Thanks a bunch for the edit, HarveyDentMustDie!
I'd prefer for the animation to not be too jaunty since it'll be used in a casually paced platformer. With that said, I went ahead and integrated the head turning into my latest revision. This way, the perspective stays consistent and the sprite looks a lot smoother.
Still working on that idle animation, but I'm having trouble making the arms not look like noodles. Any tips? Here's a rough draft.