diff --git a/routes/_actions/streaming.js b/routes/_actions/streaming.js
index 5fc7b2e..ba86917 100644
--- a/routes/_actions/streaming.js
+++ b/routes/_actions/streaming.js
@@ -16,17 +16,13 @@ async function removeDuplicates (instanceName, timelineName, updates) {
 }
 
 async function handleFreshChanges (instanceName, timelineName) {
-  console.log('handleFreshChanges')
   let freshChanges = store.getForTimeline(instanceName, timelineName, 'freshChanges')
-  console.log('freshChanges', freshChanges)
   if (freshChanges.updates && freshChanges.updates.length) {
     let updates = freshChanges.updates.slice()
     freshChanges.updates = []
     store.setForTimeline(instanceName, timelineName, {freshChanges: freshChanges})
 
-    console.log('before removing duplicates, updates are ', updates.length)
     updates = await removeDuplicates(instanceName, timelineName, updates)
-    console.log('after removing duplicates, updates are ', updates.length)
 
     await database.insertTimelineItems(instanceName, timelineName, updates)
 
@@ -39,7 +35,6 @@ async function handleFreshChanges (instanceName, timelineName) {
 }
 
 function handleStreamMessage (instanceName, timelineName, message) {
-  console.log('handleStreamMessage')
   let { event, payload } = message
   let key = event === 'update' ? 'updates' : 'deletes'
   let freshChanges = store.getForTimeline(instanceName, timelineName, 'freshChanges') || {}
@@ -54,7 +49,6 @@ function handleStreamMessage (instanceName, timelineName, message) {
 export function createStream (streamingApi, instanceName, accessToken, timelineName) {
   return new TimelineStream(streamingApi, accessToken, timelineName, {
     onMessage (msg) {
-      console.log('message', msg)
       if (msg.event !== 'update' && msg.event !== 'delete') {
         console.error("don't know how to handle event", msg)
         return
@@ -73,4 +67,4 @@ export function createStream (streamingApi, instanceName, accessToken, timelineN
       console.log('reconnected stream for timeline', timelineName)
     }
   })
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/routes/_actions/timeline.js b/routes/_actions/timeline.js
index a17596f..e5a0762 100644
--- a/routes/_actions/timeline.js
+++ b/routes/_actions/timeline.js
@@ -81,3 +81,15 @@ export async function fetchTimelineItemsOnScrollToBottom () {
   await fetchTimelineItemsAndPossiblyFallBack()
   store.setForTimeline(instanceName, timelineName, { runningUpdate: false })
 }
+
+export async function showMoreItemsForCurrentTimeline() {
+  let instanceName = store.get('currentInstance')
+  let timelineName = store.get('currentTimeline')
+  let itemIdsToAdd = store.get('itemIdsToAdd')
+  addTimelineItemIds(instanceName, timelineName, itemIdsToAdd)
+  store.setForTimeline(instanceName, timelineName, {
+    itemIdsToAdd: [],
+    shouldShowHeader: false,
+    showHeader: false
+  })
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/routes/_components/timeline/MoreHeader.html b/routes/_components/timeline/MoreHeader.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..849db49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/routes/_components/timeline/MoreHeader.html
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+<div class="more-items-header" role="dialog">
+  <button class="primary" type="button" on:click="onClick(event)">
+    Click to show {{count}} more
+  </button>
+</div>
+<style>
+  .more-items-header {
+    display: flex;
+    padding: 5px;
+    align-items: center;
+    justify-content:center;
+  }
+</style>
+<script>
+  export default {
+    methods: {
+      onClick(event) {
+        let onClick = this.get('onClick')
+        if (onClick) {
+          onClick(event)
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+</script>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/routes/_components/timeline/MoreHeaderVirtualWrapper.html b/routes/_components/timeline/MoreHeaderVirtualWrapper.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9043c44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/routes/_components/timeline/MoreHeaderVirtualWrapper.html
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+<MoreHeader count="{{virtualProps.count}}"
+            onClick="{{virtualProps.onClick}}"
+/>
+<script>
+  import MoreHeader from './MoreHeader.html'
+  export default {
+    components: {
+      MoreHeader
+    }
+  }
+</script>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/routes/_components/timeline/Timeline.html b/routes/_components/timeline/Timeline.html
index b4d7281..db478be 100644
--- a/routes/_components/timeline/Timeline.html
+++ b/routes/_components/timeline/Timeline.html
@@ -12,9 +12,13 @@
                  :makeProps
                  items="{{$timelineItemIds}}"
                  on:scrollToBottom="onScrollToBottom()"
+                 on:scrollToTop="onScrollToTop()"
                  shown="{{$initialized}}"
                  footerComponent="{{LoadingFooter}}"
                  showFooter="{{$initialized && $runningUpdate}}"
+                 showHeader="{{$showHeader}}"
+                 headerComponent="{{MoreHeaderVirtualWrapper}}"
+                 :headerProps
                  realm="{{$currentInstance + '/' + timeline}}"
                  on:initializedVisibleItems="initialize()"
   />
@@ -23,8 +27,12 @@
                  :makeProps
                  items="{{$timelineItemIds}}"
                  on:scrollToBottom="onScrollToBottom()"
+                 on:scrollToTop="onScrollToTop()"
                  shown="{{$initialized}}"
                  footerComponent="{{LoadingFooter}}"
+                 showHeader="{{$showHeader}}"
+                 headerComponent="{{MoreHeaderVirtualWrapper}}"
+                 :headerProps
                  showFooter="{{$initialized && $runningUpdate}}"
                  realm="{{$currentInstance + '/' + timeline}}"
                  on:initializedVisibleItems="initialize()"
@@ -55,13 +63,16 @@
   import Status from '../status/Status.html'
   import PseudoVirtualList from '../pseudoVirtualList/PseudoVirtualList.html'
   import LoadingFooter from './LoadingFooter.html'
+  import MoreHeaderVirtualWrapper from './MoreHeaderVirtualWrapper.html'
   import VirtualList from '../virtualList/VirtualList.html'
   import { timelines } from '../../_static/timelines'
   import { database } from '../../_database/database'
   import { initializeTimeline, fetchTimelineItemsOnScrollToBottom, setupTimeline } from '../../_actions/timeline'
   import LoadingPage from '../LoadingPage.html'
   import { focusWithCapture, blurWithCapture } from '../../_utils/events'
-  import { addTimelineItemIds } from '../../_actions/timeline'
+  import { showMoreItemsForCurrentTimeline } from '../../_actions/timeline'
+  import { virtualListStore } from '../virtualList/virtualListStore' // TODO: hacky, need better way to expose scrollTop
+  import { scheduleIdleTask } from '../../_utils/scheduleIdleTask'
 
   export default {
     oncreate() {
@@ -71,15 +82,7 @@
       if (this.store.get('initialized')) {
         this.restoreFocus()
       }
-      let instanceName = this.store.get('currentInstance')
-      let timelineName = this.get('timeline')
-      this.observe('itemIdsToAdd', itemIdsToAdd => {
-        console.log('itemIdsToAdd', itemIdsToAdd)
-        if (itemIdsToAdd && itemIdsToAdd.length) {
-          addTimelineItemIds(instanceName, timelineName, itemIdsToAdd)
-          this.store.setForTimeline(instanceName, timelineName, {itemIdsToAdd: []})
-        }
-      })
+      this.setupStreaming()
     },
     ondestroy() {
       console.log('ondestroy')
@@ -89,6 +92,7 @@
       StatusVirtualListItem,
       NotificationVirtualListItem,
       LoadingFooter,
+      MoreHeaderVirtualWrapper,
       Status
     }),
     computed: {
@@ -139,6 +143,12 @@
           $timelines[$currentInstance] &&
           $timelines[$currentInstance][timeline] &&
           $timelines[$currentInstance][timeline].itemIdsToAdd) || []
+      },
+      headerProps: (itemIdsToAdd) => {
+        return {
+          count: (itemIdsToAdd && itemIdsToAdd.length) || 0,
+          onClick: showMoreItemsForCurrentTimeline
+        }
       }
     },
     store: () => store,
@@ -168,6 +178,41 @@
         }
         fetchTimelineItemsOnScrollToBottom()
       },
+      onScrollToTop() {
+        if (this.store.get('shouldShowHeader')) {
+          this.store.setForCurrentTimeline({
+            showHeader: true,
+            shouldShowHeader: false
+          })
+        }
+      },
+      setupStreaming() {
+        let instanceName = this.store.get('currentInstance')
+        let timelineName = this.get('timeline')
+        let handleItemIdsToAdd = () => {
+          let itemIdsToAdd = this.get('itemIdsToAdd')
+          if (!itemIdsToAdd || !itemIdsToAdd.length) {
+            return
+          }
+          let scrollTop = virtualListStore.get('scrollTop')
+          let shouldShowHeader = this.store.get('shouldShowHeader')
+          let showHeader = this.store.get('showHeader')
+          //console.log('handleItemIdsToAdd', (itemIdsToAdd && itemIdsToAdd.length) || 0)
+          if (scrollTop === 0 && !shouldShowHeader && !showHeader) {
+            // if the user is scrolled to the top and we're not showing the header, then
+            // just insert the statuses. this is "chat room mode"
+            showMoreItemsForCurrentTimeline()
+          } else {
+            // user hasn't scrolled to the top, show a header instead
+            this.store.setForTimeline(instanceName, timelineName, {shouldShowHeader: true})
+          }
+        }
+        this.observe('itemIdsToAdd', itemIdsToAdd => {
+          if (itemIdsToAdd && itemIdsToAdd.length) {
+            scheduleIdleTask(handleItemIdsToAdd)
+          }
+        })
+      },
       setupFocus() {
         this.onPushState = this.onPushState.bind(this)
         this.store.setForCurrentTimeline({ignoreBlurEvents: false})
diff --git a/routes/_components/virtualList/VirtualList.html b/routes/_components/virtualList/VirtualList.html
index 6691456..81b21ee 100644
--- a/routes/_components/virtualList/VirtualList.html
+++ b/routes/_components/virtualList/VirtualList.html
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-<!-- TODO: setting height is hacky, just make this element the scroller -->
 <div class="virtual-list {{shown ? '' : 'hidden'}}" style="height: {{$height}}px;">
+  <VirtualListHeader component="{{headerComponent}}" virtualProps="{{headerProps}}" shown="{{$showHeader}}"/>
   {{#if $visibleItems}}
     {{#each $visibleItems as visibleItem @key}}
       <VirtualListLazyItem :component
@@ -23,25 +23,32 @@
 <script>
   import VirtualListLazyItem from './VirtualListLazyItem'
   import VirtualListFooter from './VirtualListFooter.html'
+  import VirtualListHeader from './VirtualListHeader.html'
   import { virtualListStore } from './virtualListStore'
   import throttle from 'lodash/throttle'
   import { mark, stop } from '../../_utils/marks'
 
   const DISTANCE_FROM_BOTTOM_TO_FIRE = 400
-  const SCROLL_TO_BOTTOM_DELAY = 1000
+  const SCROLL_EVENT_THROTTLE = 1000
 
   export default {
     oncreate () {
       this.observe('showFooter', showFooter => {
         this.store.setForRealm({showFooter: showFooter})
       })
+      this.observe('showHeader', showHeader => {
+        this.store.setForRealm({showHeader: showHeader})
+      })
       this.observe('items', (items) => {
         mark('set items')
         this.store.setForRealm({items: items})
         stop('set items')
         this.fireScrollToBottom = throttle(() => {
           this.fire('scrollToBottom')
-        }, SCROLL_TO_BOTTOM_DELAY)
+        }, SCROLL_EVENT_THROTTLE)
+        this.fireScrollToTop = throttle(() => {
+          this.fire('scrollToTop')
+        }, SCROLL_EVENT_THROTTLE)
       })
 
       this.observe('allVisibleItemsHaveHeight', allVisibleItemsHaveHeight => {
@@ -62,6 +69,12 @@
           this.fireScrollToBottom()
         }
       })
+
+      this.observe('distanceFromTop', (distanceFromTop) => {
+        if (distanceFromTop === 0) {
+          this.fireScrollToTop()
+        }
+      })
     },
     data: () => ({
       component: null
@@ -69,12 +82,14 @@
     store: () => virtualListStore,
     components: {
       VirtualListLazyItem,
-      VirtualListFooter
+      VirtualListFooter,
+      VirtualListHeader
     },
     computed: {
       distanceFromBottom: ($scrollHeight, $scrollTop, $offsetHeight) => {
         return $scrollHeight - $scrollTop - $offsetHeight
       },
+      distanceFromTop: ($scrollTop) => $scrollTop,
       // TODO: bug in svelte store, shouldn't need to do this
       allVisibleItemsHaveHeight: ($allVisibleItemsHaveHeight) => $allVisibleItemsHaveHeight
     }
diff --git a/routes/_components/virtualList/VirtualListHeader.html b/routes/_components/virtualList/VirtualListHeader.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..37ae79e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/routes/_components/virtualList/VirtualListHeader.html
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+<div class="virtual-list-header {{shown ? 'shown' : ''}}"
+     aria-hidden="{{!shown}}"
+     ref:node >
+  <:Component {component} :virtualProps />
+</div>
+<style>
+  .virtual-list-header {
+    position: absolute;
+    top: 0;
+    width: 100%;
+    opacity: 0;
+    pointer-events: none;
+    z-index: 10;
+  }
+  .virtual-list-header.shown {
+    opacity: 1;
+    pointer-events: auto;
+  }
+</style>
+<script>
+  import { virtualListStore } from './virtualListStore'
+  import { AsyncLayout } from '../../_utils/AsyncLayout'
+
+  export default {
+    oncreate() {
+      const asyncLayout = new AsyncLayout(() => '__header__')
+      asyncLayout.observe('__header__', this.refs.node, (rect) => {
+        asyncLayout.disconnect()
+        this.store.setForRealm({headerHeight: rect.height})
+      })
+    },
+    store: () => virtualListStore,
+  }
+</script>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/routes/_components/virtualList/virtualListStore.js b/routes/_components/virtualList/virtualListStore.js
index bba41a6..23bcf3d 100644
--- a/routes/_components/virtualList/virtualListStore.js
+++ b/routes/_components/virtualList/virtualListStore.js
@@ -14,21 +14,23 @@ const virtualListStore = new VirtualListStore()
 virtualListStore.computeForRealm('items', null)
 virtualListStore.computeForRealm('showFooter', false)
 virtualListStore.computeForRealm('footerHeight', 0)
+virtualListStore.computeForRealm('showHeader', false)
+virtualListStore.computeForRealm('headerHeight', 0)
 virtualListStore.computeForRealm('scrollTop', 0)
 virtualListStore.computeForRealm('scrollHeight', 0)
 virtualListStore.computeForRealm('offsetHeight', 0)
 virtualListStore.computeForRealm('itemHeights', {})
 
 virtualListStore.compute('visibleItems',
-    ['items', 'scrollTop', 'itemHeights', 'offsetHeight'],
-    (items, scrollTop, itemHeights, offsetHeight) => {
+    ['items', 'scrollTop', 'itemHeights', 'offsetHeight', 'showHeader', 'headerHeight'],
+    (items, scrollTop, itemHeights, offsetHeight, showHeader, headerHeight) => {
       mark('compute visibleItems')
       if (!items) {
         return null
       }
       let renderBuffer = VIEWPORT_RENDER_FACTOR * offsetHeight
       let visibleItems = []
-      let totalOffset = 0
+      let totalOffset = showHeader ? headerHeight : 0
       let len = items.length
       let i = -1
       while (++i < len) {
@@ -57,12 +59,12 @@ virtualListStore.compute('visibleItems',
     })
 
 virtualListStore.compute('heightWithoutFooter',
-    ['items', 'itemHeights'],
-    (items, itemHeights) => {
+    ['items', 'itemHeights', 'showHeader', 'headerHeight'],
+    (items, itemHeights, showHeader, headerHeight) => {
       if (!items) {
         return 0
       }
-      let sum = 0
+      let sum = showHeader ? headerHeight : 0
       let i = -1
       let len = items.length
       while (++i < len) {
diff --git a/routes/_store/timelineComputations.js b/routes/_store/timelineComputations.js
index 0e7bbe8..0eb37a6 100644
--- a/routes/_store/timelineComputations.js
+++ b/routes/_store/timelineComputations.js
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ export function timelineComputations (store) {
   computeForTimeline(store, 'lastFocusedElementSelector')
   computeForTimeline(store, 'ignoreBlurEvents')
   computeForTimeline(store, 'itemIdsToAdd')
+  computeForTimeline(store, 'showHeader')
+  computeForTimeline(store, 'shouldShowHeader')
 
   store.compute('firstTimelineItemId', ['timelineItemIds'], (timelineItemIds) => timelineItemIds && timelineItemIds.length && timelineItemIds[0])
   store.compute('lastTimelineItemId', ['timelineItemIds'], (timelineItemIds) => timelineItemIds && timelineItemIds.length && timelineItemIds[timelineItemIds.length - 1])