Increasingly-Mobile Matilda

So I am sitting here, drinking my coffee and catching up on the ridiculous amount of blogs I subscribe to (more on that later) while M. plays with Elephant and Donkey. I've gotten pretty good at translating her screeches, which usually fall into two categories when she is playing E&D: "Mama, I need you!" or "Dammit, Elephant! When I say rattle, you rattle, bitch!" Well, just a moment ago, I heard a different kind of screech--kind of a "grunt, grunt, screech, ungh, screech, grunt." So I investigated and found that this new screech is translated as, "Holy crap! I'm on my stomach! How did that happen?" Yes, it's official. M. has rolled from her stomach to her back (Christmas Eve) and now from her back to her stomach. This scares me. When my sister was a baby, her first efforts at mobility involved rolling around the house--stomach, back, stomach, back--until she got where she wanted to go (which was usually my room to get into my stuff). I am suddenly struck with visions of M. rolling about the house, invading areas that were previously unattainable (and now it's all my room and all my stuff). Now I actually have to worry about her! She could roll right out of her gym and out the door and down the street and next thing I know I'm getting a call from the Quickie Mart asking me please to come pick up my baby they found her trying to reach the tequila.

Okay, maybe that won't happen. But mobility is a scary thing. Kids are a lot easier to manage when they stay where you put them. No more laying M. on the couch to nap or lying her on the booth seat at restaurants. I'll actually have to treat her like a child instead of a sack of potatoes (albeit very fragile, precious potatoes). You may think that all of this is a bit premature--after all, she only just rolled over for the first time 10 minutes ago--but if there's one thing I know about M. it's that she is a quick study. When she does something once, she's pretty much nailed it and immediately files it into her repertoire of "Things I Can Do." I expect there will be much rolling very soon. I need a playpen, and an exersaucer, and a leash...