Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 2 No. 93

2009-06-16 23:30 (Kristen) Both boys being well, Jamie went to school and I took Liam to Hakobune. He was, as usual, happy to be there and I went off to get some work done while he had his good time. Jamie had a playdate, and he was a happy boy. It was a quiet day, and a quiet evening, with both boys being very tired early on (no nap for Liam yet again).

2009-06-17 23:27 (Kristen) The weather wasn't promising, but I still got Liam to go out and play for a bit in the playground before Jamie went off to daycare after school. Jamie spent a good amount of time climbing on the very tops of the monkey bars, renewing my determination that he take some gymnastics classes this summer so that he can do these things more safely, with more knowledge! He had wanted to take classes, then rejected the idea when I brought it up recently. I knew that he did want to go, so I told him that it was doing the sorts of things that he was gdoing in the playground, and he said "Oh yeah! I DO want to do that!" Sigh. Liam failed to sleep, but went with me around the neighbourhood, doing earrands. We went back home, to wait for John and Jamie. We read some books, and had a quiet rest of day. I made dinner, John went to Scrabble, and both boys went to play with Gary and Ayami for a bit before getting into the bath and getting into bed.

2009-06-18 23:27 (Kristen) Jamie was up waaaay too early again this morning, despite the general gloominess outside, It was before seven, and John told him that he had to stay in bed until 7:30. Resistance to this idea on the boy's part, and many questions like "When is it 7:30? Now?" "Now?" Etc. We were all a little tired today, and Jamie was very tired when he had some of the posse over for an afternoon of mayhem. They were all out of sorts and fragile in their own ways, and I think that everyone had a meltdown of some type by the time it was all over. Not the easiest of days. John had taken Liam out for a walk and a nap and managed the walk but not the nap. No surprise, unfortunately. I made dinner, and then went out to a lovely evening organized by an author I work with, while John looked after the kids, as we weren't able to arrange babysitting. John reports that he had the following conversation with Liam: "Are you a good boy?" "No!" "Are you a bad boy?" "NO!" "What kind of boy are you, then?" "My a happy boy!" So there you go. When I got home around 10, the boys were still awake, waiting for me, so it was lights out and to sleep.

2009-06-19 23:26 (Kristen) Liam had a very rough day today. He fell as he was climbing out of his stroller, unexpectely, at the subway station and banged his head against a gate. He really did hurt himself, but he cried/screamed, off and on, for the next hour. Even when we got to Hakobune, he screamed. He wouldn't go inside, he wouldn't let anyone cheer him up; he just clung to me and cried. Eventually, at 11:00, he decided that it was more fun inside than out. Thank goodness. John brought Jamie to Hakobune, and I picked Liam up an hour later. We had some errands to run and while he was fractious, he didn't freak out again until we had our bubble teas in hand and he changed his mind for the fifth or sixth time about his straw, but did so after we'd left the store. This set off a tantrum that lasted for about another twenty minutes, with hysterical crying and screaming in the car. We were all a little crazy by the time we reached the grocery store, but Tired Liam calmed down with some food from the salad bar at Loblaws (carrots, grapes, etc.). Jamie was as helpful as he could be, but it's hard on a boy when his brother is sucking up all the air in the room. We got home and went to Browning for dinner, where Liam failed to produce another tantrum, thank goodness. He saved it for the bath, and fell asleep mercifully quickly. Jamie was fine for most of the day, but is still fighting a virus of his own, and was having some trouble of his own being good. One of those days that everyone is glad has ended.

2009-06-20 23:32 (Kristen) Today was Jamie's class party and assembly for the last day of Nisshu Gakkuin for the school year. Liam and I slept in, and were picked up by John on the way back from the St. Lawrence Market. Jamie was delighted to see us, and spent a great deal of time getting hugs and kisses from me. I was thinking that he's not going to want to be so obviously demonstrative in front of his friends soon, so I'm enjoying it while I can. He was solicitous to us, offering choice bits of snack (strawberries, pretzels) to me and Liam and otherwise being attentive. It was very sweet. Liam enjoyed exploring the classroom, and I think is plotting how he can start school a year early (no dice, kiddo...). Afterwards, we did some shopping at a new mall area in Don Mills, buying a raincoat for me, and getting pizza for the boys. They enjoyed themseles a lot, Jamie declaring how much fun he'd had when we headed home. As John is leaving for Bangkok tomorrow, we had our Father's Day ceremony today. Take out was from the Silk Road, and we ate at John's parents' house. Jamie and Liam both gave John homemade gifts that they made at Hakobune, and Jamie gave John two additional cards that he'd made at Jackman and Nisshu Gakkuin. We had a lovely time and the boys were up a little late, given how tired they were.

2009-06-21 23:38 (Kristen) John left for Bangkok this morning. Jamie was already up, but Liam was still very sleepy and put out when John left. Jamie had a birthday party to go to, so he went off with Charlie and his dad while Liam and I stayed home. After it was clear that the television wasn't being turned off any time soon, I took Liam down to the Danforth for a snack at the Second Cup and some playtime at St. Barnabas. That went well, and we were home in time for Jamie's return around 12:40. We puttered around the house for the afternoon, with some snacking, but my master plan was to take the kids out for dinner at Katsu Sushi, where we'd had a lovely dinner on one of John's previous trips. Jamie biked and Liam rode, and dinner arrived not a moment too soon. The boys ate a good deal, although not as much as I'd thought (but that's OK: tomorrow's lunches are taken care of now!). We headed home slowly, via Baskin Robbins, and it was a very successful outing that kept their minds off stuff and their bodies out of trouble. Jamie spent about half an hour with Gary before I took the boys up to the bat hat 8. I let them watch some Anpanman, then turned the lights out at 9:00. They were both asleep fairly quickly, which is good. Liam has Hakobune tomorrow, and Jamie has an all-day field trip with his class. They will both need to be well rested if we want to avoid meltdowns.

2009-06-22 48:14 (Kristen) We managed, by the skin of our teeth, to get Jamie to school in time for his school trip to the Humber conservation area. He had a great time, and told me about the bugs he'd seen and what he'd learned about leeches. He had not seen a leech personally, but had learned about their medicinal uses and was fascinated. Another boy in the class claimed to have seen a poisonous snake, but as they're rather rare (but not out of the question) in the area, and he was the only one who "saw" it, I doubt the claim. Liam went to Hakbune and had his usual good time. He and Oscar-kun are good friends, and I'm realizing that the other kids are more aware of Liam, and say hello to him when he arrives. That's cool. He didn't sleep afterwards, and was a little crusty as a result. The boys were happy, however, to talk with John via Skype, and to see his hotel room in Bangkok. We picked up Jamie, had dinner at Browning, and otherwise had a good time. We left a little early, as I expected the boys to be very tired and possibly tantrum-prone if they weren't bathed and put to bed quickly. I was right, and we managed to avoid any disaster before bedtime.

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

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