3V0215.01 Rolling Over: pulling object on a cloth (8/25/78)

Peggy has been working on rolling over back to front. Whereas earlier I would put her on her stomach and find her on her back, now it is the other way round. She seems to show a preference for being her belly (perhaps because of the greater mobility). The first few times she rolled over was in her crib, while I was doing other things (such as filling her bath or rinsing diapers), and I could only observe the fait accompli. It was never clear whether or not she pushed against the crib bumpers to achieve this. Perhaps a week ago she and I were on our bed playing, and I placed a toy at her shoulder level out to the side. As she reached over for it, she naturally began to roll over. Her hips came over, very deliberately and slowly (with obvious control) she performed the last twist that brought her firmly on her belly. (So far, she has always gone in one direction, to her left). I noticed yesterday that now as she rolls over, the upper part of her body is supported on her elbow, so that she can pivot rather than being flat on the surface and hindered by that lower arm’s being trapped. Her mobility now is such that it is dangerous to leave her unattended ever. For quite a while she has had rotational mobility (on her belly); she has also had a limited linear movement obtained by being on her back, drawing up her legs, arching her back, and pushing herself along. On Sunday (8/20/78) we wished to videotape an action we both had separately observed – Peggy pulling on a surface covering (such as a sheet) in order to obtain an object thereon that was out of reach. I saw her do this the previous day, Saturday; to et a toy on the bed she pulled at the sheet). Instead, Peggy preferred to crawl towards the object, pulling herself along with her arms. Today I observed her pushing herself along with alternative foot/leg motions coordinated with the pulling of the arms. Her crawling still seems new and inefficient, but she still can cover an amazing amount of territory.

Peggy has just been introduced to a cup. She seems eager to grab it and “drink” from it, but she also wants to play and wave it around, and she is just as likely to “drink” from the top rim as the bottom.

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