Let's twist again

The latest excitement in our household has been Ollie's core strength. He has been capable of rolling from front to back for quite some time and this has been displayed everytime I put him on his tummy (instead of staying on it and learning how to lift himself up, crawl etc). However his ability to roll from back to front has been much like bigfoot - we've suspected it existed however have never had any scientific evidence.

Quite a while ago he started to roll onto his side but because we were desparately trying to keep him off the back of his head, I probably stifled this instinct. It is only in recent weeks that he has revisited this trick - lured by well placed toys and other goodies. This week it all crystallised with him making me a very happy mummy indeed when he started to sleep on his side. Despite freaking me out a little bit, I'm thrilled with this as it means when his helmet comes off soon he won't go back to sleep in exactly the same position and therefore putting pressure on the old spot.

His other oblique testing activity this week took place when I was attending to a task at the dining room table with Ollie safely seated at Camp Ollie (inside this week due to the record breaking temps). He was seated on his sheepskin with some toys and beside him was his big cane toy box. I looked up to check on him and saw him kneeling beside the toy box trying to grab some toys. I raced over to help him, got out the toy he was grabbing and went back to what I was doing. Again, I glanced over a few seconds later and surprise, surprise, he was already back into the toy box!!

Despite not being able to crawl yet he has certainly found ways to make himself mobile. I suspect it is not long now until I am chasing him around the joint. I've included a video we took of him trying to get himself into the toybox. It certainly wasn't his best effort, he normally gets himself up on his feet more, but the smile makes it a winner.

Another activity this week included a lovely barbeque lunch at the park with all of the parents and babies in our baby group. It was the first time the dads all met each other. It was kind of one of those semi-awkward "you like football, he likes football, go play together" occasions, but it went well and hopefully bodes well for future baby oriented gatherings.

Big news - tomorrow we start swimming lessons!! Nick has taken half a day off to come along and document the occasion. Stay tuned for pics...