E has two hands!

Never fear, this is not a realization I am only coming to now. However, it was a realization that only she came to a couple of weeks ago. And it is becoming increasingly entertaining.

She became obsessed with her right hand about a month ago. And that was a good developmental step, but one day, she focused in on the fact that she did in fact have TWO of them. She studies them very closely. Makes little fists, puts them out flat, puts them in front of her face, and otherwise admires them regularly. A large part of the time she needs to study both of them simultaneously, as though she's not entirely sure that they are independent. But she does in fact have two hands. And once she found both hands, for some reason it was only then that she realized these two hands were good for other things as well. She is now holding on to rattles and waving them around in the air and otherwise playing with little objects that previously did not hold her attention at all. And shortly after she got to THAT point she discovered something even more fascinating... she can put these things in her MOUTH. She chows down on her hands regularly now. You'd think we never feed her. When she decides to suck on them, you can hear this GIANT (and really I do mean GIANT) sucking sound from just about anywhere in the house. And although we still swaddle her up snug as a bug in a rug before bed, now, on rare occasions, I can hear the GIANT sucking sound over the baby monitor. It's a good thing. I thought I didn't want a child who would suck on their finger or thumb. But I've lost enough weight running up and down the stairs putting the pacifier back in, so if she decided to suck on a finger or two... maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing.

So E has two hands. And I decided to really blow her mind by bringing her little tiny feet up into view while I was changing her diaper the other day. And her eyes got HUGE, and she just stared at them. Wiggled her little toes a little and cocked her head to the side. I could only imagine the inner dialogue: "Well look at that, I got two more hands, but those ones are weird shaped, I must be deformed, and what are they doing way down there, and what good are they down there?" I suppose someday the mystery of feet will be exposed to her further. But in the meantime, I figure the occasional peak while she gets her diaper changed is enough to keep her little tiny life interesting.

So I hope everyone appreciates their hands, and remembers that they have feet too. And that once upon a time the introduction of these 4 appendages was the most fascinating thing in the world. And come on! Who dropped the pacifier???