Flipping Out!

Alas, the age of carefree child abandonment is over: Ara is flipping over! It started slowly, with grunts and cries, and gradually built to a constant obsession with no longer being in the orientation in which she was put down. In the beginning, the big barrier seemed to be her right arm. She could get half way over, but what to do with that arm was a huge problem! But for us it was a blessing. We could glance away, hands-free, and not worry too much. "Oh - she'll never get over - look at that arm! She's going nowhere!" And there she would be - right arm extended awkwardly across her chest while she tried to reach over with her left arm and grab at something to pull her over the rest of the way. But then, one fateful day, she figured out that the key is to pull her arm in, and THEN flip. She doesn't really need her arms to flip. The whole thing depends on her enormously (and prematurely) strong neck. She actually hoists herself over by pushing her head back as far as it will go, and then writing around, worm-like. Unfortunately, her freedom of movement is once again curtailing our efforts to keep her TV-free. We used to be able to keep the TV out of eyeshot by lying her down, facing us. But then she realised she could turn, and tummy-time her way to technicolor bliss. Incredible, since tummy-time used to be a source of stress for her, and incredible whining would insue. Not now! Now, tummy-time is the gateway to moving pictures and hours of entertainment. As you can see above, Ara flips over, only to express consternation over Gilby's delivery of the tough news to a rocker hopeful. Rock on Storm! You'll always be right for OUR band.