This was my seriously funny rat, Jasper. He chewed a hole in the center of the baby blanket he was laying on and then pushed his head through. He was my little trouble maker. He's also what we call a PEW or Pink Eyed White. If you have a PEW you are very likely to see them swaying back and forth when looking at you or at other things. They do this because their eye sight isn't all that great and swaying makes it easier for them to see thing more clearly.
Darker colored rats may sway back and forth from time to time because rats have notoriously bad eye sight, but rats with pink or red eyes have an even harder time seeing so they will rock back and forth even more.