Jamie Chew's Web Log: Vol. 3 No. 23

2010-01-12 23:00 (Kristen) I took Liam with me to the library after daycare, and (as usual) he piled the stroller up with all the board books he wanted me to read to him while we were there. We read at least 8, then I took my own books and went with him to the desk to take them out. Liam exclaimed, after one fell into his lap, "Moon!" "What?" I said. "Moon." Cautiously, I said, "Moon where?" "Here. Here is an 'o'," he said, pointing to the word "moon" on the cover of the book The Boy in the Moon. Yes. That would be right. Then he cheerfully added "N-O spells 'No!"", which I taught him a day or two ago. I praised him for remembering, and now wonder what else he can read and how in the world he's picking it up...

Jamie was not in a good mood after school. First he thought that he'd lost his new red hat, and we had to search all over for it. Then he was displeased that I didn't let him play after school, because it was cold and because Liam had been out all afternoon and really wanted to go home (and so did I). I explained that we had to put Ponyo into his new tank, which we did together. Jamie was rapt, watching his happy fish swim in his large (compared to the vase he was living in) new tank, and swore that Ponyo said "yes" when Jamie asked him if he liked his new tank. It is a good thing for everyone. He had a hard time doing homework tonight because he was tired and hungry, but we eventually got through it. There was Super Mario Bros. in the evening, with the usual male negotiation to make it work, and the usual admonitions to speak to each other nicely while they were playing, then bedtime.

2010-01-13 22:53 (Kristen) Of course, when I tried to repeat Liam's amazing reading feat in John's presence, Liam decided to pull a Michigan J. Frog and just metaphorically "ribbit." It was probably a fluke, although he did happily tell his father that 'N-O means no." He spent the rest of the day playing as much Super Mario as he could get away with and having hysterics when pulled away. The thing that I am looking forward to most about two weeks in Mexico is No Wii. Srsly*. When he could be pulled away from it, he went skating (did all right, good finish that he was proud of), and went with Jamie and me up to judo class. Jamie had a good day, since he had Pizza Day at lunch and had John in class to help with Scientist in the School in the afternoon. He enjoyed judo class even more the second time, he said, which was lovely. I, however, was completely worn out with chasing children, and answering question after question after question (What's on this form [a medical release for judo]? What's epilepsy? What's diabetes? What's...). I was most grateful when they went to sleep.

2010-01-14 23:19 (Kristen) Liam complains bitterly any time I make him walk with me to the bus, or anywhere else he doesn't feel going, by telling me that his feet hurt and he just can't walk, with tears. If he wants to go somewhere, not a peep. My son, the Oscar is yours! He was unhappy when I made him walk to the bus this morning, but this was because he hoped to play with his DS while I pushed. No such luck as the weather was still, despite being balmy, too cold to go without mittens. He was fine by the time the bus showed up, and even managed to make it to Hakobune without the DS when we discovered, to our horror, that it had run out of batteries in my bag sometime overnight. I picked him up daycare, then took him (at his request) to a "coffee shop," after I'd mentioned that I'd be doing just that while I waited for him to be finished at Hakobune. We ran into John on our way to the Second Cup in our neighbourhood, which pleased liam greatly, then were off to the Second Cup after buying some pants for Jamie on sale at Snug. Jamie, who suddenly doesn't fit a number of his pants any more...Liam enjoyed his gingerbread cookie, particularly so since he had barely touched his lunch (as I found out after he devoured the entire cookie in short order, an unusual speed). We walked to the school to get Jamie and his friends Charlie and Jake, and then the boys all played in the schoolyard until 4:15. We walked home (again, no peeps from Liam), where the boys played all varieties of video game and had dinner. In the evening, after Jake and Charlie went home, Jamie did his homework, Liam played, and we all ended up playing four-person Super Mario Bros. Liam took a while to settle down, which surprised me; Jamie fell asleep very quickly, which I appreciated.

2010-01-15 23:52 (Kristen) Liam protested his long, long, cruel march to the bus stop today, and had tears still on his cheeks when the bus arrived. The driver, bless him, offered Liam a transfer as we got off the bus, knowing perfectly well that Liam's little face would light up, and he would walk off the bus with an enormous smile on his face. As we were going inside, though, Liam suddenly remembered that he didn't have one for Jamie. I explained that Jamie didn't need one because he wasn't there, but that didn't matter to Liam, who insisted that Jamie needed one too as a matter of fairness. We worked our way past it to the subway, where it was discovered that I had failed to bring the DS. Oops. He was genuinely disappointed, so I spent the next ten minutes entertaining him with the windup hand. He laughed, and all was well. I picked him up at 1:15, and we hung out together in Goforth Hall, talking, cuddling, and looking at the ceiling while lying on the ground. I felt no hurry to be anywhere, as Jamie was going to his friend Dylan's after school for pizza and a movie, so we eventually decided to go home. Liam played Wii, and I cleaned up the toy room. I'm boxing up old toys and toys that aren't played with much, and it'sstarting to look a bit better. Every Christmas, it is necessary to purge and to box, if only to find room for the new stuff! We went to Browning for dinner, and Jamie came back with John at 8, having eaten pizza and watched ET. He managed to lose his tare panda bag with his water bottle and a fork and spoon set, however, and I hope that it was just left at school or at Dylan's. It would totally suck if it was lost. The boys fell asleep in seconds flat.

2010-01-16 22:49 (Kristen) John took Jamie up to school this morning before heading out to Kingson this weekend for a Scrabble tournament. Liam and I hung out at home before heading out to pik up some supplies at the St. Lawrence Market and coming back home. I interviewed Liam at one point today, asking him the following: a) What is your favourite colour? (pink and purple); b) what is your favourite food? (waffles), etc. it was fun, and Liam told me that there is a Liamland out there. I look forward to hearing more. We went up to pick up Jamie, played in the playground for a bit, then went to Indigo to spend our gift certificates from Christmas. Jamie bought the last two volumes of the Bone series he loves, along with Jellaby: Monster in the City and a book about a talking pig named Mercy. Liam got a book on penguins, and a little deck of cards with a story on them. Parents are supposed to talk with their children about the cards and let the kids tell stories about them, and I asked Liam what he thought was gpoing on in one with a picture of a fairy and a raccoon. He decided that the fairy was making the clouds dance, which was enough to make me think that the deck might be worth buying. He also played with a toy for a bit that was the Leapfrog version of a Blackberry, but I passed on it as we have som many things like that. We checked out the bath toy situation at Toys R'Us, which was that they had none, then went to Daniel and Ross's for dinner. They are babysitting a small peach-faced lovebird named Tisha, and the boys were both fascinated with the bird, if also a little shy of it. By the end of the night, however, the bird finally landed on Liam, who was delighted and literally tickled by the bird walking all over his shirt. It was delightful to see. The boys went to bed a little late, and I hope that they sleep in tomorrow.

2010-01-17 23:03 (Kristen) We slept in a little this morning, then got dressed and got ready for the day. It was a pretty calm day, the way that I like Sundays, by and large. Our cleaning ladies came, and one brought her eight-year-old daughter as her babysitting had fallen through. She was shy, as were the boys a bit, but they all bonded over a two-hour marathon of "Kid vs Kat." Jamie missed his father quite a bit, and was very excited when John came through the door at dinner time. Liam was happy too, as he didn't articulate his longing for his father as well as Jamie did, but I'm sure it was as heartfelt. They mobbed their dad, ate their dinners, played four-person Super Mario Bros., then went to bed. Well, Jamie went to bed. Liam stayed awake until at least 11:20, which is when I fell asleep for a bit. I have no idea why he stayed up so late.

2010-01-18 23:19 (Kristen) Monday crashed in on us, cloudy, gloomy, and Monday-like. Jamie and I got dressed, bed, and out to school, where I found the water bottle and other lunch items that he'd sworn he'd put into his backpack on Friday and lost, because it wasn't in the backpack when I checked and "I *know* I put it in there, Mummy!" I'd suspected that such was the case after the hat incident, and I'm glad that I hadn't gone walking all over looking for the thing, now. Liam woke up soon after I got home, and I managed to keep him occupied with things other than Super Mario for a good part of the morning. He still collapses into instant antrum when I take it away from him, despite warnings and lead time, but we're working on it. Lunch was at Browning, and then I brought him home after Jamie went to school with John for his playdate with Jack, Jamie's friend Charlie's little brother. Jack had a great time checking out all of Liam's toys, and Liam was interested in them when Jack showed interest (and because I'd shut off the Wii and hidden his DS). We all had snack, watched some Pink Panther at Liam's request, and walked to the school to pick up Jamie and to hand Jack off to his mom. We stayed in the damp cold to play for a while at Jamie's request, and met up with John on the way home. Dinner was at Browning, and I managed finally to put my foot down and say "No Soulcaliber IV," a game that the kids are mad for but which I think Liam is too young and Jamie too. It's not popular with Tom and Michelle either, so they were happy to have the kids playing Katamari Forever instead, as was I, and as were the kids, for that matter. They all had fun with Katamari, and all was well in the end. We headed home late, and put the kids straight to bed after a story or two. I had to help John at one point, and asked Jamie to read part of Liam's bedtime story. He did manage to read three pages to his brother, which we praised him mightily for, and I hope that we can get him to read more to Liam in the future.

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

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