Life:
Boy are we ever busy! We spent most of our week out at "mommy programs", but still had plenty of time for playing and exloring. Harmony is getting to be so much more fun than she was when she was smaller, especially now that she's sitting up by herself (more on this in the growth section below...). Nights are still going well. Harmony has supper (barley cereal) around 7 pm, a nursing around nine, and a 2-4 oz bottle around 9:30 or 10 and then usually settles off for the night.
Here's an example of a typical night and day...
Yesterday afternoon Harmony had fun wathcing Arianna and Bailey run around the apartment (actually this isn't very typical, the kids hardly come over here cause my place isn't that toddler proof) while Sarah and I got dinner ready. Harmony'd previously had about a third of a jar of sweet potatoes for lunch, and had a couple nursings after that. After our supper, Harmony had some barley cereal and nursed a little. She last nursed at around 9:30, slept a little until 10, then had a couple ounces before settling off for good. She woke up at 4 am to be nursed and then went back to sleep (after a bit of fussing) until 8 am. Then we spent a little time chatting while I changed her diaper, before a nursing. About a half hour after nursing (after some floor play), Harmony sat in her high chair and had some rice cereal. Then she cuddled up with me and her soother for a short nap while I got to have my shower. Upon waking, Harmony got to have more play time, including about ten minutes in her Jolly Jumper, some time practicing her sitting skills, playing with some toys, etc. She had another short nap (ten minutes) and after that she had her bath and got ready for the day. Then (we're now up to 11 am) she nursed again and she's been up since then (it's now 2). Right now she's sitting up on my bed, playing with my Kleenex box (but I'm keeping an eye on her so she wont eat any!) :)
So things are going a lot better. I remember those days when she ate every two hours and wouldn't sleep more than 3-4 at night. How did I ever survive??? I don't know how, but I'm glad I did, because now she's hit a really enjoyable age. She's cute, she laughs, she "talks". She knows who I am and loves cuddling, but she is still ok sitting with new people. She is starting to be mobile, sitting up, almost rolling, but she pretty much stays put if I put her somewhere. She's up a lot of the day (with only a few 10-20 minutes naps, and sometimes a longer one), but at least she's sleeping 8 hours or more at night, and 6 hours of that is usually in one long stretch. She's starting to eat solid foods, but we still get to enjoy time together while she's nursing (still 8-10 times a day). She needs a lot of stimulation around her but at least at this stage when she gets bored, the worst she can do is fuss, and not run after things she shouldn't get into. It really feels like the best of both worlds, I think I'm going to enjoy the next few months immensely! :)
Harmony's Growth:
Harmony was weighed on Wednesday morning and she now weighs 16 lbs 3 oz. Only 4 more pounds until I have to get a bigger carseat, but I don't think she'll hit that weight until, like, September or around there, because her weight is supposed to slow down a lot.
Harmony can sit up by herself now and we're both very excited about that. Harmony's excited because now she can see many more things from different angles, and she seems proud about having learned a new skill. And I'm excited because soon I'll be able to put her down in more places without having to worry about her getting bored at looking at the ceiling. Also, it's another step in her crusade for independance, which includes playing more without mommy having to hold a toy in front of her.
She's still working on rolling alot and she's gone over a few times with next to no help from me, but she hasn't ever been able to do it without a little nudge. But I'm sure by the end of May she'll be rolling like a pro!
Her verbal skills have come back a bit, and she is really having a blast exploring the different sounds her mouth and tongue can make. She often sticks a few fingers in her mouth (I've seen her fit three from one hand and two from the other all at once!) and blows around them. I think that's currently her favorite little "wet razzing" noise, but she has many others.
Harmony's cognitive skills are getting really impressive. I have a musical toy attached to the rails of Harmony's crib. I've recently moved it to where she can easily get to it since she's now moving her legs around more. There are two buttons on the front- the big green one turns the music on, and the big red one turns it off. She's played with it a few times, and I think she's starting to be able to see how she can control her environment. She gets very excited when she gets a reaction from pushing one of the buttons. One time I went in after she'd been napping for a while, and saw that she had kicked her blanket off, and was turned around 90 degrees to have her feet right on the toy! In a couple months she'll be able to pull herself to sitting and will be able to play with it that way.
Harmony loves looking at her hands. She'll wave them in front of her face and just be entranced with the movements. Unfortunately, she does't have the skills to bring things to her very easily. If you put something a few inches away from her nose, she can bring her hands together on either side of it to put it in her mouth, but if a toy is any farther away from her, she'll either try to get it and miss, ending up with a mouthful of little fingers, or she'll grab it, but put the back of her hand in her mouth instead of the toy. She gets really mad when she can't get at a toy, especially since her hands are so tiny, she can hardly get a good hold on anything. She still requires a lot of help when playing with toys, and although this is frustrating (to both of us!), I know it's important for her to learn so I guess we'll just keep on with the trial and error approach.