The Adventures of Baby Arthur

by Lincoln and Liz

Our search for a pre-school, which technically began a few months ago, has recently run hot again for the last several weeks. After our last foray into pre-school research, Liz and I tacitly agreed that by age 2, we would send Arthur off. It seemed so far away back then! But as NYC pre-schooling goes, wait lists only get longer and with only 4 months left before Arthur's 2nd birthday, it is time to get cracking on this mission! Our plan is to ease him into the mix, 3 days a week for a half day session. After seeing how that goes, perhaps we will ease him full-time. Since Arthur will be expecting TWO new cousins within the next several months (one on each side!), this plan will work well for the Grandmas.

Disclaimer: Liz grabbed the bull by the horns this time! I did not personally visit any of these places, but Liz is sitting right next to me now and I can feel her WRATH! As of today, we have applied to one pre-school and have our fingers crossed that he will be selected. There is a wait list though, and we are hoping for the best. All total, Liz visited 4 schools in the last 3 weeks and I will be reporting her findings in a multi-part series.

Chinatown Day Care - 35 Division St.

After the sticker shock from Love A Lot, we went in search of more economical options. That brought us to Chinatown! In the spirit of the Stinking Chinatown Doctor, Chinatown Day Care did not disappoint. Liz walked straight in and was greeted by.. no one. No security! No reception! After flagging down a lady, who appeared to be in some position of authority:

Liz: Hello, I'm here for the tour.
Stern Lady: What tour?
Liz: I called a few weeks ago and scheduled an appointment for a tour today and to get more information.
Stern Lady (sternly): There's no tour.
Liz: Do you mind if I take a look around and get more information about the school?

Stern lady then proceeded to show Liz a classroom... from the doorway. But they couldn't go in! No ma'am, that is not allowed!

Liz: What kinds of activities do you have for the 2 year olds? Do you take them outdoors?
Stern Lady: We do not take them outdoors. Sometimes we take them down to the basement and let them watch some TV.

TV?! They let them watch TV?? In the basement?? Is there some kind of dungeon down there? Though Stern Lady explained that they show them educational programs, I would have expected more from allegedly trained professionals!

By now, Arthur was squirming around and tried to bully his way into a classroom. NO! That is strictly forbidden! And in her best sarcastic, condescending Chinese voice, Stern Lady said to Liz, "Your boy isn't shy is he?".

Liz returned home fuming about Stern Lady's comment! Arthur is curious! What's wrong with that?! While she ranted about Stern Lady, I peered over their application. It was a one page, poorly worded questionnaire that asked things like, "Can we take child to Hospital? If no, what should we do?"

Chinatown Day Care does not have a website. None of the review sites from a quick Google search revealed anything of use. There seemed to be the perfunctory single good review on a couple of sites. The lack of posted reviews isn't all that surprising, as the school appeared to be nearly 100% Chinese and likely the children of immigrants. However, not having a website is definitely questionable.

Objectively speaking, Chinatown Day Care appeared to be a sterile, clean and organized environment. Lack of security and open access from the outside is an issue for me though. At $683 per month for their full-time program, it's much cheaper than Love A Lot, but still nowhere nearly as cheap as outside the city. There is also a wait list, which could explain Stern Lady's general disinterest. Her recommendation was: "Well you can try to apply when he turns 3 or 4."

Overall, Liz was left with a poor impression. While Love A Lot clearly strived for an open and nurturing environment, Chinatown Day Care was closed and militant. We will not be sending Arthur to Chinatown Day Care.

Labels: parenting

by Lincoln

I've been playing music for Arthur since a very young age. Not only do I enjoy good music, I've always felt it was a good way to stimulate him. Let him use his imagination a bit, hear the beat and let the music envelope him! Plus, it beats TV. When he was an infant, I found that the And Christmas For All! The Holiday Tribute to Metallica (Metallica in christmas bells!) was quite effective in putting him to sleep. Even today, sometimes I'll sit him on my lap and play some music to help him nap. Before long, Arthur was translating the stimulation into motion by bopping his head and shaking his body. Of course, the first thing I did was play him "Bang Your Head" by Quiet Riot! You guessed it, I am a classic-rock metal-head.

Eventually he was shaking to all kinds of classic rock hits and the Ramones.. "I Wanna be Sedated!" Trying not to be too prejudiced (though I still refuse to play him pop music, sorry Britney), I played him plenty of other genres as well, such as jazz and classical. There was always a mood for something. Our DirectTV subscription comes in very handy for this as it has all kinds of satellite radio channels with all kinds of music available.

Unfortunately, the day came when I decided to give hip-hop a try on DirectTV's Hip Hop Hits channel. Needless to say, I am not much of a hip-hop, gangsta rap kind of guy. To my chagrin, Arthur's reaction to the heavy beats was unlike any of his other reactions to music. His head was bopping, his body was hopping, his feet were stomping, his mouth was hollering and his fist was pumping! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Arthur would not be denied. My attempts to switch him back to classic rock were unheeded as he would nod his head in disapproval while saying, "Not this! Not this!"



You can't touch this!

We have since compromised with Bob Marley and an obscure Hawaiian group called Keahiwai.

Labels: parenting

by Lincoln



Last night, Arthur sat down and without warning, swiftly and suddenly hammered out this entire animal puzzle. At first, I was blankly watching him put all the pieces in.. not thinking much of it. But suddenly, like a rushing wave, it hit me! This was the first time he actually DID the puzzle (that we know of), as opposed to just gawking at the animals and tossing them aside! I excitedly yelled out to Liz for her to come into the room to witness the spectacle.

Of course, Arthur refused to do the puzzle again (He likes to hold out on us).

We've had this puzzle for quite some time. Like many of his toys, it was a gift. I'd say the majority of his toys are gifts actually.. and our apartment is overrun with them! It sure is nice to receive gifts and we appreciate all them. We are lucky to have such great friends and family.

But of course, there's always the gift or two that just sticks out.



Now what little boy doesn't love his play car? Especially one that honks and makes all kinds of noises. But man, look at that color! And not that there's anything wrong with Winnie the Pooh.. but I'm going to have to look into trading up for Optimus Prime when the time is right, lest we allow Arthur to be stricken with an identity crisis!



Get the kid a piggy bank. Teach him the value of money. I'm on board with that! But this special piggy bank is made of glass and it came with a set of permanent markers so the child could make his own design. Well this didn't work out so well for Arthur. OK fine, we could have stashed this one away until he was older, but what fun would that be??



Ah.. and the gifts of clothes. Nothing makes a lady gush more than a cute little baby outfit. By now, Arthur has more clothes than me and that is not an exaggeration. Really, we both appreciate all the clothes very much. But check out those bright fluorescent colored astronaut pants! They are so bulky, I think Arthur could cross the Arctic with those on! We also have another one that's bright orange, in case Arthur ever wants to direct traffic. And while those genuine lederhosen are of top quality (real leather and knitting!), I'm just not sure when we'd ever dress him in that, except for Halloween! And last but not least.. yet another bright, effeminate orange colored overall with the cute little animals.. this outfit may have to accidentally disappear!



Some of the gifts are big hits for both me and Arthur! Like the measuring board that I finally got around to mounting on the wall. Now we can mark on Arthur's growth and take the board to with us when we move instead of ripping out the piece of drywall! OK, maybe Arthur doesn't care all that much about this one.

However, the remote controlled dog is plenty of fun. It barks, it walks, it's just like the real thing! He's like Arthur's best friend.. And Arthur even tries to feed him.

Aren't gifts great!

Labels: arthur

by Lincoln

The stars aligned today. No Grandmas were available and Liz couldn't take off. As for me, I luckily have an understanding client so I was able to call out. So it was just Me and Arthur today! Though I'm not sure how, this was actually first time I've had the baby all to myself for such a long period of time. You would think it should have happened many times by now, but somehow it hasn't! I guess I'm one lucky guy!

7 a.m.: Liz says to me, "You took off today right?" Oops.

At this point I'm thinking to myself, "Who says I can't take care of my boy! To hell with them!" This is not a joke. You could say Liz has gone to some lengths to shield me away from solo child-care duties. I know she's just trying to be nice, but at some level, I'm sure she doesn't trust me! She then offered to call her Mom up to come over, but I wouldn't have it. (What was that? Babysitting a 19-month old is exhausting? Whatever! Bring it on!)

8:00 am: I take this opportunity to take a quick shower and start on Arthur's breakfast while Liz is still around. Scrambled eggs and mushrooms, toast, apple slices and milk.

8:30 am: Liz departs. Du du du dummm.... Arthur doesn't care too much for the eggs but eats the toast and apples. Too bad little man, no more food 'til lunch!

9:30 am: After cleaning up and spending a little time reading with Arthur, my phone starts to ring. It's the office (and other clients!). Within minutes, I have two laptops running, a slow cumbersome vpn connection open and emails to reply to. All of this is happening while Arthur is sitting on the couch, happily causing mayhem by throwing whatever he can find on the ground. Somehow, I get my emails out, documents sent and whatever was needed done! Well, I think so anyway.. I guess I'll find out tomorrow!

10:30 am: Arthur falls asleep. I figure this is a good time to start on his lunch: Mac & Cheese. Now I'm thinking about how Liz scarcely bothers to cook whenever she's taking care of the kid! (She relies on takeout and whatever food was pre-made for her in the fridge!) Granted, she doesn't cook anyway, but I'm gonna one-up her by making Mac & Cheese... from scratch!

11:00 am: Arthur awakens, but he's not rested enough, and is very cranky. To make matters worse, I'm not done with the lunch prep. Now I have a clingy toddler in one arm while the other is finishing off the Mac & Cheese. Pride carries me through and the Mac & Cheese goes into the oven.

11:30am: Arthur will not allow me to put him down! Now I'm thinking about how my Mom never puts him down to sleep. I'd always tell her to just put him down. She'd always say, "He needs to be held! I can't put him down, no time to do anything else!" Well I'll be damned if I end up giving in! Somehow, I manage to trick Arthur by holding him until he falls asleep, setting him down with my arm behind his neck until this body warms up the bed a bit, and slipping out. I should patent this technique!

1:00 pm: Arthur awakens, but is still groggy. However, I decide he's had enough sleep and I show him his lunch, which piques is interest because he's ready to eat! Unfortunately, the Mac & Cheese overcooked while I was discovering my patented sleep move. Oh well, we eat it anyway.

2:00-4:00pm: My strategy now is to wear Arthur out. I take him to the park and I make him walk! I boldly leave the stroller at home. We go to Whole Foods. Now I'm thinking about how Liz always complains that it's awfully hard to grocery shop or otherwise run errands with Arthur. PFFT!!! Not only am I going to buy groceries, I'm going to stop by the YMCA to check out their toddler programs!

Perhaps, I bit off more than I could chew. I ended up with a 25 lb toddler in one arm and what felt like a 40 lb bag full of groceries in the other, as a result of a clearly overzealous shopping operation. I briefly consider taking a cab home, but I don't give in! We go to the YMCA, where Arthur does some stairs. We struggle back home on foot.. and Arthur, like a good little trooper, does his fair share of walking. Sure it was only a block or two, but good enough for a toddler! I give Arthur a treat for being trooper.. a cookie and juice. (Sorry Liz!)

5:30pm-6:30pm: Time to cook dinner for Arthur. Now I'm thinking about how my Mom always makes my Dad come over while she cooks dinner because she can't manage to do it while Arthur is around. She's worried he'll somehow hurt himself, or get burned if he hangs out in the kitchen, or something other. I'll be damned! Not only do I let Arthur into the kitchen while the stove is running, I let him play with the pots and pans on the floor. Amazingly, he puts them back when he's done. I have no idea where he got that from! Dinner is served (Beef, corn and macaroni, yes from the same box used at lunch!), and he's hungry!

7:00pm: Liz's brother shows up out of the blue. Which is helpful, as I can quickly finish the chores while he watches the baby. Then I give Arthur his bath.

8:00pm: By now I'm feeling pretty.. exhausted. Man, where's Liz?!? (Liz had a business dinner to go to)

8:30pm: Liz arrives home. Hallelujah! She puts him to bed at 9pm. (Actually, she's still trying to put him to bed.. I think Arthur had too much activity today and he's having trouble sleeping. Oops.)

Anyway, Take That Liz! Daddy and Arthur did just fine by themselves! Yeah fine, I'll admit it, it's pretty darn tiring and I'm glad you do it more than I do!! Now call your mom back!! *smirk*

PS: Liz's mom is a machine. She has Arthur marching to a strict regimented schedule and she can probably lift more than I can! She fearlessly hauls baby, stroller and all associated bags or groceries etc. up the stairs in one fell swoop. While Arthur sleeps, she swiftly cleans the entire apartment, floors, sinks, bathrooms, kitchen, everything! I think she does too much, but man... what can I say??

PS2: No Mom, this is not a criticism. I think you are wonderful with Arthur and we couldn't do without you.

PS3: Take THAT Liz!!!! See previous posts for your compliments!

PS4: Just kidding Liz, You're a wonderful mother and you do an amazing job! *snicker*

Labels: fatherhood