Bumper to bumper

I'm pretty sure it was the same day I made my last post that I went home and Hamburglar sat up all on his own.  Sure it was a week ago, but he's so good at it now one would think it had been longer.  Also, in other exciting development news...

We have cruising!  Chumbercules is still "crawling" like a worm, but he pulled himself up on the laundry basket and used that to stabilize himself to get to the couch and used the couch to get to me, who was sitting on the floor eating grilled cheese and tomato soup.  It was only about three or four steps, but Fatty McTwochins is cruising!

The Wonder Weeks says if you observe your child during leaps, you can see what he/she has a preference for skills-wise.  Chumby likes to watch people, first and foremost.  He is highly observant in new situations.  And he's also a pretty rough and tumble physical kid.  A friend of mine had a little boy about two weeks after Hamburglar was born and he isn't crawling yet, but he's talking.  He says words in order to portray meaning.  Hamburglar is still babbling.  He likes to say dadadada and Mr. Adventure pretty consistently asks him, "What?" when he starts with the babbling das.

Hamburglar McCloud had been banging his head on his crib and getting his little legs stuck in the slats up until a couple of days ago.  Not stuck stuck, but stuck nonetheless.  And more stuck in the sense that he wasn't quite coordinated enough to pull his legs out and get on with his life.  He needed help and was not afraid to ask for it.  Very loudly.  The head-banging and leg-sticking got me thinking that maybe I should put a bumper on his crib so, I looked to the internet!

I don't know if any of you do much internet research, but pretty much no matter what you search for (like, "Is it safe to use a crib bumper?") you get results ranging from, "Sure!  No big deal!" to, "Oh my God.  Even asking that questions assures that your baby is going to die."  And often times, both of these responses can be found in the same sentence.  So, what do you do?

I asked a friend who is a green family blogger and knows a ton of stuff about everything I want to know.  From sustainable toys and baby gear to free schooling and independent learning.  Plus she has a pre-teen son who she was obviously able to keep alive through his infancy.  She advised me that most babies stop doing things once they get irritated enough by them (Chumbercules is no longer smashing his head or getting his legs stuck.  Or he's just complaining about it less).  And she also pointed out the American Academy of Pediatrics is advocating against their use.  Many consumer groups also want crib bumpers banned and the state of Maryland has successfully banned them.

In other news...

I thought my favorite baby had six teeth now, but it turns out he only has five and is working on busting out the sixth and he is driving me mad.  He's also preparing for Leap 6, per the Wonder Weeks, which means he's in a fussy phase.  But, fussy phase combined with teething means I am not sleeping and it's starting to wear on me.

Also, the nursery still isn't painted.  Maybe this week?

And here is a link to the 15 things you should really register for for your baby.

All I know for sure is that I'm about ready to trade in breastfeeding for self-whisky-bottle-feeding.  Or something.  I need to make up a solids schedule for the babe so we can start transitioning him to people food.  In four more months, he will be a year old.  I'm 2/3 towards my breastfeeding goal.