Hands

When Laurel was born, she had mummy hands: scrawny, shriveled, and flaking. Now she has five-month-old baby hands: plump, dimpled, and wet.

Even from birth her fingers were long and tapered, with narrow fingernails. Yesterday someone complimented her graceful hands, which is pretty funny considering she hasn't quite mastered their use. As she waves them around, however, she does strike graceful poses, some of which remind me of the ritual hand gestures used in Hinduism and Buddhism.

Laurel discovered her hands not that long ago (and she still hasn't discovered her feet!), recently enough that she still spends time earnestly studying them (see the second photo accompanying this post). Even before she knew what they were, though, she was sticking them in her mouth. Unlike her brother, she is definitely a thumb-sucker. Or her first two fingers. Or whatever part of her hand is, well, handy!

When it comes to grasping things with her hands, however, Laurel has been late to develop. Believe it or not, I'm not a big worrier when it comes to my kids hitting their milestones, especially physical development. As long as they smile and laugh, I figure they'll crawl and walk eventually. But I had begun to wonder about this milestone. Three months came, and she didn't reach out her hands to bat at hanging toys. Four months came, and she still didn't. (She was good at kicking them, though.)

She was at least a month behind schedule for most of the grasping milestones: she didn't bat at things; she didn't reach out for things; she didn't gather things in using both hands; and when items were actually placed in her hand, she didn't show interest in holding them.

When she finally did begin to reach out one-handed (completely skipping the two-handed technique, by the way), she often missed the item completely, falling far short and grasping instead her own opposite hand! This happened often enough that I wondered if her vision was impaired, or if she had problems with depth perception.

This changed suddenly over the last week. Right about the time she turned five months old, she reached out for a small stuffed bear hanging from the top of her bouncy seat. There was no fumbling or uncertainty -- she reached out and smacked it with great precision. And then she did it again. And again. She also gave a great smile, clearly pleased with herself.

A few days later she developed the ability to hold something in her hand. I bought her a wooden teething toy which she can hold (and gnaw) for long periods of time. When she drops it she often loses track of it, but I've seen her pick it up a few times. She can even pass it from hand to hand, a milestone I hadn't yet begun to consider.

So she's doing all right. Even if she hasn't rolled over yet!