I guess its three more weeks of semi-good sleep nights although my wife still gets the horrific calf craps announced through primal screaming. Product-wise I think I've gotten a feel for baby buying with friend advice (thanks Cyril and Jason) the Baby Bargains book as my guide. Having baby and the daily changes and feelings still quite a bit abstract. I promise to continue to read and talk to new parents. To get a sense of whats on my mind, heres a list (with the caveat that I'm feeling that some parenting advice seems to be hey haven't you read or heard you aren't suppose to [blank], gee I hope your baby is going to be okay.)
I'm big on checklists so here goes on what I've done recently:
- Finished lamaze (still not quite solid on the breathing and skeptical of its utility)
- Finished Baby CPR and "Care"
- Built the crib
- Unpacked Car Seat, Pack 'n Play, and Stroller
- Children's room painted
- Had baby shower
- Bought semi-manly diaper bags
- Frequently watching "Bringing Home Baby" on TLC
To Do:
- Get car seat checked
- Read further into Sears Book, What to Expect, Expectant Dad
- Pack for hospital
- Get lesson plans ready for paternity leave
- Decide on soft carrier
- Calculate cost of entended leave and baby finances
2 comments:
Nice list.
A few things you may want to consider...
You may have paid a lot of attention during your lamaze classes. In my case, my wife ended up having a c-section because the doctor lost the heartbeat of our child. Everything turned out ok, but the cord was wrapped 3 times around her neck! My wife was in a lot of pain after childbirth. You may want to take off some time to help take care of her.
If both of you work, you might put your wife at ease by taking vacation when she returns to work. I took 2 weeks off when she returned to work and it was a great 2 weeks. It also put her mind at east that I was taking care of her. It was also a good transition to daycare.
Fast Forward 18 years (I'm a planner!)
Think about college as costs are rising rapidly. Check into 529 tax free funds. You don't have to select California's 529 fund - I selected Iowa's plan. If you want to supplement your deposits, consider checking out upromise.com. While it won't pay for college, you can probably pay for 4 years of books with upromise!
Thanks for the advice. I could use financial planning! I was planning on taking two weeks off as well and am planning two weeks of lesson plans right now.
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