Rolling, rolling

There we were at the doctor's office last week, Jonah and I, awaiting the dreaded shots. The wait was unusually long, so I put Jonah's blanket down on the exam table and decided to give him some "tummy time." For once, he didn't seem to mind too much, and moreover he was doing a good job of scooting his legs forward to such an extent that he was nearly on his forearms and knees.

Suddenly, amidst the scooting, he twisted sideways and flip! He was on his back. Not happily so, though I was quite proud of him. He clearly didn't expect that particular cause and effect. That said, he's since rolled belly-to-back a couple more times, and he's generally been happier about it. And he's still trying valiantly (but in vain) to roll back-to-belly.

In other Jonah news, today at school I sat him in a tripod position (legs straight forward, arms on the sides) and he almost sat up straight. His rather rotund belly (which makes it difficult for him to roll) does a good job of preventing him from falling face forward and eating the carpet when his arms fail him.

Today, however, rather than leaning forward, he leaned slightly backward, holding his arms out sideways as if for balance on a tightrope, and then returned to the tripod position. Definitely a good start. He appeared to be emboldened by this discovery, and pleased, so he leaned backward again with a big grin. Luckily, my arm was there to catch him when he passed the 90 degree mark and quickly fell (again, arms out to the side, this time as if he were doing the Nestea Plunge). He'll get there soon.

Jonah's final developmental step (of this posting) is his discovery of his toes. When Noah was a baby, we used to get a magazine that had poems and such for the pre-toddler set. One poem went as follows:

Little baby, little bear
Eyes wide open, cinnamon hair
Grab your toes and hold on tight
Roly-poly, left and right.

Anyway, Jonah is now at that stage, and it's fun to watch him grab and roll. Just thought I'd share.