Life:
Wow, week 51 means one week left until Harmony turns 1!!!! I just can't believe how fast this year has gone by. It's just the strangest thing, and I don't know if anyone ever gets over how fast their kids grow! It's like, I'll look at pictures of her as a little tiny baby, and it'll seem like eons ago, and yet I can vaguely remember being pregnant, eagerly awaiting a baby... funny how time works, huh?
The invites are already out for Harmony's birthday party. I'm having one for her at home on Sunday with some of the little babies and toddlers we know (Arianna, Bailey, Lauren, Ben, and my cousin Kathleen), as well as the parents of those babies and toddlers, of course! :) My grandma is also having a little family one at her place at Sunday dinner (since we almost always have Sunday dinner with her anyways; it's become a really nice tradition), and Harmony's dad is also having a little family one at his place on Saturday. So next weekend will be a very very busy one!!!
This week has been extremely busy, especially since I had a 2,000 word research essay due on Wednesday. I've been doing ok on handling the regular workload of school, and keeping up with assignemtns and what not, but large things like a research essay just hit me really hard. Chris took her an extra night during the week so I could get more work done on it, which is good for this week, but really scares me in a way too, because I'm looking at the way my life is going right now, and seeing how stressed out I am, and then I'm trying to face the fact that Chris is leaving after Christmas again, and I'll be back to having no help at all! I've decided to drop one of my courses next term, because there's no way I'll be able to handle a full full course load (although even with 4 courses, I'll still be considered a "full time" student). I'll also be quitting work for the most part (not like I do much now, but still), and I'll only be doing virtual shows. And then hopefully Chris' parents will still take her once in a while, but he hasn't asked them about it yet, so I'm not counting on it or anything...
Harmony's Growth:
I can't believe how fast Harmony is progressing! She seems to be concentrating a lot more on her communication skills lately, and maybe that's why her walking isn't progressing as much. She is picking up on a lot of words, and we're doing a lot of imitation. When we go down stairs or anything like that, I always say "down" and this week she tried to say it too! It was a little muffled, more like "daa" but she said it as she was stepping down another step, so her meaning was clear. This week she also picked up another couple new words "bo" and "do"! For some reason, she started being a lot more interested in her stuffed animals, and anytime she goes into her room, she will point at them and say "bo" or "do" (it used to be mostly "do" and now it's mostly "bo"). I'm pretty sure she's trying to say "bear" because often when she says "bo", it's while pointing at a bear, or when I'm holding a bear, or when there's a bear in her book, etc. but I think she's also using the term to mean any stuffed animal toy.
Harmony is also getting clearer with expressing what she wants. When I ask her if she wants her bubba, often she will say "bubba!" really clearly if she's actually hungry. When I ask her if she's hungry for supper, she'll look towards the kitchen and hold out her hand to be walked there. I find this funny because often when she wants to go somewhere, she'll want to be "walked" there- she wont crawl, and she wont walk on her own, but she loves to walk around holding on to someone's hand! Usually the victim is her dad- I've set my limits with her about how long I will walk around with her for, right from the start, but he has always just given in whenever she wanted to walk around, and now she wont let him say no! If he sits down, she'll climb on him and get into a standing up position, grab his hands, and pull, while whining and crying!!! That's just a perfect example of what a little... well, *person* she's becoming...
Which is not to say that she wasn't a person before, she's always had a very strong personality and what not, it's just that communication is just such an important part of a person's personality, and now we're all discovering the real Harmony Meghan!!! And she's pretty cool. She's extremely independant and headstrong, and still not very cuddly, except maybe first thing in the morning and right before bed, and even then it's more clingy than cuddly. She's very demanding, and still what I would call a "spirited" or "high needs" child- she needs lots of stimulation, go, go, GO! My next child had better be mellow, I don't think I could take two kids like this...(althoug who knows, we're talking, like, four years down the road anyways...)