I have a feeling this is the month he will sprout his first tooth, and start crawling. He's so close to crawling, you can tell just how badly he wants to move. He wiggles on his tummy, does mini push ups, and has just started getting his knees underneath him. I'm trying to work with him for a little bit each day on the floor, and every day he gets closer and closer. He's also drooling like nobody's business, and chewing on everything.
The month of December was just magical with him. While he won't remember a single bit of it, T and I had fun getting to experience all of the fun kid activities around Christmas. And, he pretty much stole the show when we went to see Santa.
In almost every picture where Thompson is smiling, you'll notice T's arm on his leg. We've discovered that we can get Thompson to smile and giggle when we squeeze his thighs, so we pull out this trick any time the camera is on him. Works like a charm.
I'm still supplementing about 25% of Thompson's daily milk with formula, and I can now say this was one of the best things I've done for myself. I still love knowing he's getting mainly breastmilk, but not having the pressure to pump every single ounce he needed each day was a gigantic weight off my shoulders. I don't think I realized how much this stressed me out until I started supplementing. Each day I would stress and worry about not having enough milk pumped for him to eat. I always kept a freezer stash just in case, but the thought of not pumping enough milk, accidentally leaving a bottle out and having it spoil, or having my supply go down was starting to make me a little crazy. It consumed my every thought, and now that I can look back on it, it wasn't healthy.
I've been using Aldi's Gentle formula, which is really similar to Enfamil Gentlease, it's just way cheaper. He transitioned to it seamlessly, and has never rejected a single bottle I've tried to give him. I also use the Aldi wipes and organic baby food pouches, and have been really pleased with them as well.
One of the biggest milestones this month was that Thompson is now sturdy enough to sit up in a shopping cart and a high chair. This was a game changer. Not having to lug that heavy car seat around with us is such a relief. I have LOVED my black and white stretchy nursing cover. I always keep it with me if I need to pump in the car or around other people, but now I can also use it as a cover for shopping carts and high chairs. This is really helpful right now, because as soon as he's in a shopping cart or high chair he immediately tries to chew on it. I'm typically not crazy about exposing him to bacteria, but I really don't want him chewing on a restaurant high chair.
He's still sleeping like a champ, no change there. He sleeps each night from 7-7 and takes 3 naps a day. All in all, he typically sleeps for about 17-18 hours a day, which is absolutely amazing. I think lot of it has to do with the baby, but I also credit the Moms On Call schedule. His favorite time of the day is bath time. We give him a bath almost every night, and it is the only thing that can calm him down during his 6:00-7:00 fussy time. He got some new bath toys for Christmas which he loves, but he still adores the tried and true neti pot. Yes, that sounds crazy, but I've tried lots of different things for washing a baby off, and a neti pot is seriously the best thing I've found. It provides enough water pressure in a concentrated area to wash the shampoo out of his hair and is great for getting the fuzz that collects in his double chin. :)
Products we've loved this month:
2. Jumperoo
4. Little Tikes Swing (and these hanging straps)
8. Nose Frida