The Adventures of Baby Arthur: November 2009


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	The Adventures of Baby Arthur Hello There! Here is the story of Baby Arthur, Lincoln and Liz. On this blog, we'll be sharing our experiences on pregnancy, childbirth and parenting. Because it's not just a baby, it's an adventure. [Previous Posts][Archives] Wednesday, November 25, 2009 Use Your iPhone to Translate Your Baby's Cries by Lincoln Arthur has been keen on messing around with cell phones of all shapes and sizes. But it looks like someone has really gone off the deep end with an iPhone app, named the "Cry Translator", which claims to be able to translate a baby's cries. Hold your iPhone to your crying infant for 10 seconds or so, and a logo will promptly tell you if your baby is hungry, sleepy, annoyed, stressed or bored. For a mere $9.99 ($29.99 after promotion is over), you can bring your relationship with your baby to a whole new level. Supposedly it works for all ages too. Cry Translator claims to be developed based on clinical trials and boasts a 96% accuracy rate. Since I do not own an iPhone, I won't be able to tell you if it works. I'd definitely be interested to know (feel free to drop me a line!). I'd run all kinds of experiments on this thing! "Beam up Scotty!!" I'm one of those suckers who'd pay the money just to see if it works! I can see the desperate, sleep deprived parents lining up to give this thing a try. Liz and I have been there. But it just seems bizarre to rely on your iPhone to communicate with your child! In the beginning, we were lost. But after awhile, we were able to figure out what Arthur would be crying about without the help of a fancy gadget (Especially Liz, most be a mother thing!). The intonation of the cry went into it, but we tried to keep Arthur on a routine as much as we could so he would know what to expect everyday. When was the last time he ate? When was the last time his diaper was changed? When was the last time he napped? Chances were that he was ready for the next item on the list. And there aren't many items on the list for an infant! The app itself probably serves as a distraction to the baby and that itself will make him stop crying. Any old cell phone or remote control would do! And babies are stressed all the time anyway! I can only guess that 96% accurate means success at making the baby stop crying. This doesn't necessarily mean the application was right. Add me to the line of skeptics on this one. Labels: parenting 12:58 AM 0 Comments Wednesday, November 18, 2009 Am I An Annoying Online Parent? by Lincoln I just saw this post titled: Facebook's Five Most Annoying Parents, by Elina Furman, on Babble.com. Well since I'm annoyed about getting back home from work about 10 minutes ago (11:51pm), just in time to miss my personal Wednesday night blog posting deadline (and NOT getting to spend any time with Arthur at all today!), I figure it's a good time to find out how annoying I am to all of you reading this post. The Bragger Parent: GUILTY as hell. How many posts have I put up about how proud I am of Arthur by now? The Whiner Parent: Mildly guilty. I've definitely posted about some tough times, but I don't think those posts were too whiny and I wrote them in case they might help anyone else out there going through the same thing. I can't speak for the other parents on my FB list though. ;-) The Cool Parent: Hell no. According to Elina, the Cool Parent is the one who still hits the town and brags about it on FB. Since I was never cool to begin with, I am innocent of this one. The Obsessed Parent: I may not have given up my FB identity to my offspring, but I have this blog. Guilty As Charged. Again, I can't speak for other parents on my FB list!! The Zen Parent: The "life is great, parenting is a joy" parent? Since I normally get yelled at by Liz for writing anything remotely negative, I guess I may come across as a Zen parent. But I may be one of the least Zen people I know. I teem with frustration and rage!!! AARRGHH!! Now that I've gotten through the five most annoying types of parents, I'm really not sure what kind of parent is left. I'm a combination of almost all five. That either makes me uber-annoying or this post is just like a fortune cookie with a message that applies to just about EVERYONE. But you know what, I don't really care if I'm annoying anyway. This blog is my microphone so you have to listen to me!!! :-) P.S. Now it's time to cyber-stalk Elina Furman. Who is this person and why is she writing this post? Is she even a parent? I don't think this is the right Elina Furman. Strangely enough, Elina is not listed under Babble's contributors page at this time. Well this facebook page comes up in relation, and there's a link on the wall too. But is this FB page related? The info page doesn't say much, but what's this Mamaista business? Mamaista is a slick little site with a really nice design.. mom related, Elina looks like she might be a mom. But the about page still doesn't confirm it's her. Who own's mamaista.com? Ahhh.. Leah Furman, same last name. And someone who appears to be my neighbor. I see... a feature on Mogul Mom about Elina Furman of Mamaista.com, with her sister Leah. Ok Elina, you're legit. Nice article and good luck with your business! :-) Labels: miscellaneous 11:33 PM 0 Comments Wednesday, November 11, 2009 Food Training! by Lincoln I guess I knew in my mind that you have to teach a child how to do everything. But every time I hear about another kind of "training" we need to start doing, I'm thinking to myself: "WOW, that too already?!". Everyone knows that babies don't sleep through the night right away. The first thing I'm always asked is: "Is Arthur sleeping through the night yet?". YES he is! But no one ever asks if he eats by himself or poops by himself. I guess those particular essential life skills slip the mind! We've been struggling with trying to "food train" Arthur as dictated by Dr. Frenchy. While we've normally followed Dr. Frenchy's advice on most things, we have not been able to subscribe to his methods of food training. According to Dr. Frenchy, we are to leave a bowl of food in front of Arthur and just let him be. He will figure out how to eat. If he throws the food on the floor, mealtime is over. Limit his food to 3 square meals a day with no snacks in between. If we let him snack, he won't feel hungry, and no lesson will be learned. Dr. Frenchy certifies that after 10 meals, Arthur will be eating by himself. We just can't bear the thought of letting Arthur go hungry. I'm not about to let my kid starve!! In addition, there's really no way we're ever going to convince the Grandmas to follow this. Both Grandmas are literally feeding Arthur 5 meals or snacks a day or more. So we've been doing our own method of trying to show Arthur how to eat by himself by guiding his hand with utensil to scoop the food into the mouth. If it doesn't work out, we basically just feed him! Call it the "Half-Assed Frenchy Method". Normally, after about 30 seconds of mealtime, Arthur is reaching for Liz's bowl or plate and trying to eat off of it. She usually relents and gives him her plate and they share for the rest of the meal. We did try to switch things up by giving Arthur the large "adult" plates while we used the "baby" bowls for ourselves, just to see how he would react. He refused to eat altogether. So much for that experiment! Nevertheless, after three weeks, it actually seems to be working. While Arthur has not grasped the idea of scooping, he is able to stab at the food with a fork and shove whatever he ends up with into his mouth. Now that the "food training" is underway with a little bit of success, I've begun to hear the instructions about potty training. Apparently, we are supposed to quit using diapers. If he "goes", he'll feel discomfort and he'll learn not to go in his pants. Of course, we suffer the cleaning consequences. Expect a far more unpleasant blog entry soon. Labels: parenting 10:46 PM 0 Comments Tuesday, November 3, 2009 Happy Halloween! by Lincoln So what DO kids do in Manhattan for Halloween? When I was a kid growing up in the suburbs, it was as simple as joining the next swarm of kids that ran by. We went house to house. If the lights were off, there was no candy to be had. But in an urban setting like Manhattan, where the white picket fences are replaced by skyscrapers and office buildings, one wouldn't think that there was anything to do for children on Halloween. Wrong. There's actually plenty to do for Halloween for kids! Here's what I saw: 1. Store-to-store: Stores and restaurants in our neighborhood actually had baskets of candy ready and groups of children were abound collecting it. 2. Block Parties: Various single blocks around the island were closed off and the local residents and homeowners decorated the street, setup tables, had food and made it fun for everyone. 3. Inside the building: For residential buildings that are big enough, children could trick-or-treat from apartment to apartment. I know of some complexes that get really organized about it and setup a list of "Halloween friendly" apartments that children are supposed to stick to. 4. Special Events: Events are planned by non-profits, museums, parks, etc. for kids all over the city. Liz opted for the Halloween Celebration at the Museum of Natural History and brought Arthur along with a brigade of our cousins and extended family. While I do very much enjoy the Museum of Natural History and was intrigued about the event, I opted to work and run errands, so I didn't go. Let's be honest here, Arthur is not going to remember this Halloween. This was an excuse for the women of the family to dress him up in a little outfit, giggle and gush over how CUUUUTEE he is! On top of that, there were 15,000 people anticipated to be in attendance. No thanks! Once Arthur is old enough to ask me to take him trick-or-treating, I'll be all over it! Arthur was not digging the outfit but he was definitely really cute! It was reported to me that he was completely awestruck by the life sized T-Rex skeleton and stopped in his tracks for several minutes. He had an awesome time. PS: While there is plenty of to do for kids, there is infinitely MORE to do for adults. As dusk came in, 6th Avenue was being closed off for the Halloween parade, leaving me stranded with 4 large bags and no cab! (Thanks to Liz and her sister for coming to the rescue with a car!) Once night fell, the crazies were out in full force and the swarms of kids became swarms of 20-somethings hollering at the top of their lungs. I worked until about 2am, when I decided to step outside for a slice of pizza. The crowd on the street was a mix between a freakshow and a circus! Once I made it back, I was greeted by an extremely inebriated 20-something male, dressed up like a woman with breasts, lipstick, mini-skirt, box of tampons and lord knows what else, struggling to make it up the stairs. I only had one thing to say: "Don't puke in the hallway please." Maybe it's time to move to the 'burbs! Labels: arthur, miscellaneous, nyc 10:16 PM 0 Comments Previous Posts This blog has moved Spring Status Report and the Blog The Second Child Dilemma The Pre-School Search Goes On - Part 3 The Pre-School Search Goes On - Part 2 The Pre-School Search Goes On - Part 1 Arthur Goes Gangsta The Most Interesting Gifts Just Me and the Baby Book Review: The Happiest Toddler on the Block Archives January 2009 March 2009 April 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 December 2009 January 2010 February 2010 March 2010 April 2010 Subscribe to Posts [Atom]