Roll Over, Roll Over!

Rolling over is a significant developmental milestone.  It signals the start of mobility, and, consequentially, the end of household sanity.  Before rolling over, you can put a baby down anywhere.   Once they roll, you can't put them down on anything they could roll off of, and the next thing you know, you have to safety-lock your cabinets and put up the liquor.  I decided that I would be perfectly happy if Abby didn't start being mobile until right before she went to preschool. at which point she could hop up and walk just like any other four-year old.  I know this won't happen, though, so I guess I just have to celebrate these milestones in stride.

By the way, did you realize that Abby is almost six months old?  I know, you might not, since I never posted any five-month pictures:

"Go Abby! It's your (five-month) birthday!"

And Google Plus was kind enough to make an animated GIF out of all the five-month photos it uploaded, which seriously weirded me out, because I was like, "WHY IS THE PICTURE OF THE BABY MOVING???"  But now that I understand that it's just something Google Plus *does* when it senses a "burst" of photos, I think it's pretty cool:

Typically, babies roll from belly to back, first, which is what Abby did, way back at the end of April (I know, I'm such a slacker!):

The funny thing is, even now, a month and a half later, often, when Abby is on her tummy, she'll start crying instead of rolling herself over.  It's like she forgets that she knows how to do it.

She's been working really hard on back to front for some time.  For awhile, she was getting really close.  At first, she couldn't get the opposite hip flipped over, then her big noggin was weighing her down.  She eventually got almost the whole way over, but then her arm would get stuck and she'd end up rolling back on her back.  Poor girl would get so frustrated!  She'd just lay on her side and whine, poor baby!

But then, last weekend, we visited my parents' house.  While we were getting packed up, I put Abby down on her back on her play mat.  I went to the bathroom, while Kevin took a few bags out to the car.  I had just come out of the bathroom when Kevin called to me, "Did you put her down on her stomach?" To which I answered, "No!"  That little sneak rolled over when no one was looking!

And this is how her daddy found her!

She's rolled over a few times since then - and I still haven't seen it.