roll over

Rolling Baby Racking up the Miles

Posted on May 9, 2012 Updated on May 9, 2012

IMG-20120508-00189 — My skills continue to impress

So Maddie is rolling now. This is not a metaphor, my 9-month-old daughter spent the entire morning rolling all over the living room. She can roll left or right, onto her stomach or onto her back. And although its true that a rolling baby gathers no moss, it is a parental workout of epic proportions. Cue “Rollin” by Lymp Bizkit!

The biggest pitfall of baby rolling is that she is not equipped with a crash helmet and therefore her melon is susceptible to injury. So while Maddie rolls along the floor, I’m running (actually rolling) interference to make sure the princess is safe.

Despite my safety concerns, Maddie was also able to charm me into submission despite her antics. I smiled at her from more than six feet away which prompted an attempted a visit. It took Maddie about three rolls to cover the distance and very quickly she was at my feet. I was most impressed and she could tell.

Maddie is also very pleased with her new skill and is determined to perfect it through multiple repetitions. I tried to take Maddie outside for a break, but that didn’t go over well. She complained the whole time because she actually wanted to get back in and go to work.

I think it would be a little easier to deal with if she were crawling instead. So after working on some more commando rolls, I put the baby in the highchair for a little lunch.

She snacked very lightly and was pretty grumpy. Before I knew it, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she had fallen asleep in the high chair. This has never happened before, but she’s also never spent the morning circumventing the living room one flip at a time.

I gently lifted her out of the chair and made a beeline for the crib. She was asleep within seconds and her dad was completely wiped out. Now its a wait and see game to see if Maddie will eventually get bored with all of this rolling or if she is determined to roll right over her dad.

This entry was posted in Child Development, Children, Crawling, Family, Parenting and tagged baby, child development, Children, family, High chair, Parenting, parents, roll over.

Tummy Time – Not Happening

Posted on February 7, 2012 Updated on February 8, 2012

For more than a month now, Maddie’s mom and dad have been very serious about tummy time for the baby. Every chance we get, she is perched on her elbows so she can show us her feats of strength!

However, three things constantly threaten to derail tummy time. The first problem is that Maddie obviously prefers to be on her back (less work you know) So, what better way is there to circumvent tummy time than by rolling over on to your back? Being on your back is less work and the rolling over part is kind of entertaining.

Once we could watch the baby frolic on her stomach from across the room. Now we have sit there with her so she doesn’t suddenly decide roll over and start chillaxing on her back.

Problem #2 is that Maddie is stuck with too many honey badger genes to move forward. During the Honey Badger video, the narrator says, “Oh look, it runs backwards.” Well that’s the problem.

For weeks now, Maddie efforts to crawl forward have been very unsuccessful. For some reason, those crazy legs start churning and the baby starts shuffling backwards. Motivation isn’t really the problem, it’s something in her mechanics. The more she struggles to inch forward, the faster she starts motoring straight back.

Problem #3 is Maddie’s morbid fascination with labels. That’s right, those little white tags on the back of shirts or in this case, the tags attached to the tummy time mats. Maddie will do one of those Three Stooges 360 degree maneuvers on her side so she can sample the Labels Du Jour. The more labels the better.

I have yet to taste any yet, but according to Maddie, they are to die for. I have even contemplated tearing the labels off of various items, but why would I rob my daughter of such wonderful times. She will jam three labels into her mouth in an unsuccessful bid to eat them. When you pull her away from them, she cops an attitude and wants to know why you are forsaking her friends.

All in all, tummy time really isn’t going that badly. It’s just another example of how Maddie can complicate a simple exercise, but make it look terribly fun and entertaining at the same time.

This entry was posted in Child Development, Health, Honey Badger, Parenting, Tummy Time and tagged child development, honey, Parenting, roll over, tummy time.