Puzzle Games are really hard, so don't get yourself down. You have a cool concept. I think communication to the player just needs some adjustments to work out. Maybe instead of month 2, push it to month 4? That way month 1, player tries things out, messes up. Month 2 is learning from what they understood from month 1, and month 3 to get a good grasp on the mechanics/game. Then start iterating from there?
You did awesome overall :D.