Let the good times roll!

All of February, I had been working with Jason on the art of rolling over. He had sort of done it, but we cheated a little. By cheating I mean, I rolled him from his back on to his stomach, with his arm pinned underneath him, and in the attempts to free that arm, he would push himself back on to his back. Or we would lay him on the bed, one of us would be laying near by, and our weight would cause the mattress to slope downward just enough so gravity could give him a little help (after we gave him a little nudge). But on March 4th, I put him on his stomach to watch me do the dishes. I turned back down to look at him, and he was on his back. Excited, I went and got the camera and put him back on his stomach to see if he'd do it again. Before I could even turn on the camera, he was starting to roll.

So he had mastered the stomach to back roll, completely unassisted, at basically 3 months, 1 week. (Is that early, or right on schedule?) A few days later, while Daddy was home from work and we were playing with him, he struggled and struggled, but finally kicked himself from stomach to back. So he could officially roll over in both directions. We were so proud.

Then, March 13th, I was putting some stuff in the garage storage during Jason's nap, when I heard him on the baby monitor. He cried for just a minute or two before I got back inside to wash my hands and get him out of the crib. When I went in there, he had rolled onto his stomach and was crying.

That was the beginning of it. For the next week, every time we laid Jason down in his crib, he instantly rolled onto his stomach and cried. We tried to calm him, put him back on his back, but he would just keep rolling over. If that's the way he wanted it, we would just let him cry and learn to sleep on his stomach. He eventually fell asleep. However, Jason the drooler and stomach sleeping don't fare well for crib sheets. After just a few days, Jason's cheeks started developing a little rash/redness. I realized it must be from all those hours smooshed into the sheets, wallowing in his own saliva. But there was nothing I could do about it.

On March 17th, Jason actually rolled continuously in the same direction to the point where he had cleared about 4 feet of carpet. I was pretty impressed. He hasn't done it since, but our son is officially mobile, so we have to be a lot more careful leaving him on the bed, or leaving things on the floor.

As of now, I am happy to report that his sensitive cheeks seemed to have adjusted and the redness is gone. Jason also seems to have adjusted to sleeping on his stomach, although the novelty of rolling over in the crib is fading because there have been a number of naps where he has stayed on his back. But it's still pretty funny to us to go in and see him on his side, bunched up in the corner of the crib fast asleep, mid-roll.

This has been a fun milestone to watch Jason reach. In addition to rolling over, he also does this cute pivot thing. By that I mean, he will be on his stomach, and he'll kick with his feet so his back end shifts, but his head stays put, kind of like the hand of a clock. So he'll be facing twelve o'clock, and after a serious of butt wiggles and shifts, he's now facing three o'clock. He has worked himself 180 degrees around before. The last time he was doing it, we watched his face and it seemed like he was starting to realize that he was causing his movements and that the change of perspective and scenery was somehow linked to what he was doing. It is phenomenal to watch the wheels of his mind turn and process. What a joy to be a parent.