Roley Poley Josh

When Lucy was a baby I read the books and eagerly looked for each milestone. The book said things like, "baby should be able to focus on a small object like a raisin." Then I'd proceed to wave a raisin back in forth in front of my baby girl. Okay, not quite that manic - but pretty close. Lucy was not the most mobile baby. She rolled over twice as an infant - yep, count them, one - two. She never crawled and when she learned to walk at almost exactly a year, you had to stand her up and she'd take off. If she fell, she went down like a redwood and couldn't get walking again until she was stood up. I had always heard that boys were quicker with motor skills - and now with Josh and I already see the difference.

About a week ago Josh was on the floor in Lucy's room waiting for me to make him a bottle. His was quite irritated with having to wait so he was making quite a ruckus. When I went back he had rolled over. He's already a little squirmy dude when changing his diaper - craning his little neck to see what is behind him. Now when you put him on the floor he rocks back-and-forth until he is on his tummy. And now he can roll from his tummy to his back. Josh is a big guy, he is no waif - at four months I think he is around seventeen or eighteen pounds. When he rolls he has to work up some momentum and then he throws his chunky little leg over to serve as the anchor for his new position. Then he rolls. This is only the beginning.

With Lucy never really crawling or being an adventurous climber (until recently) I had it easy. I had friends that had little boys who climbed on everything and were opening drawers by the time they were nine months old. I'm not waving tiny little things in front of Josh like a total lunatic. I read the book to see what the developmental milestones are, but I don't hang on every page like I did with Lucy. He hangs out with us, smiles and talks and now is figuring out how fast he can get moving. He laughs his little head off at this goofy flower rattle that has a big smiley face. It cracks him up, he thinks it is hysterical. It will be interesting to see how his skills develop. I have a feeling that he's going to give me a run for my money!