enough to be mother to two such wonderful boys is beyond all that I could have imagined.

2008-11-12 22:58 (Kristen) John spent most of the day getting ready for his trip to Dallas this weekend, but managed to take Jamie to Hakobune and to help Jamie to finish all his Nisshu Gakkuin homework. Yay! I baked cupcakes for Jamie to take with him, as they were going to have a little party for him today. Jamie came home with two balloons: one for him, and one for Liam. The people who run that daycare are so thoughtful.

I didn't even hear Jamie and John this morning as they were leaving for school. Liam and I were up not long after they left, and I felt a little disoriented for waking up so late. Liam had a quiet morning except for pitching shrieking fits if I tried to get him away from the little DVD player. I remember Jamie being focused on television at this age, but not so much as Liam is. I did get Liam to do some good work with stickers, scissors, and other things later in the day, and I did catch him playing with his new helicopter by himself too. I had been playing with him and the helicopter earlier in the day, which might have helped. I got Liam out the door for his nap around 1:30, and he slept until close to 4. There were exciting rounds of Papa the Monster in the hallway before bath, which involved Liam shrieking at a higher pitch than I can reach, but in utter delight as John pounced upon him for the nineteenth time. Jamie spent the evening playing with Gary and the DS, which was unsurprising, and Jamie has a playdate with Charlie tomorrow to play DS games. I'll be glad for the break, as John will be gone by then and I'll have housework to do so that Grammie, Anna, and Owen will have clean sheets upon which to sleep when they arrive on Friday.

2008-11-13 26:28 (Kristen) I fell asleep when putting the boys to bed tonight, as we were all a little tired. However, Jamie woke me up around 1:30, so here I am. I may not be here for long... The boys had a good day. Jamie went to Jackman, and Liam had a Danforth excursion with me, complete with cookie at the Second Cup. Jamie's playdate with Charlie was cancelled because Charlie got himself grounded, but Sam stepped into the breach and Jamie played happily there. Chelsea came to babysit for two hours, and brought Dylan and his sister Hannah for some happy chaos while I cleaned the house. Quiet evening, but now Liam's back up, and it's time for me to go.

2008-11-14 23:35 (Kristen) In brief: Grammie, Anna, and Owen arrived; Liam and Jamie have colds; we were almost late for school but managed to arrive just in time; much laughter and fun had by all.

I got Jamie to school on time and went with Liam to Hakobune right afterwards. He was happy to be there, as usual, which is always a relief after the trauma of his first few months there. I went back to our neighbourhood to work and picked up Jamie at the usual time. Liam has a cavity in one of his front teeth, where there is a very deep crevice caused by his extra tooth. Although I floss and brush it every night, it is very hard to clean the area and I'm upset but not surprised that the cavity has shown up. It is uncomfortable for Liam when I floss or brush there, which sucks, but we have an emergency dental appointment for Monday. I managed to arrange a playdate with Jamie's friend Charlie for that day, and I once again am glad for good friends with good parents.

Jamie and I got on the subway and gt pizza for lunch, and I hung about and ate my own slice until it was time to get Liam. He fell asleep on the subway, as I wanted to be home when Mom arrived with the kids. Liam woke up just before they arrived, and I had him set up at the DVD player so that I could run out and get Jamie. I shouldn't have worried: when he saw Grammie, he ran to give her a big hug, and I didn't exist any more. I got Jamie, about 15 minutes late, but all was well at Hakobune. Jamie and I had a pleasant ride home, but Jamie was obviously very tired. He too was delighted to see his cousins and his grandmother, and spent a riotous hour with them before we went to Browning to trash their house. It was a good time: Liam monopolized Tom; Owen, Daniel, Ross, and Jamie played Wii; Anna beat Gary 2-1 at Jenga. I put the kids straight to bed, but Liam's cold is really stuffing up his little nose. He wasn't asleep before 10:40 or so, which was not good. Jamie fell asleep a long time before that, at around 9:45 or so.

2008-11-15 23:51 (Kristen) This morning, I got Jamie up around 8 with an 8:15 departure, because he really needed the sleep. I was a little nervous, because we were going to eat on the subway and I know that he hates being rushed and doing that, but he was absolutely great. We left Liam behind with Grammie, and made it to Nisshu Gakkuin just in time for the bell, and with breakfast inside us. I stayed to watch Jamie's class for a bit, as it was Observation Day, and then went home to find Liam. John's parents went up for a bit and spent lunch with Jamie (which was good, as I had asked them to take Jamie his lunch, as I'd forgotten it), and then I went to get Jamie and bring him back home. In the meantime, I spent time with Liam and Anna and Grammie, while Owen spent some time over at Daniel and Ross's house. They really hit it off last night, and it was good for Owen. Liam's cold got worse last night, and he's pretty miserable, but he did get to sleep for an hour and a half when Grammie and Anna took him for a walk. They ended up at the Second Cup, and Jamie and I met them there.

Dinner was at the Silk Road, where we ate with Ted, Alice, Ian, Amy, Jack, and Sai, aswell as the five of us, Auntie Millie, and Scott. The kids had a great time eating and playing with DSes, while Liam spent the entire meal eating while seated on my lap. The weather was miserable, but we all had a good time. Afterwards, we went back to our house where much riotous rioting wen on, especially when Gary showed up, and Jamie got his presents from Auntie Millie, and from Ted and Alice and family (a portable electronic drumkit, since the family has many other types of musician but no drummers yet), and from Grammie, Auntie Jenny, and his Ottawa cousins (MarioKart). Games were played, and a good time had by all. Liam didn't let go of the driving wheel for MarioKart for a good part of the night. We all went to bed much too late, and I hope to have a very quiet day tomorrow.

2008-11-16 23:26 (Kristen) John travels quite a bit now, for Scrabble, and the kids and I have gotten pretty good at coping with the one-man-down scenario. I must have been feeling very cocky, because the universe decided to show me exactly how much help I do needfrom my family and friends this weekend to appreciate having John around that much more.

Today I woke up late with the boys at 9:30 or so. Trifina came to clean the house, and it was a lazy morning before Grammie, Anna, and Owen left to go back to Ottawa. I started to get a headache around lunchtime, but didn't worry too much. I decided, since Liam got up late and I was on my own with the kids, to let Liam stay up and just stay home and have a quiet day. We did just that, and Gary came up later in the afternoon to play DS with Jamie. We had all been playing MarioKart earlier in the day, and we need to get Liam a wheel of his won. He loves it, and can enunciate "Mario" quite clearly now. By 4 or so, however, I was feeling pretty rotten and had the worse migraine in at least a few years raging in my skull. Gary and Ayami quietly took over while I collapsed into a heap, and Ayami even made dinner for the boys while I rested, woke up, and had a shower to shake the rest of it out of my head. If not for friends, it would have been a much much worse day, and if not for family, we would have had a weekend full of fail. Jamie had a playdate with Charlie tomorrow, thanks to Charlie's mom being willing to take Jamie while I run Liam to the dentist, and I thank the stars and the Powers That Be that I am not on my own full time with the boys.

The boys were well behaved, and had a fabulous time this weekend with all their visiting relatives. They're missing Grammie, Owen, and Anna, and are looking forward to playing DS with Ian and Amy as soon as possible. At least Jamie is; Liam just looks forward to the next session of romping unless a MarioKart wheel is involved. They were both asleep by 8:45, and Liam is sleeping lightly because of his cold. Tomorrow we start anew, and wait for John to get home.

2008-11-17 21:01 (Kristen) I got Jamie to school barely on time, whew, and took Liam out to his dentist appointment. Sure enough, he's got a cavity. Darn. I scheduled an appointment with the special dentist that Jamie saw for his cavity, and we'll be seeing him for a consult on Wednesday. Gnash. Jamie had gone off with his friend Charlie for soccer, lunch and a playdate, which was great. Charlie's mom said that Jamie wasn't all that used to all the errands she had to do, because he kept asking, after each one, "and *now* are we going to Charlie's house?" I picked him up at 3:30, and we went home to wait for John. Gary came up and stole Jamie to play some DS for a bit, and then John was home. The boys were delighted to see him, and John came back with cool Pez and Pez dispensers for each.

We had dinner at Browning, which was lovely, andeveryone had fun playing four-man MarioKart. Then it was home for bed, as everyone is tired and fighting something.

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

Back to Vol. 2 No. 61, or up to Jamie Chew's Web Log Archive. or forward to Vol. 2 No. 63.