Life:
Well, recovering from Easter weekend has been a little tough, but manageable. Because Harmony was away from breastfeeding for quite a few bottles (I think about 7 total that weekend), and I was unable to pump any more than 4 oz, my milk supply is still in the difficult process of catching up to Harmony's demand. I've had to give her a bottle a few nights this week because her hunger just hasn't been satisfied.
Solid foods are going well. Harmony still has her rice cereal, and she now also has barley cereal. Next up is oatmeal cereal, and then we'll maybe try a vegetable. I usually give her rice in the morning between or after her first feeding (sometimes second if we are going somewhere) and barley at night (usually around 7). When I start vegetables I'll give them too her for lunch.
"School" is going ok, I haven't started the intensive program yet, so I was only there Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning and afternoon, but those two days went well, and on Tuesday morning Harmony napped in day care for almost an hour! On Wednesday Harmony was in the daycare at the "Young/Single Parents Drop-In" and she did very well there too and I really enjoyed my break. This day care is a bit better because a) to be allowed to leave your child in the daycare at Bethany you must be doing a program or class, but the Drop-In is more relaxed and b) if your child is in the daycare at Bethany and needs a diaper change, they will come and get you to change it, but at Drop-In, they change the diaper for you! :)
On Wednesday morning we were at "Baby & Me". We got some great video footage of Harmony on her tummy holding her head up and looking at little mirror images of herself. She is really getting a lot better at being on her tummy. It was kind of an all of a sudden thing, she hated her tummy for the longest time but now that she has the strength to see a little bit, she's ok.
Today Harmony had her first bath in the "big tub". Since she's been able to sit in her little blue bath seat for a few weeks, I decided now would be a good time to try this out. Plus, her dad got her some really cute bath toys and there really isn't room for them in the sink. Well, much to my delight Harmony really enjoyed the big tub. She stayed in longer because she stayed warmed longer since the water covers more of her body. She also loved batting around with her arms and trying to eat the bath toys (she was able to get the little yellow duckie into her mouth on several occasions). One little confession though, and this will be a funny story to tell later, although it wasn't very funny today!... I filled the tub up a little bit higher than the bath seat and then put Harmony in; the water went up to about chest level. I took a couple pictures of her in the bath and then got ready to climb in myself. I started climbing in, forgetting the very *basics* of physics (i.e. water displacement!). I remember these little rules very quickly while starting to sit down, as I saw the water quickly jump from Harmony's chest level to chin level! I quickly pulled her up sitting straighter, which gave her a couple inches between her mouth and the water and then pulled the plug to let out some water! It was kind of scary, but not excessively so because even though my mind was elsewhere while I was getting into the tub, I snapped to attention to pull her up a little bit as soon as I saw the water rise. Now that's a prime example of a sleep-deprived mother!
Speaking of sleep, Harmony's sleep pattern remains annoying *short*! Because she naps so often on the bus during the day, she doesn't seem to need many other naps during the day, and needs much less sleep at night. She typically goes to bed at around 11, then will sleep until 5 or so, although she woke up at 2:30 as well for a few nights at the start of the week. This was because of this weekend's damage to my milk supply, and since I've started giving her a bottle at night, she's dropped the 2:30 feeding again, thank goodness. After eating for about 20 minutes at 5, she'll settle back to sleep until about 7:30, although sometimes will wake up at 6:30. I can sometimes convince her to sleep for another hour, but usually it's more trouble than it's worth and we're up for the day. Now, if you take a look at the time, that's only about 8 hours of sleep a night and sometimes less! *I'm* finding a hard time surviving on that much sleep, I don't know why she can! I guess all those naps during the day really make up for it, but still. I really thought babies were supposed to sleep more at night. :( Oh well, my hope is that now that the weather is nice, she'll be awake more on the bus (you know, less bundled and more eager to look around in the sunshine) and therefore will nap better during the day and sleep better at night. I've got my fingers crossed!
I think it would really help my sanity if Harmony slept better. I'm really starting to feel that desperate "at the end of my rope" feeling again, scrambling for a few minutes of free time, feeling a slight sense of "doom" when I pick her up at daycare. I love Harmony very much, and I feel I'm a very good mother. We have a lot of time to play together, and I talk with her and sing to her a lot. However, I feel so tied down. Even with daycare taking her a couple hours, or two sessions of a couple hours (which has only happened once...) I still have to deal with her almost all the time. I really hope this gets better soon, I don't want to feel anger towards my daughter, but sometimes I just can't help it... Harmony's Growth:
I'm very glad I did decide to start Harmony on cereal, because her weight gain has picked up again. It had really slowed down for the couple weeks before she started cereal, but last week she gained 8 oz in one week! On Tuesday night she weighed 15 lbs 6 oz and then on Wednesday morning, we weighed her again and she was 15 lbs 7 oz! I could really tell the difference too, just picking her up.
There aren't many new milestones, although now that she's adjusted to the solid food and other new skills, Harmony's vocabulary is starting to return. She's talking more and laughing more, and sometimes it's just so fun to listen to the little noise she makes! She loves to be tickled- she thinks it's just hysterical when I tickle her chest and chin with my foot or with my head but somehow it's not so funny if I tickle her with my fingers or hand. Go figure...
Harmony's movement is increasing. Although she still hasn't rolled or pushed herself forward on her tummy, she can wiggle around a lot more by lifting her legs, wiggling for a bit, and then thumping them back down a cetimeter or so to the left of right. She once managed to turn her body 90 degress just thumping around like this on the floor! She's also getting very good at sitting, and can sit unsupported for little batches of 10-30 seconds at a time. I think sitting unsuported may be her next skill to work on, although I do also place her on her tummy more often now that she's enjoying it more. Or she may chose to focus more on her verbal skills. Who knows!? Whatever she decides to work on next, I'll take my cue from her. I don't really force her into doing anything she doesn't seem to want to. If she hadn't eagerly accepted cereal, I would have put it aside for a while. Since she didn't like being on her tummy, I didn't really force it on her, and look how well that turned out! She all of a sudden just starting having the strength for it and liking it all on her own! There's no point in having an over-acheiving child if neither the child nor the parent gets to have any fun... :)