Cause and Effect

Today the Frog made a bit of a breakthrough.  I think he's realised that he can have some impact on the world around him (besides driving his parents to distraction).   There's a little panel in his jungle-gym which plays a few seconds of silly sounds when it's walloped in the right way.  We've hit it a few times to get his attention, but up till now he's been fairly uninterested in taking it any further.    Today, however, I stuck him in while I folded laundry, and suddenly, I heard the sound-board go, and go again, and again!  And the whole thing was accompanied by energetic kicking and twisting and loud squealing, as the Frog worked out that HE could make the sound play!

I've decided to call the Frog's mouth his laboratory, because everything has to go in there for detailed analysis.  He seems to come to one of two conclusions: edible, or not edible - though sometimes an item requires repeated trials in order for him to reach that result (my knuckles, his hands, his toy cat's ear, and so on).

I've finally reconciled myself to his hair loss - his lovely mop is almost all gone, except for a stripe right on top, which is long and sticks straight up, making him look somewhat like a demented cockatoo.  The similarity is helped along by some of the screeching noises he sees fit to produce.

In terms of rolling, he's never really reproduced his tummy-to-back rolls, except in the purely accidental sense, but he *does* appear to be getting the gist of rolling on to his side from his back.  It happens more when his legs are weighted with something, like his bath towel or sleeping sack - he kicks his legs into the air, then the weight of the material tilts him to one side or another.  I have seem him do the roll unassisted, but he has to be pretty motivated to make the effort.  The sound board in his jungle gym seems to be one thing that gets him onto his side!
He's also recently just started enjoying sitting up.  He can't manage it on his own, but he likes to be pulled up to sit by his arms.  I remember when I started doing this a couple of weeks ago, his arms would be dead straight and kind of limp when I pulled him up - I felt like they were going to pop off his shoulders, and I'd be left holding these two little noodles while his torso spurted in grotesque Monty Python Black Knight fashion.  Fortunately they seemed pretty firmly anchored, and now when I pull him to sit, he can actually bend his arms and help pull his torso upright.  Not long till we can stick him in a high chair - woo!


Finally, the last few days have seen me getting a little less sleep - I'm not sure why, because the Frog is still being very good at kipping during the night, but I think I haven't had my afternoon/evening naps.  It's not a big deal, and I only mention it as I found myself filling the coffee plunger with heaped teaspoons of formula this morning.  I caught myself before I poured the water in, but it would have made an interesting start to the morning.