The Adventures of Baby Arthur

by Lincoln



Arthur officially passed the 21-month old mark. While he's not quite two yet, I felt like it was time to give a status report on how our "parenting agenda" has gone, as has been described on many of my posts. In other words, did any of this crap work?!

Eating Picky-ness: We have stayed true to Dr. Frenchy's food training methodology on picky-ness. He's never eaten baby food and we always "let him eat what we eat". I don't really have any criteria to base the success of the tactic on, but while Arthur is not aggravatingly picky, he's definitely picky! It wasn't until last week did he begin to consider eating meat. I guess he figured out how to use his molars! Before then, it was almost exclusively rice, macaroni and vegetables. Getting him to deviate much was a task! Grade: C+

Food Training: In terms of eating by himself, Dr. Frenchy's tactic has been a resounding success. Arthur eats all by himself with limited assistance and everyone is impressed. Grade: A

Sleep Training: It's been up and down, but as of today, Arthur still cries for at least a few minutes every night before he settles down. This is a source of worry for me, as I think he will outgrow his crib soon. I'm worried that he'll just crawl out of his toddler bed, bang on the door, and pass out on the floor! We'll see what happens.. Grade: B

Tantrum Aversion: We've been doing as Dr. Karp says! While Arthur is not yet 2 years old, it's too soon to tell if we've averted the terrible twos! But there haven't been very many intolerable tantrums. Arthur is definitely a good kid. Grade: A

Reading: I haven't specifically blogged about this, but Liz has been religiously reading to Arthur and trying to teach him the ABCs. While Arthur is not reciting the alphabet yet, he's repeating after us now and he can identify a handful of letters! I think this one's working out pretty well. Good work Liz!! Grade: A

In other news, Blogger.com has decided to change the way they work, which is going to negatively affect this blog! I need to figure out to adapt to their changes.. so this blog will be going into official hiatus. I'm not sure for how long, 2 weeks, maybe a month? But it'll get done!

Stay tuned and thank you for reading! I'll be back.

Labels: guessyourbaby.com, parenting

by Lincoln

Yep. The questions and comments have been going on for months. These arguments have gotten louder, especially now that cousin Wylie is expecting a brother or sister!

"When are you trying for #2?"
"Is another one on the way?"
"You know, Arthur needs a sibling."

He NEEDS a sibling? Does he really? Now I've heard all kinds of arguments about why someone might NEED a sibling, but quite honestly, I don't buy them. Not most of them anyway. You've probably figured out by now that I'm not up for having child #2 at this moment.

Others have said that an only child will become a self-centered individual. That may be true in some cases, as I can think of some individuals who were only children that fit the bill. But I also know my friend Dina, who is an awesome mother of two, great person and the furthest thing from self-centered. I think the parents have more to do with that than anything. Then there's the rationale (A very Chinese one) that Arthur could use some help dealing with US (Liz & I) when we get old. Liz doesn't want him to take care of us all by himself. I seriously don't even want to consider that someone might have to take care of me when I'm old. I'd rather be in the ground, or perhaps a nursing home! (I can't speak for Liz on this one!)

Finally, there's the argument that it's lonely to be an only child. That it's nice to have some kin to grow up with. I wasn't an only child so I can't say, but does that have to be true? Arthur already has a family, Wylie (a cousin his age) and more cousins on the way. I might buy this argument though, but mostly because I do think that siblings can help each other as children. Older siblings can teach the younger one and the younger one can learn by watching the older one. Wait a second, what does the older sibling get? Hell if I know, I'm the youngest!! Maybe they can learn from each other.



The other week, Liz organized a play date with her best friend and 3 year old son Albert. As I watched how Arthur followed Albert around, I felt a few chinks developing in my armor. It was kind of amazing to see how Arthur took to Albert so quickly and wanted to do what he did! Just like a little brother following his older brother.

The truth is, there is no guarantee that Arthur would even get along with his sibling. I've seen it happen and I know how it feels. Like I've said before, the biggest bully I ever faced growing up was my own brother. While the stories about how he once made me do my homework in the closet sound funny now (I just wanted him to shut-up and leave me alone.), bullying leaves a mark. But what counts is what happens when we're adults, and that is not guaranteed to be pretty. This bothers me a great deal.

In the end, the single biggest factor is whether or not BOTH parents are ready. While Liz may be more ready than I am, I am not ready at all. Aside from the financial questions of how we'd pay for both of their $300,000 M.I.T. educations (NO PRESSURE! ;-) I have my own personal reasons for not being ready. So until Liz and I are both ready to turn our keys for launch, there won't be any firing of any kind!

Labels: fatherhood

by Lincoln and Liz

Our search for a pre-school, which has included stops at Love-a-Lot, Stinkin Chinatown Day Care and Your Kids Our Kids Day Care / Pre-School, moved on to our last stop: Educational Alliance. Educational Alliance is actually more than just a pre-school as they offer many different types of programs for children and adults alike. Check out their website for details.

As things usually go, Liz learned about this pre-school from a personal contact. Her best friend's sister Bertha, whose 3-year old son, Berthos, attends the school. Bertha had positive comments about the school as Berthos has been thriving and his speech has drastically improved since he began attending. Like us, Bertha was looking to place Berthos in an environment where he could interact socially with others. Liz made an appointment for a tour.

Liz walked into Educational Alliance, which had a lobby and a receptionist. All guests are required to announce themselves and sign in. The children area is upstairs and accessible by elevator (plus emergency stairs of course). The tour proceeded as scheduled, which is more than we could say about Stinkin Chinatown Day Care.

The Program Director herself conducted the tour. She seemed like a person of authority, yet professional and welcoming. In addition, she has Montessori experience, which we found to be a plus. Educational Alliance is setup like a public school. Each child is assigned a cubby in the hallway, where they can place their coats, lunch boxes, and other items. There was art work made by the children on the wall and the children were separated into classrooms by level. The entire environment was organized and clean. Educational Alliance also has a rooftop gym, which had the regular playground items like swings and slides. Staff to child ratio is approximately 3:1.

The Program Director explained how every toy served a purpose, whether it was for developing motor skills, speech, or cognitive thinking. Learning through play and experimentation in a nurturing environment is emphasized. The day time is split into periods of instruction in reading, arts & crafts etc. Field trips are also conducted. For example, they will take the children to the market and teach them about the different vegetables. Special weekly classes, such as yoga, dance and music, are also held.

Educational Alliance is a Jewish organization and they observe all of the Jewish holidays. In addition, parents are required to supply meatless lunches to their children. No meat, poultry or shellfish is allowed. Even though I'm a meat activist, I think I can live with that!

One look at their website is telling. It is very informative and professional looking, unlike Stinkin Chinatown Day Care, which doesn't even have a website! A quick Google search did not reveal many parental reviews, but a few articles did come up about the school, including one that called it "under the radar".

Educational Alliance is our selection. Ta-da! At $641 per month for their 3-day part-time program, this was the kind of price point we were looking for. Of course, there was a waiting list. After completing the arduously long and detailed application (Again, UNLIKE Stinkin Chinatown Day Care's one-page abomination!), Arthur has been accepted to their 2-day part-time program, which runs for $480 per month. We are on the waiting list for the 3-day program and hope that it will work out soon. The combination between the convenient location, price and quality made Educational Alliance an easy pick.

Labels: parenting

by Lincoln & Liz

Our search for a pre-school continued after visits to Love-a-Lot and Chinatown Day Care. The next stop was Your Kids Our Kids Day Care / Pre-school . This experience was quite a departure from the Stinkin Chinatown Day Care. Showing up to the facility for a scheduled tour date, Liz walked into a waiting area that was separated from the child care area by a secure door. Unlike Stinkin Chinatown Day Care, there was a receptionist to greet her! They even had juice and cookies available for the visitors.. How nice of them to pump Arthur up with sugar before the tour!

Walking into the facility from the waiting area, the room opened up into a larger area that was sectioned off by partial height walls, so anyone could see what was going on in any section. Liz called them "a maze of bullpens." While it was good to see that staff members could keep an eye on all of the children from anywhere, the environment felt a bit loud and chaotic. There did not seem to be an effective classroom environment that would be conducive for learning with all the noise. Any screaming child in any section would be heard by all. In addition, the facility was a bit dirty, messy and disorganized.

The positives were that they have musical specialists work with the children once per week at each level. The directors and the staff seemed genuine as caregivers and looked like they knew what they were doing. The lead director herself gave the tour and was very warm, friendly and good with kids. The staff ratio was about 4:1 children to teachers (Stinking Chinatown Day Care was more like 6:1, Love-a-Lot was 3:1).

After the tour was over, there was a brief Q&A session with the tour group. Unfortunately, there was not any personal attention and Liz couldn't get all of her questions answered. At a cost of $1500/month for their full-time schedule, Your Kids Our Kids is far more expensive than Stinkin Chinatown Day Care but not quite as expensive as Love-A-Lot. They do not offer a part-time program, which is definitely a downer for us.

A Google search on Your Kids Our Kids did provide a lot of information. Unlike Stinkin Chinatown Day Care, they actually have a website! In addition, there are many reviews available and most of them are positive.

Your Kids Our Kids did not make our cut. Your Kids Our Kids is probably a good day care that works for many parents, but it is definitely more day care than pre-school. Aside from the lack of a part-time program, an actual classroom style environment is important to us. The search continues...

Labels: parenting