Life:
Thankfully her pattern of sleeping through the night wasn't just a fluke! She's been consitantly going 11-5 or 11-6 every night this week. Well, ok, one morning she threw in an extra feeding at 3, but still, it's been so great to finally get in some sleep! I hadn't had a full night's sleep since November 24th, and I finally got one on Thursday- she went more than 8 hours for the first time.
Life has been really busy, with an activity every day. She's starting to sleep better during the day, although it's still difficult for her to nap unless she's in a moving stroller (either with me pushing it, or on a bus) or nursing. I dread staying home, because then there's nothing to put Harmony to sleep and she's up all day and super cranky because she can't put herself to sleep. When she's older I might start letting her cry herself to sleep a little, but she's still too young to learn. Some people would say I'm spoiling her cause I never let her cry for more than a few minutes and usually if I'm not in the middle of something I can't get away from, I pick her up right away, but I think she's too young to be spoiled and I've read that being attended too quickly in the early months will make her more secure later on in life because she knows her mother will always be there when she needs her.
My grandmother is still healing from her fractured back, so I took Harmony over there on Thursday to cook supper, do some chores, and also to cheer her up with a cute baby. My aunt is still having trouble with her kidneys, so I might go over there to keep an eye on the kids. It's tough helping out other people when you have no help yourself, and I don't quite know how I manage, but somehow I do. I haven't gotten a break from Harmony since before my aunt went in for her surgery, which was a couple weeks ago? Maybe a few weeks, I can't remember... It's been trying sometimes to have her in my face all the time, but it's gotten a lot better with her sleeping nights because then at least I'm getting a decent sleep. I'm even starting to feel sane again!
Still no soother, as the doctor ordered, but her blisters haven't gotten much better so I'm going to take her in again soon. I wonder if she's teething? I know she's a few months early, but she has been drooling an awful lot... The blisters don't actually seem to be bothering her any. I mean, they might be the reason for her crankiness, but she doesn't appear to be experiencing pain while she eats, or even the couple times I've had to give her her soother. When the blisters do heal, I'm going to try the newborn size soother, perhaps the other ones were too big to handle.
Harmony's Growth:
Wow! Harmony weighed in at 12 lbs 15 oz on Tuesday night- that's up an incredible 9 oz from the previous Tuesday. She's getting so amazingly chubby. I bought a pack of size 3 diapers to see if they fit a little better than the 2s. I wouldn't say she's outgrown the 2s, but if the 3s can go a little farther up her back while still staying tight, I'll switch her early because she's leaked out of the back of her diaper a couple times (ew...).
Developmentally, she's doing so well! Her little "vocabulary" is increasing, and her laughing is becoming more frequent- she still doesn't laugh very often, but it's so cute when she does!!! I get to see her little smiles many times a day now and we've actually had little "conversations"- I'll say something, wait, she'll say something, and so on.
Physically, she's getting really strong! She's better at holding things and yesterday morning I held the rattle under her hand and she grabbed it and then started moving her hand towards her mouth! She's started sucking on her hands, and a few times has found her thumb. She can stand up now, with my hands supporting her, and it's so cute cause she looks like she's surfing! She bobs her head and sways this way and that, trying to find her balance. Her sitting is improving, and a few times I've let go my hands for a few seconds and she's managed to stay up before slumping forward.