Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 2 No. 77

2009-02-24 25:04 (Kristen) Liam woke up with a barking cough which sounds horrible, but is still in his throat and isn't into his lungs. It's very loud, and startling, but I've taken him to Dr Kennedy about just this thing before and been reassured that it isn't as bad as it sounds. We'll keep an eye on it. In the meantime, it makes the boy wake up crying and hysterical, which has been no fun. I took Liam to Hakobune, and John went with Jamie to school as a parent volunteer for a Scientist in the Classroom event at Jamie's class. It sounds like it went well. Then John took Jamie to skating, and says that all the kids were pretty tired. Jamie went to play at Charlie White's, and John endeared himself to Charlie forever by going over for half an hour to unlock some of the extra characters and vehicles on Charlie's MarioKart game. Liam had a nap, and woke up around 4. John was home very soon after with Jamie, and we had dinner around 5:30. I'm getting smarter-- Liam really wants to eat around that time, and if I don't have a dinner on the table for him, he'll eat enough as a snack that he won't eat dinner. Usually he asks for healthy, dinner-style foods like rice (he's made of rice), but it he doesn't eat, he's a hysterically crabby boy. Both boys ate dinner, and then John took Jamie to a 'bring-a-friend' night at Charlie and Parker's beavers group. John says that Jamie spent half the time there lying down on the floor at his feet, and was so tired that he (unusually) didn't want John to go. When they got home, we put an obviously tired Jamie, and a tired-but-fighting-it Liam to bed.

2009-02-25 49:45 (Kristen) Today's big event was taking the boys up to the Scrabble club for the first time in over two years. I think that it's been two years...it certainly has been a long time. We packed up sandwiches for dinner, along with grapes and apples, along with toys and games. The boys were very excited to be going to "the party" (there were to be balloons and cake), and Liam had napped to make it easier on us to stay up later than usual. When we arrived, there was pizza, so the fact that both boys had barely eaten their sandwiches went by the wayside. In fact, I know that I shouldn't have made so many sandwiches given that the boys were going to be hoovering pizza all night. The usual birthday spread was laid out on tables at the head of the Scrabble room, and the boys happily ate broccoli crudites along with their pizza. Later, when Jamie discovered that the cake icing was chocolate, amused Lynda Wise no end when he passed up cake in favour of more broccoli. What mom can say "no" when her child says "Mom, can I have more broccoli?" Not me, anyway.

It was lovely for the boys to see the club members again. We took Jamie up regularly before Liam was born, and many people commented on how big Jamie was now. They also observed how much Liam looks like John, which is very true. When the games began, the boys and I spent the rest of the night out in the large common area outside the room. We sat on couches and ate pizza and the occasional chip, ran around, played a little soccer with another girl there, tried out some tai chi, messed about with a little kung fu (forward bow and arrow! horse stance!), drew, and read books. Jamie, thanks to the wisdom in Kung Fu Panda, can name the five animals of the five animal styles, and we had a good discussion about what animals are sometimes left out (dragon, monkey) of the five. We had a good time, but the boys started to tire around 9. Jamie fell asleep in the car on the way home, but Liam stayed well wound up until after I fell asleep with him after 10:40.

2009-02-26 25:56 (Kristen) When Liam gets sick, he becomes oppositional, and had a great deal of difficulty doing the things you need him to because they must, by the fact that you're asking them, be Evil. Like put your head forward or you'll choke on the food in your mouth as you're crying because you fell off your chair while eating, or lie on your side, not your back, so that you'll stop coughing. He's waking up in the middle of the night or in the morning crying and barking, and it's hard to calm him down when he does. We did sleep in, however, after he woke up badly twice last night, and that was good. Jamie was late for the second or third day in a row, and this is causing some stress with his dad, as being late for school drives him crazy. He just has trouble getting going in the morning because he's tired. Today he was exceptionally tired, and melted down on the way home from school for ten minutes. He was calm by the time he and Parker, who came over for the afternoon, arrived at home, and ate well enough. Liam melted down around 1, and I took him out for walk, He slept for three hours, until I woke him up at 4. Eek. We got home, and I started in on dinner while Jamie protested at doing this and that. Neither child ate much, despite liking their dinners, for which I have no explanation. Jamie melted down again at bedtime, which was very early tonight. John says that he had no difficulty getting Jamie to sleep, but I had trouble with Liam, who didn't sleep until a snack of yoghurt at 10:00. Tomorrow is a Hakobune day, and I know that Liam is looking forward to it. I hope that Jamie is feeling more rested tomorrow.

2009-02-27 49:30 (Kristen) It was the usual busy Friday, with boys going hither and yon from school to daycare to dinner. John took care of Jamie (who continues to have real difficulty in arriving anywhere on time), while Liam and I pushed through the rain and a truly horrendous lineup at Spadina station for the streetcar to get to Hakobune. Liam had a blast, as usual, and wasn't all that ready to leave when I arrived to pick him up. Jamie, unusually, wasn't ready to leave when we came back to pick him up either. Liam slept for an hour and a half, and was rather tired for the rest of the day. In fact, he melted down so hard at bathtime that I just put him to bed. The boys had a good time at Browning, as usual, and there isn't anything else of note to report.

2009-02-28 25:30 (Kristen) Liam was in a fabulous mood today as John took him to the market. People were commenting on how happy he was, John told me, and he was easy to get along with and agreeable, especially when he was telling John where to go next and what to buy. He was delighted to find a store that sold sesame balls with red bean paste, and also ate a piece of pizza and a samosa. I took him for a walk in the afternoon, and he slept for about two hours. Jamie, on the other hand, once again was late to school, and made John wait outside in the cold while he and Toshio played in the schoolground afterwards. I have to say that most of the time, the mothers make their kids go homerather than stay around in the cold! It was the usual winter afternoon when everyone was home, with Jamie and Liam arguing over who got the DS next. The boys did play together for a little, but then Gary came home and Jamie was off to play with him. Both boys went to sleep relatively easily.

2009-03-01 23:36 (Kristen) John, Liam, and I all slept in this morning but Jamie was up for at least an hour before we got up. He managed to keep himself entertained with his DS and other things before I came downstairs with Liam and we got the day off to a (slow) start. Neither boy was particularly hungry for breakfast or for lunch, and we puttered around until it was time for us to meet up with Peter, Leslie, and Simon for a skating playdate. It was Liam's first time on a pair of skates, and he was pretty game, over all. He did not like it At All when I let go of him for any reason, but he was starting to get the hang of it by the time we got off the ice. He was standing, and even making some tentative tries at moving his skates properly across the ice. Jamie, on the other hand, was pretty pokey. We found a chair, at one point, to put Liam on so that we could push him around, and Jamie (of course) wanted to lean on the chair and be pushed around as well. John, later, observed that Jamie sort of shuffles along on his skates, as he is afraid of falling and doesn't want to stretch out and glide for any real distance because of that. It's functional, but not very fun, and so he gets bored and uninterested in the proceedings. I think that I'll need to get a pair of my own skates and start taking Jamie skating, to see if we can get him over it. We did have one particular incident where Jamie, a few minutes after getting onto the ice, declared that he had to pee. So we got off the ice and into the clubhouse bathroom, where Jamie left his coat on the edge of the sink. Unfortunately, it was an automatic tap, which filled Jamie's hood with water before Liam got my attention and I was able to pull it out. I dealt with the worst of the damage with the hand dryer, but I was Unhappy, especially since Liam kept on playing with the tap while I was trying to dry off Jamie's coat. Later, I almost lost a ring (a silver and agate one) when I pulled off my gloves to put the boys' boots on, but a boy, about ten years old, turned it in while I was at the snack bar counter. I turned and saw his mother turning in the ring, and exclaimed that it was my ring. It's so nice to know that there are such honest people in the world.

Jamie, in particular, was completely overwound by the time we got off of the ice. He kept acting up (crawling across the floor on his knees, holding the door closed and generally playing with a big heavy door, etc.) untilI made him sit and count to 60. The boys had snacks, but I was very relieved and feeling a little exhausted and headachey when we parted ways with Simon, Peter, and Leslie, and when John picked us up around 4:20. At 4:30, both boys were asleep in the car. D'OH! However, a perfect explanation for Jamie's behaviour. We let them sleep for about an hour before we woke them up by bringing them into the house. Rather, Liam woke up and Jamie was woken up another twenty minutes after that. Both boys remained tired, however. We had dinner with John's brother Ted at Sher-E-Punjab, as Silk Road was closed, and John and Jamie biked down while Liam rode in the stroller. It was enough exercise, apparently, as Jamie was asleep by 10:30. Liam fell asleep a little closer to 11. Still, pretty good considering when they napped.

2009-03-02 24:43 (Kristen) It was a Hakobune day for Liam, and a regular school day for Jamie. Now that Liam is going three days a week, I'll be making lunches five days a week, and need to plan more in advance what lunches will be. Our new routine has me taking Liam on Mondays and Fridays, and John taking him on Tuesdays. I dropped him off, while John got Jamie to school, and we got on with our day. John took Jamie to soccer, which Jamie loves, and I picked up a happy if somewhat hungry Liam. He really didn't eat lunch today, other than the vegetables and fruit (no samosa), which was unusual, and he took longer than usual to fall asleep. John had brought Charlie home with Jamie, and they played side by side at video games, as usual, but convivially. Liam woke at 4, and was in a moderately good mood, if hungry. Dinner was at Browning, and the gang were all happy when I left for an evening playing Trivia. I did get a phone call at 9:30, however, from John explaining that Liam was crying and saying that he "needed Mummy." I talked to Liam, explained that I was coming home soon, and that he should be good until then. "OK," a little voice said, as Liam took big breaths as he tried to stop crying. He was tine when I got home, and we all went to bed as per normal.

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

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