Life:
Well, things are super busy (believe it or not!), but generally going well! I still haven't found a car, but I'm busy looking and hopefully will find one soon! I've worked out three times this week and intend to go tommorow. I'm also busy with my home-based part-time business, just trying to get things started. So my days are pretty much filled up.
Harmony really loves it at daycare! My brother came with me to pick her up on Wednesday afternoon (yes!, a break from the bus!!!) and we heard some baby sounds all the way down the hall- "ba ba ba, ma ma ma!" and I walked in and asked "Is that my little baby chatting away?" And sure enough, it was :). Today as I left, I heard her saying "ma ma ma!" so I'm not sure if she was realizing I'd left, or just babbling. It's really hard to tell with "baba" and "mama" whether or not she actually is trying to say something.
Harmony's dad is ignoring us again. I told him that for September, he can be a "visit for a couple hours at the mall each weekend" dad. And then when he gets a place set up for her with everything she needs (crib, bottles, toys, a baby proof environment, etc.), he can take her for longer, but he hasn't talked to me since, hasn't even called or emailed to see how the baby's doing, so I don't know whether or not he even wants to see her at all. He claims he can't sort anything out now because of exams, so I guess he'll decide whether or not he wants to be a dad later??? Hopefully he'll at least see her once in a while for a few hours, and hopefully he'll continue paying child support, but right now I'm not counting on anything, or including anything into my plans, both short-term and long-term. Basically, he left us, so I don't really care if we see him again or not. It might actually be better for Harmony's sake if she only saw him casually once in while, because then he would still be (in Harmony's eyes), at the same status level as a lot of my friends- she sees them once in a while, they're fun to play with (but not for too long without mommy), and she doesn't miss them when they leave. One thing I was worried about was Harmony's reaction to Chris leaving in December, but I guess now that's not a problem.
Harmony's Growth:
Harmony can get into a sitting position from her tummy all by herself! :) I was so surprised when all of a sudden I saw her sitting up. I was so sure she had just been crawling around backwards as usual. I thought for a second maybe I'd just *thought* she'd been on her tummy, but then she flopped forward onto her tummy reaching for something, and then upon reaching the toy, pulled her knees under her and slowly wiggled around until she was sitting up! It's so cute to see her do it because she'll use her tummy skills to go *get* a toy, and then sit up to be able to play with it better! After I'd put her to bed, I heard a noise I'd never heard before and went into her room to check on her. She was sitting up in her crib, trying to pull down the pictures I put up on the wall for her! The sound was the crinkle of the magazine paper- I'm glad I got to her before she put it into her mouth! :) I'm moving the crib matress down a level before Harmony goes to bed tonight, just in case she all of a sudden picks up the "pulling to standing unassisted" skill too!
Her mobility is increasing day by day and she can now go after a lot of toys that were out of reach. Operation "baby proof" is going well, and I think within the week, everything should be all set (although I know she'll surprise me with a few things that I thought she couldn't get into...). Now all I need is that baby gate for the kitchen, cause there's no way I can wash the floors every single day, and I know how fascinated babies are with little teeny tiny things they can pick up! I'm also going to get a playpen, and get her used to it, because she loves being in her exersaucer now, but once she's crawling, and especially walking, she wont want to stay in it, yet I'll still need to have showers in the morning, so she'll need to be somewhere safe. I really hate the idea of leaving her in a playpen, but there's really no other option. I need to have showers, I really don't want to try to get up a half hour earlier than she does (because sometimes, she gets up a half hour or even an hour earlier than her usual time!), and I can't just leave her to wander around the apartment and get into things, especially as she gets older. So a playpen is what I need...
Speaking of which, Harmony has also developped her "pincer" ability! She can now pick up a Cheerio or other small object between her finger and thumb (but not very well yet, it's still hit and miss). She now loves to eat Cheerios, and although she's choked on one once, she otherwise does really well with eating them. I'm still in the "watching carefully" stage, and I'm glad I was right there when she choked to get the Cheerio out quickly.