FIRST DAYCARE TOUR!!
Charles and Sheila went on their first tour of a daycare! It's a nice place about 7 -10 minutes away from their house. It has been open for 18 years and is run by an older lady who would remind anyone of savvier and thinner Mrs. Santa Claus! She was very warm and very knowledgable. She used to be a nurse, just turned 75 and is BIG on child development as babies.

Sheila was surprised about the noise kids make, but that was in the older kid section. The infant room was great and they are VERY sanitary. They wash the toys 3 times a day! The teacher-infant ratio is 1 to 4 which is lower than the state requirement ratio which is 1 to 6. They give you reports on your child at the end of each day and they are big on stimulating and playing with the babies. With music going and the teachers so attentive, it looks like a nice place. Neither Sheila or Charles are too fond of the idea of handing off their child, but the daycare center lets parents get used to the idea in the 2 weeks before the baby goes in there fulltime by letting us go in there for a few hours, twice a week. They say the baby will be fine and it's mainly for the parents...(smile)

Other than that, the place opens early enough and is open late enough, is the right price, has the right attitude, but apparently we need to get on the waiting list soon for Joni to be enrolled by January 2005. So there are some decisions that have to be made and more tours taken of other places. Oh, the other thing is the place doesn't have a camera viewable on the web, but it is looking like only the bigger places do and we'd rather Joni be in a smaller place than a child factory.

Week 25
Charles and Sheila venture off to that far off land, Cincinnati, to celebrate Sheila's grandmother's 87th birthday! It was the first time she'd seen her siblings since she's been pregnant. All of her cousins, aunts, nieces and nephews were there. They had a great time and Joni even kicked for a few of them!

While in Cincinnati, Sheila and Charles got to meet up with high school friends and parents to be, Portia and Ken. Charles also got to taste Cincinnati's Skyline Chili for the first time. Next time, we'll go to Gold Star!

Joni is doing fine. Her size and weight is more noticable. Sheila just can't do all that she wants to do anymore. When she drops things on the floor she has to think hard about picking them up. The other day, she was in the bookstore and saw some books she wanted to check out on the bottom shelf...BUT since they were on the bottom shelf, she decided to wait until next time.

Week 24
Walking as REALLY been out of the question since last week, Sheila's back hurts too quickly before she gets to far. Now it's upper back pain with the already present low. The baby is getting heavy!!

Joni is a regular old kicker. She's a kicking pro. Sheila's thinking dancer, Charles is thinking Ultimate. Ultimate and kicking? Sure...Anyway, Daddy is singing to her and feeling her belly and her movements all the time. She's a bit of a show off for her daddy and a bit of an attention hog all day. But we love it and are so glad she's with us and well.

This week, Sheila is doing something she hasn't done in YEARS. She's growing out of her bras! She's only got two left that don't hurt like crazy, so she's going to venture off and buy some new ones in the next weeks.

Sheila has to cancel a trip to Charlotte, NC to see her cousin graduate. It was too long of a drive and it was too long of a week for her to make it. She is sad she missed it, but is finally starting to listen to her body.

Week 23
We went to Babies R Us for the first time. We signed up for the baby registry and basically just walked around aimlessly until a helper would push us on our way.

Some things did get accomplished though, we found a stroller (well, travel system) that we really like. It's easy to fold down, not too heavy and rolls really easily. Also it's dark blue as opposed to some of my favorite lighter versions (the better to hide baby stains with!)

We also found a play yard (pack and play) by Graco that is really cute. That will go in our room and the baby will be in that for the first such and such weeks. It includes a bassinet, changing table pad, and a play pen. All in one! Best thing is, it's nice and portable! It also has a music vibrating thing on it and a mobile above it.

The next thing we picked out is Joni's CRIB!! Yay!! We picked a natural wood crib, nice lines, very sturdy that converts to a bed and day bed eventually. But I just liked the bed for it's look, strength, color and the 5 different positions it adjusts to as the baby grows. Plus it doesn't hav a drop down side and I really didn't a crib that did.

All in all it was a great day, we picked out the big basics and left the scary details for another time to worry about! Daddy also got to research the gliders extensively during our trip to Babies R Us. (wink)

Week 22
We signed up for a tour of the hospital and birthing classes. Joni will be delivered at Crawford Long Hospital Maternity Center, a part of the Emory Healthcare system. It's a nice hospital. Big on no routine separation of mother and baby. So they have mother-baby suites and accomodations for Charles to sleep there as well, therefore Joni doesn't have to go to the nursey, she stays in the room right with us the whole time. This makes Mommy VERY happy. It's also a level three hospital with an excellent neonatal intensive care unit, so if some emergency happens with the baby, she won't have to be shipped off to another hospital to be taken care of.

The three classes we signed up for are: Prepared Childbirth, Breastfeeding Your Newborn (part 1 & 2), Newborn Care and Behavior.

Belly TP Squares: 9 and a quarter

Week 21
Joni has been moving all over the place. Charles has even felt her move 3-4 times this week. Looks like we have a little dancer on our hands! She likes to move mid morning and in the evening.

Belly TP Squares: 9.