Week 31 Update

Tomorrow starts the beginning of week 32 (8 months!).  By now our little guy is almost 4 pounds and is just about 19 inches long.  On top of just growing, the baby is busy prepping for his big debut by practicing the skills needed to survive outside the womb.  These things include things from swallowing and breathing to kicking and sucking.  Also this coming week, the baby's skin is no longer see-through: as more and more fat accumulates under the skin, it's finally opaque (like a normal person's...haha).

Not a whole lot has changed on my end.  I'm definitely transitioning from feeling used to being pregnant to feeling giant and more uncomfortable.  But, I still have two more months to go, so I better get used to it now!  haha  All-in-all though, I'm still feeling pretty good I guess, and the stronger the baby's movements get, the more excited I get about him almost being here!

This weekend Mark and I made a little more progress on getting the baby's "nursery" (which we'll share with him in our 1-bedroom apartment) together.  We've had the crib, dresser, and changing table set up for a while.  But this weekend, we got a mattress for the crib, as well as some bedding, and a pad for the changing table.  We also got a mobile for the crib, an awesome bug light, and a hanging mesh storage holder that we've used to put in all of his stuffed animals.  It became clear to us as we were picking stuff out this weekend that we both have been gravitating toward a light green color for everything.  At least Mark and I agree...haha

This past week Mark and I also started shopping around for day care.  Prices are pretty steep around here...  Okay, they're just plain SCARY!  (For example, the major day care in Princeton that my boss takes her kid to costs $1700/month!!)  We did find when looking around that we could opt for day care less than 5 days/week and save hundreds a month.  So at this point, we're planning to do 4 days/week day care and Mark and I will alternate working from home once every other week.  It'll make things a little more comfortable financially, and plus, we'll have an excuse to spend more time with our little guy!  As a grad student at Princeton, and our household income, I qualify to get an extra $4000 a year reimbursed for child care, which won't come close to covering costs, but will give us a little more breathing room.  I'm also getting a little raise in July (just in time) that will bring in about $100 more a month, so that will also help!

As we started shopping around for day care this weekend, it became evident to us pretty quickly that we need to have it figured out now to ensure that our little guy actually has a spot in a day care when we need him to start in August.  Long story short, Mark stumbled upon a day care that is actually in a building right behind where he works!  He went to visit it yesterday during his lunch break, and today we both went to get a tour.  We ended up registering today, so now we just have to wait for them to confirm our spot, and then we'll put down a deposit.  At this point, they still had open spots for August, and spots are dished out on a first come, first serve basis, so we should be good.

The day care facility is called "Lakeview Child Center."  (http://www.lakeviewchildcenter.org/)  We both got a good vibe when visiting.  They were very open to walk-in tours, the place seemed clean, and most importantly, all of the kids seemed happy and surprisingly calm!  haha  Compared to the rest of the area, it's actually more reasonably priced (although, I guess any school with "Princeton" in front of the name tends to be ridiculously priced and pretentious...haha).  The other thing included that a lot of other places around here don't offer is the supply of food (formula or meals and snacks), and diapers and wipes.  So that should definitely help us save some money on that stuff once our little guy goes to day care!  They also don't charge fees for registration (which seems to cost about $200-300 everywhere else).  One of the nicest things of all though is the convenience of the location.  Mark can pop over and say "hi" on his lunch break if he wanted to...haha 

Tomorrow we are taking a class on breast-feeding.  (I'm sure Mark is stoked to go to that one...haha)  Next week, we're taking another class on basic baby care.  Although, I'm sure even after taking all of these classes, we're still going to feel like we don't know what the hell we're doing!  haha  Oh well, we can pretend for now.

Well, I guess that's it for now!

-Mandy :)