Araminter has hands. I know, it’s not a startling revelation, unless you thought she had been born without arms and I had just not bother to mention it in the hope no one would notice. The reason I point it out now, is that last week she kind of didn’t have. You see at some point babies learn that the flappy things in their peripheral vision are actually part of them, and they can control them, and use them.
Last week we were in a department store, which of course had a childrens’ section, and Araminter had a few bits and pieces pushed in front of her to elicit the impression of an opinion. Apart from learning that she only likes things made by Silver Cross (she already has taste, expensive taste) she also liked Miffy. So a very lightweight, very soft rattle, with the disembodied head of a leporid, was added to her already extensive portfolio of infant objet d’art.
The only slight problem being that she couldn’t actually play with the rattle, we had to rattle it for her, and while having someone else do even the most menial tasks for you sounds like the ideal of luxury to us adults, it was clearly frustrating to her.
On Friday if the rattle was pushed in to her hand, she would grip it for an instant then it would slip and drop beside her. We did a lot of this all evening; grip, drop, grip, drop. Sometimes she laughed, or smiled and made her happy noise, sometimes she frowned. The very next morning while we lounged in bed with her between us, the rattle was again passed to her, and she gripped it and held it, and didn’t drop it for over a minute. Incredibly she appeared to have learnt that literally overnight. Now before I get all carried away with whether she should become and astronaut or a Nobel laureate, it’s probable she was tired the night before, and not tired an hour after a full nights sleep.
By Sunday she was in her element, gripping things, pushing them in her mouth and although not picking anything up, she was hitting them, in an attempt to obtain them.
Of course this new found skill will bring problems, as well as benefits. Things being pushed in to her mouth when they really shouldn’t be, a vice like grip on clothes when we’re trying to put her down and hair pulling when she’s having a cuddle. Still, minor inconveniences; I’m sure when she crashes my car it’ll be much more inconvenient.
My little girl is growing, and starting to interact with the world, to understand that there is a universe out there and she can be part of it and shape it and make it do what she wants’ it to do. How long do I have to wait until I can explain how the second law of thermodynamics creates time itself?
