Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 2 No. 94

2009-06-23 48:14 (Kristen) The boys are missing John, and are manifesting in different ways. This morning, Jamie declared that he was too scared to go upstairs and brush his teeth by himself. This is the boy who had been up since 7:30 by himself. Sigh. Liam didn't want his shoes then wanted his shoes and yelled the whole way to Jackman as we rushed to make it on time. I dropped Liam off, went back to Jamie's class for a small retirement party for Jamie's teacher, and looked at Jamie's report card. It practically shone by itself, and we are very proud of him. He will be in the same class as Jake, but Parker, Charlie, and Sam will be in the other. It is standard practice to break up cliques, I understand, but there was some anxiety amongst the posse anyway. They'll adapt, I'm sure, as will we all. Jamie went off to Charlie's for a playdate, and I went back to Hakobune to get Liam. Liam, surprisingly or maybe not so much, fell asleep for almost two hours this afternoon. Boy, did he need it. To avoid hism staying up late, I made him walk to the Second Cup after he and Jamie played at the playground for almost an hour. Then, after a snack, we walked to Tai-Tai's, spent a little time there, and finally walked home. He was bushed, and ate a bit more dinner, but still didn't go to sleep until after 10:30. Sigh. Jamie was shredded, and fell asleep quickly.

2009-06-24 24:31 (Kristen) I asked Jamie what his favourite part of the day was today, and he told me, after some thinking while in bed, that it was being a Hug Monster. He would pounce on me (and only me: Hug Monsters only hug their mummies) and give me a single, double, triple, or quadruple hug (depending on the number of limbs used). If his friends tease him about being this affectionate with me in front of them, it's not changing his mind. Jamie was not very happy at lunch, when Liam and I came to get him and take him to Hakobune, but I think this was, in part, because he was upset that it was his teacher's last day (she's retiring) and he wasn't going to see her again. One girl, Bryn, was in tears, so it was a little catching. Liam was up at 7 this morning, or a little earlier, so he slept for 2 1/2 hours this afternoon while Jamie was in Hakobune. We picked up bubble tea on the way to Treasure Island, where Jamie bought a starter deck of Pokemon cards and a Kumon book of mazes with his own money. Jeanette has told me that she has Pokemon cards galore to give us, so I'll be holding Jamie off on buying any more. Gotta catch them all, indeed. I had the boys walk most of the way home from Pape subway station, which is quite a way for short legs, but it was necessary for Liam after his long nap. In the end, it was still not quite enough, as he didn't fall asleep until 10:40 or so. Jamie, of course, fell asleep very quickly.

2009-06-25 46:34 (Kristen) Today was Jamie's last day of school, which was, to Jamie, both happy and sad. Three moms, myself included, decided that the best way to celebrate was to go to an indoor playground for the afternoon. We decided on that because there was an ominous weather report about storms in the afternoon. Liam and I spent the morning at home then went out to get Jamie. It started raining just as we were leaving the house, and the thunderstorm started in earnest with an enourmous *bang* right over our heads as we were halfway down the street. I was startled enough to say a word I don't normally say in the presence of my children, but Liam didn't cry, despite being obviously startled. We ran to the school. where kids were being bundled into vans and everyone was talking about the thunderstorm going on over our heads. We headed to the indoor playground, where the boys dressed up in costumes, climbed on this and that, and had a great time until 3:30, when we closed the place out. It was a wonderful afternoon for the kids, complete with pizza. Afterwards, we headed home and flaked out for a bit. I had been invited out to a gathering at a Jackman mom's house, and so I asked Alexandria to come over and look after the kids after they were asleep. This is a first, as I've never asked anyone other than John to look after the kids this way, I don't think. If I have, it was a family member or Gary and Ayami. Jamie was unnerved, knowing that I was going out, and had trouble falling asleep. Eventually he did, however, and I was able to go out for an hour and a half. The boys didn't stir, which was wonderful.

2009-06-26 22:54 (Kristen) Today was a Hakobune day for Jamie and Liam, although not at the same time. Liam was due there in the morning, so I packed up both boys and took them to the daycare and dropped off Liam. Jamie and I then headed to Starbucks, where we played one of Jamie's paper games, played with Jamie's DS, talked, and had a lovely time together. Then I dropped Jamie off at Hakobune with some pizza, ate my own lunch, and picked up Liam at 1:00. Liam and I walked all over the Annex looking for a place that sells Pokemon cards, as it is Parker's birthday tomorrow and I had to find some cards for his present. We didn't find any, so we had to go to Treasure Island to find a starter pack. We picked up Jamie, and headed there in the heat. We stopped at the library to pick up some holds, and then picked up the cards for Parker. My mom called while we were at the library to say that she was almost at our house, ahead of schedule, so I asked her to meet us at the Second Cup. I chivvied the boys there, claiming (with a large grain of truth) to need a drink. My mother was waiting outside for us, and walked quietly over while the boys were opening the door. I told Jamie to hold the door for the woman coming in, and Mom says that Jamie did an impressive double take when he realized that it was his grandmother he was holding the door for. Liam was full of enormous smiles for his grammie, and the boys were delighted to see her. We walked home, then went over to Browning for our usual Friday night dinner. Liam was exhausted by the end, and so we just put him to bed as soon as we got home.

2009-06-27 23:14 (Kristen) I was very surprised to wake up by myself this morning. Neither boy came in to bed with me last night, and I didn't see or hear from either until 8:00 are so. How remarkable! Jamie had a birthday party at 11:00 for his friend Parker, so I took him there by bus while Grammie stayed with Liam. Jamie enjoyed rmy reading to him from an English translation of the first Pokemon manga, which delighted me, as he's not enjoyed my reading to him from much lately. He kept asking for more, and how can I deny him? The party was a cooking party at a local supermarket, and the children made their own little pizzas and decorated cupcakes. Jamie was very proud of his cupcakes, and shared four of them when he got home with the rest of us. Liam had spent a quiet morning with his grandmother, and met us at the door stark naked and delighted to be so. It took a while to convince him to wear clothes. Eventually we headed out the door to the Danforth, and then to dinner at the Silk Road. The boys were unusually wound up, and so we cut the meal short to run them around a local playground. It was the right thing to do, as the boys played together and with whomever came into the playground with us. It brightened their moods and exercised their bodies, and while I think that it was necessary to feed them dinner first, the run and play was what they really needed to do. We went home via John's parents' house, and fed the children their second dinner before putting them to bed. Grammie and I stayed with them until they fell asleep, which I hope to be our pattern for the next little while.

2009-06-28 23:20 (Kristen) I'd had vague plans of taking the boys to see the Gay Pride Day parade today, but it rained, a dreary moderate rain, all morning and into the early afternoon. The boys largely entertained themselves, as my mom and I spent a good part of the day cleaning the house, but they did well. It was one of those days where everyone's feet seemed to be made of lead, and we didn't manage to get out of the house until 4:30. My aunt Millie and my cousin Scott came by, and we all went down to the Second Cup as the rain had stopped and the sun had come out. The boys didn't want to walk, but by the end, they were having a very good time. I took them to the playground across the street from the Second Cup, as they were not capable of sitting still or being quiet inside the Second Cup, and they ran about, happily playing together, for an hour or so. We went home, said goodbye to Auntie Millie and Scott, had a second dinner, and went to bed. It was a little late before they were in bed, despite my best efforts, but I encouraged Jamie to fall asleep so that he could have a good time at his camp tomorrow. I think that he's excited.

2009-06-29 48:17 (Kristen) Jamie's first day of daycamp was today. He got onto the bus with his friends Charlie and Jake, and after our usual long goodbye, it was off to camp for him. I waved goodbye as the yellow schoolbus headed out, seeing the bright head of my son and his blue striped shirt, and felt a true pang as he went off to experiences that weren't mine to share or control. I felt a little discombobulated as I walked back home to find my mom and Liam. We got out the door, Liam and I, to go to Hakobune, and I got a morning of work under my belt. We came back to the Danforth to find Grammie, and had to run and hide from one of a number of bands of thunderstorms that went through the area today. We spent a quiet afternoon at home, before I ran out to get Jamie at 4:40. Jamie had a great time at camp, and the counsellors on the bus (two girls) seemed to have gotten quite a kick out of him. He told me that they played a number of games, like Octopus (a variant on tag), and other games. Jamie was pretty tired, and Liam was surprisingly tired as well. We had dinner at Browning, but I brought the boys home early (at 8) because Jamie had camp again the next day and the boys were blitheringly tired. They went to bed pretty easily, both of them, but I fell asleep too. Sigh.

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

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