Life:
Many of the faithful readers that have been reading this online journal since the begining know that Harmony's father has been sort of back and forth. At first he wanted me to have an abortion, then apologized and made up for it, etc. and we were back together. Then he decided not to be there for Harmony's birth, or her first Christmas, but after a bit we got back together again. I thought things were going along very well, and that in Septmeber, once we were in the same city going out, we would finally be able to tell whether or not we were compatible and whether to continue the relationship or not. He's now made that desicion ahead of schedule by announcing that he will not be moving in with us as planned after all.
We were supposed to move in together in Sept, but guess what? He's decided to move in with "mommy and daddy" instead. He made a few excuses about it being because of my student loan being cut if they found out we were living together (we would be common law and they would want him to pay for everything instead of giving me the loan I'm getting now) and it's too expensive for him, and our relationship was "shaky" anyways, but I really think it's all excuses and he's just backing out of his responsibilities again.
The only positive to this is that I've finally realized that I can't be with him. No matter how much I love him, he can't seem to stop this pattern of breaking his promises, letting me down, and destroying my dreams. Everytime I worried about how school was going to go, (being a single mother and trying to do a full time course load at university), I'd say to myself "At least Chris will be here to help." And he says he still will help, but it's not the same. If he's not living here, he can't help out with a sick, cranky baby in the middle of the night. He can't drop her off at daycare in the morning and let me sleep in if I don't have a class. He can't help make breakfast. He can't watch her overnight if I feel like going out an partying 'til 2 am (I wanted to have some fun in my last teen year!!!) And there's also the financial side. With him contributing towards rent and utilities, I would have saved about $400, which would have made a car possible! I may still be able to budjet it, but maybe not...
Besides extra budjeting, I'll also have to do lots of extra planning. It's a good thing Chris decided to finally break the bad news instead of waiting any longer so I at least have a month to prepare. Hopefully we'll be able to arrange some custody agreement. I'll still obviously have full custody and everything, but if he wants to take her, he can.
In other news (and moving right along in life...), Harmony and I spent the week with my cousins. My aunt and uncle went away on a little vacation, and I looked after the four kids. Wow! What a handful! I'm glad Harmony was in daycare all day (and my dad was around to drive her, and to help out a little) cause I don't know what I would have done with the 5 of them! My oldest cousin was actually really helpful, cause she's 10, but the younger ones (aged 6, 4 and 2) kept me on my toes. It was tiresome week, but we all had a lot of fun, and it was nice to finally be able to do my aunt a favor after all the help she's given me over the past year. :)
Harmony's been a little sick this week. Dad took her to the doctor on Thursday and we found out she has another ear infection. The previous one had cleared up, but I guess it came back. They gave a stronger medication this time around, so hopefully we can get rid of those ear infections for good! I kept her home from daycare on Friday, I think Thursday and Friday were her worst days. Once we started her on the medication, she seemed to feel a little better. I think also going home and having a relatively quiet day with mommy helped out a lot after that crazy week of cousins always poking at her, and sleeping in a different bed, etc. She ended up sleeping in my aunt and uncle's bed with me half the time because she just didn't settle well. I wish I'd known about the ear infection, I might have been a little more sympathetic, cause I thought she was just being crabby because of the new bed. Fortunately, she got back into her routine nicely, and slept really well our first night home.
Harmony's baptism was on Saturday! She looked so sweet in her little dress and stole. It was really nice to have the whole family there- my dad got a really good picture of all the cousins with his digital camera. She was pretty patient during the ceremony, although she didn't like the water part (but we all expected that!). My father's cousin is a deacon and he performed the ceremony, so it was really a big family thing. We had a reception afterwards at my aunt's place and my dad let Harmony taste her cake! I told him not to, that she wasn't allowed sugar yet, but he just let her grab away. Although she paid him right back by spitting up on his shirt a couple minutes afterwards! I told him that sugar was too sweet! :)
Harmony's Growth:
Nothing really new in this section. I haven't had Harmony weighed again, but she is definetely still growing and thriving! :)
Her backwards crawling is improving and she's made a few attempts to start going forward from a sitting position but always falls forward. She's still saying her "ba"s and "ma"s and "wa"s and is still working on her other sounds, like raspberries and such. She's still trying to get that pincer grasp but to no avail thus far. I gave her real peas the other night but she didn't manage to get any in her mouth, so I just gave her the usual mushed up version. She also had her first taste of a real apple and even got a few little chunks off with her two little teeth. Still no sign of the top teeth.
I've found that after Harmony is at a plateau for a little while (which she has been the past couple weeks), she all of a sudden bursts forth with some new skill, and in the span of a few days becomes a pro. It's pretty amazing! I strongly suspect the new skill to emerge will be crawling, but we shall see!!! :)