sitting, tummy, swimming and speech

I'm working really hard with Rhys and his sitting. He gets h.o.r.r.i.b.l.y upset when I make him sit. He isn't angry, his feelings are hurt, and I can not understand why. He is uncertain and sometimes unsteady so I think he's feeling a little out of sorts when he's not surrounded by a barrier (i.e. us, the couch, chair, etc.). He is in the beginning stages and can mostly only prop sit, but the catch is that he doesn't want to use his arms to prop himself. Hands are for grabbing things, not bracing yourself! He has enough muscle control to keep himself upright if he is still, but let's face it, that rarely happens as Rhys is an inquisitive little dude and has to touch everything multiple times to check out all the angles. Another issue is that he has always relaxed against us when we hold him and he's always been caught when he falls. So now he thinks it's a great game when he throws himself back and we catch him. We've been trying to break him of that for a while now and haven't been fully successful yet. I have always thought if/when Rhys could sit more of his development would fall into place. Certainly his standing will not happen until then since you need to be able to control your torso in order to balance on your feet. If he can sit upright he can have greater access to his toys and range of movement of his arms. If, if, if, if.....

While playing with Rhys on the floor today he did something he's never done. He rolled all the way over onto his stomach to play with a toy. All by himself. Holy moly! Talk about a shocker.

We've tried many times to get him to play on his stomach but he immediately rolls onto his back. For him to intentionally roll onto his stomach (out of the blue!) to play with a toy is very exciting for us. Maybe, just maybe he will start doing this more frequently, which will lead to his legs working a little more so that he finally realizes he has the capability to (gasp!) army crawl. He definitely has the motor skills required to do that at this point, but he needs to put a few more things together first.

I have no idea if this is a coincidence, but Rhys has made these two good strides since he started swim lessons. It is hard for me to say he is getting that much benefit from swim so quickly, because even though we participate in all the activities he is mostly still an "observer" at this point and doesn't join in with the kicking, blowing bubbles, etc. I hate being wrong, but I'd love to be wrong about this.

The speech pathologist started his sessions two weeks ago. Only to leave for India this week for vacation. He showed me the exercises he wants us to do and anticipates we should at least see some changes in eating by the time he returns from his vacation in s.i.x. weeks. He offhandedly mentioned Rhys should be sucking from a straw by then, but I'm not going to hold my breath. I'd love it above all else if he was, but I'd settle for him gagging/choking less. All this progress at once is nearly too much for my little brain to process.