Rolling!

We were super excited last week when Maya rolled from her back to her tummy for the first time, but now we think it's created a roly poly monster. A one-sided one. She rolled from her tummy to her back a few weeks before, but that required us putting her on her tummy first. Then she'd push up on her hands, arch her back, tuck and shoulder and roll. The back-to-front roll came after lots of side rolling. Then she got her hips and legs over completely, but she still had an arm that would stay stuck underneath her body. Last Wednesday, Anil and I literally sat and watched her for like two minutes (felt like it anyway) while she struggled and succeeded in getting that pinned arm free and made it officially onto her tummy. We were cheering her on, and every time I reached forward to give Maya and encouraging pat, Anil grabbed me back, thinking I was going to help her.

Now, Internet, she's mastered the roll, and it's ALL SHE DOES. Over and over again. Which would be fine, if she didn't keep getting stuck on her tummy. And crying. It hasn't clicked that once she rolls to her tummy, she can push off and roll back onto her back. And I'm sure when it does, it'll be another kind of monster because she'll roll across the floor and we'll have to check for her under the couch (just kidding). But for now, we put her on her baby gym (the floor mat with fun hanging things that used to entertain her for like 30 sweet sweet minutes), we walk across the room, then we hear her cry, look back, and she's flailing on her tummy. By flailing I mean waving her arms and legs while arching up on her belly, almost like a really bad surfer paddling out. So we stroll back over, and we help her roll to her back again, and literally IMMEDIATELY she rolls to her tummy again. She's okay for a minute... until she isn't. Then we go back over and roll her again. And again. And again. And then we strap her into the bouncy seat.

This is how I found her the other morning after I unswaddled her. Usually I undo her swaddle when she wakes up, then she's happy to hang out in her crib for a few minutes, "talking" to herself and rolling on her side and back. I call it baby snooze button. But now that she can roll all way over...

See the way her arm is blurry from the flailing? We've been trying to transition her out of the swaddle too, so have been leaving one arm out for naps. But this morning, her nap ended in loud crying, and Anil found her on her tummy, holding her face off of the mattress with the one arm. That makes me want to phase out the swaddle even more, because if she can roll, I want her to have arms free so she can push up. But then again, what if she just ends up rolling and then crying anyway? At this point, so I read, it's okay for her to sleep her on tummy if she turns herself onto it, because her arms and neck are strong enough to keep her airway clear, but something tells me it'll be a while longer until she's happy in that position. It's fun to see her try to figure it out though.