D.W.'s Baby

Summary
When Baby Kate was born, D.W. felt neglected and wondered if anyone would even miss her if she ran away.

Plot
The episode starts off with Arthur look at videos of his and D.W.'s first birthdays, with D.W. filming Arthur in a way to try and make him more interesting, but claims that it's hopeless. When D.W. claims that little sister is always more interesting than a brother, Arthur points out that she didn't always feel that way about Kate and reminds her of what happened when Kate first came home from the hospital.

While D.W. was clearly excited about being an older sister (especially since her new sibling is a girl), she becomes frustrated when her parents won't let her help with the baby, especially since D.W. (at least in her own opinion) is a "baby expert." When Jane has to go grab something from upstairs and asks Arthur to keep an eye on Kate, Nadine tells her that this is her chance to show her mom how much of a "baby expert" she is. After Buster and Francine come over to check out the new baby, Kate soon starts crying&mdash;D.W. does her best to try and comfort her, but nothing's working. When D.W. hands Kate over to Arthur to get a clean diaper (thinking that Kate's upset because she needs her diaper changed), Arthur starts patting Kate on the back, which helps Kate burp (the real reason she was crying). When Jane comes into see what all the commotion was about, Buster explains what happened and everyone's happy that Arthur and Kate have finally bonded--everyone except D.W. that is.

D.W. becomes jealous when David and Jane let Arthur help with the baby but not her, though she gets excited when Kate and her crib are moved into her room. However, D.W. soon finds some drawbacks to sharing a room with her new baby sister (namely in that Kate keeps her up at night with her crying and Kate's diaper stink up their room). D.W. gets frustrated when she can't play with her sister in the same way she could play with a kid her age, because as Jane points out, D.W.'s toys have too many small pieces that they Kate could choke on, and says that she has to be extra careful around the baby. The new big sister also starts feeling jealous of the attention that Kate's getting from their parents--on advice from the Tibble Twins, D.W. tries blaming Kate for stuff that others or even herself have done, but this only gets into trouble with David and Jane. D.W. eventually goes as far as to try and sell her sister at their family's yard sale (first for 50-cents but then lowering it to 35-cents).

Eventually, feeling that her family doesn't need her anymore, D.W. decides to run away to a small island. After stopping at Grandma Thora's house to say goodbye, Thora offers to drive and row her granddaughter out to the island--however, during the journey to the island, Thora's able to convince D.W. to go back home by pointing out that while Kate with have a mom, a dad and an older brother to take care of her, she won't have an older sister. D.W. goes back home, and tells Kate that she will show her how to do everythin. “Because a big sister‘s Always what a little sister needs.“ D.W. smells a dirty diaper and winces In disgust s. “That and a clean diape..”

Major

 * D.W. Read
 * Kate Read
 * Jane Read
 * David Read
 * Arthur Read
 * Nadine Flumberghast

Minor

 * Thora Read
 * Timmy and Tommy Tibble
 * Mrs. Tibble
 * Buster Baxter
 * Francine Frensky

Cameo

 * Unknown Male Adult Rabbit (Number 3)
 * Unknown Female Adult Rabbit (Number 4)
 * Maria lookalike

Trivia

 * Although the title is not read on the VHS and DVD versions, Francine says the title when this is aired on television on reruns.
 * When David, Arthur, and D.W. are watching TV, there is repeated dialogue from the later episode, "So Long, Spanky."

Episode connections

 * This episode takes place at the same time as "." It is shown from D.W.'s point of view instead of Arthur's.

Errors

 * During the intro, in the video on Arthur's first birthday, his ears are covered in the hat.
 * Also in the video on D.W.'s first birthday, she was referred to as "D.W.", but she didn't chronologically go by that name until she was able to talk clearly.
 * D.W.'s toy truck was brown when she was playing with it; but when she offers it to Kate, it changes to blue.
 * When Arthur is supposed to watch Kate, Kate is wearing a green bow in her hair, a few seconds later, it's gone. Also in the same shot, Jane is in her regular clothes.

Home video
VHS: DVD:
 * Arthur's Baby (VHS)
 * Arthur's Baby (DVD)
 * Arthur: The Complete Series One