She Walks!

Every time we take our baby out and people find out that she’s not walking on her own yet, we get a sympathetic look from them and the added line, “You know, babies that crawl longer are smarter,” as if that makes everything all better. Well, no more! As of last week, Caitlyn has official begun walking on her own! They may be a few off-balanced steps, but they are steps in the right direction.

With so many people making the comment that babies who crawl longer turn out smarter, I wanted to see if there was any truth behind it. Unfortunately, while there hasn’t been any research that has sufficiently proven this, crawling does have its benefits, which may be how this old wive’s tale came to be.

• Crawling stimulates different areas of the brain and also coordinates the use of both eyes, feet, ears, and hands.
• Crawling is believed to increase the production of myelin, the substance that coats nerve cells. Myelin helps in the process of sending and receiving messages more quickly and efficiently.
• Crawling strengthens a baby’s neck, arms, joints, and muscles. This makes a baby’s gross and fine-motor skills more fluid.
• The repeated movements from crawling stimulate and help develop the brain’s neural connections in a baby, which in turn makes the brain more efficient in controlling cognitive processes such as understanding, concentration, and memory.

With all these positive benefits, maybe our baby can crawl her way to Harvard!

Taking a walk

You talkin' to me?

 

Right back atcha!

At Chiang Kai Shek Memorial

B or C

Because it’s the wife that spends the majority of the day taking care of the baby, and because she’s the one that will be taking her to and from the nursery, she has ruled that she has precedence over which place to send our baby too.

However, being the generous person that she is, she has graciously agreed to listen to my opinions, think about them for a minute, and then promptly toss them out the window. And that is how Option A came to be crossed off the list.

To make sure she was making the right choice with Option B, she went to sit in on a class this week. However, she came out of it thoroughly disappointed. The staff members were not friendly or helpful and the teachers just stood around watching the babies while they crawled around.

And that’s why we now have Option C. Let’s compare again.

Option B:
Pros

• It’s gotten high marks from people online.
• It’s in a better part of the city.
• It actually has a small class size – 8.
• While it’s still considered far, the wife discovered she can take the bus there, which means we cut down on cab fare. 

Cons

• Equipment and supplies are a bit dirty and rundown.
• More expensive.
• Staff not helpful or friendly.

Option C:
Pros

• Staff is more friendly and organized.
• Cleaner.
• Cheaper. The cost of full-day tuition is the same as half-day tuition at Option B. 

Cons

• It’s further away. No convenient bus or subway routes.
• Has a lot more students

All this has led to a lot of back and forth debating between the wife and herself all week over which place to pick.

To me, it’s not that difficult to make a choice here. Of course, this coming from the person that took over a week to decide on which crib mobile to buy. But that’s like comparing apples to oranges. It's a completely different case and set of circumstances.

When there are many factors that go into making a decision, you need to figure out which ones are the most important to you and which will have the most impact.

Option C is not that much cleaner than Option B to make a difference, and as I've said before, as long as the teachers are keeping a watchful eye on the children, that's all I ask for. Therefore, I think the deciding factors here are class size and money.

The tuition at Option C might be cheaper, but the money you’re saving is just going to go into the taxi driver’s pocket from all the round-way trips you'll be making.

Also, because Option has such a high number of students, the chances of her getting sick will be greater, which means we'll have to shell out even more money for rides to the doctor's and for the medical bill.

Option B is obviously the way to go, but will the wife listen to a humble peasant's opinion? Stay tuned as we find out together!

Celebrating cousin Jocelyn's b-day

Chillin'

 

When can I learn to swim?

Spa treatment

 

I want this!

Yup, the bear tastes yummy!

 

At the lake

Whee!

 

Ya-hoo!

Looking at ducks