17 weeks

My weight is still the same, but my belly is definitely growing!  The baby is becoming less shark-like as its skeleton changes from cartilage to bone.  He or she is about 5 inches long and weights about 5 ounces - the size of a turnip.  I have my next OB appointment on Thursday, and I'm mildly concerned I'm going to get into trouble for not gaining the pound per week allotted to me by the pregnancy syndicate, but it was so hot, and I feel like the baby has made a land grab from my digestive tract, which makes it difficult to eat very much in one sitting.  I'm giving it my best effort, though.  The Ben and Jerry's flavor of the week is What a Cluster (last week's was Key Lime Pie).

 
Otherwise, I've entered the world of trying to find a good daycare provider for when it's time for me to return to work.  I have appointments lined up to tour several centers, and I need to make some calls to set up times to visit some in-home providers.  Right now I'm working from certification lists provided by the city, but I'm trying to put out feelers to get personal recommendations.  The problem is that most of my friends who have kids either a)stay home or b)live too far south or west of town to have good recommendations for me locally.  The other problem is that I'm starting my search with really high expectations of what I want - basically an amalgamation of Mother Theresa, Bill Cosby and Harvey Karp- who happens to live half way between UW and our new apartment and does not own any large dogs or mean cats.  I'm going to try working with that for awhile and see how far I get, but I realize I may have to relax my expectations somewhat.

Right now the plan is to brave the heat (which hopefully won't actually be that hot) and go to Art Fair on the Square tomorrow after Daniel finishes his parent interviews.  It will be nice to have him home after his three weeks teaching at summer camp.

This week is going to be busy with daycare visits, preparing for company, going up to Beaver Dam for a practice WESDR exam, getting ready to give a talk on Thursday (I really shouldn't have procrastinated on that...), and the like.  I think I may need to institute a "no Netflix on weeknights" rule for the next few weeks until I feel like I have a better handle on everything that needs to be done.  Hopefully I'll get another London post written, but don't hold your breath ;).  Stay cool out there!