Two more cute pictures

[dreamshark]

Now that she's 2 months old, Lena is starting to work towards reaching and grasping. Newborns have a grasping reflex, but can't control their hands voluntarily. Most of the time their little hands are in loose fists, and they usually move both arms in unison (usually out and back in, or up over the head and then back to the chest). At 2 months they develop the ability to open and flex their hands and move each hand independently. It's the first step towards the classic baby objective of grabbing everything they see and sticking it in their mouths. Not so coincidentally, at the same time they suddenly become much more interested in toys, especially ones that are within grasping distance. Lena hasn't gotten very far with the hand control, but is now quite fascinated by this line of baby toys suspended across her car seat. These pictures are so cute: you should really click through to see them full size. In the first one you can see that she is very focused on the toys and is batting at them with an open hand. In the second one she seems to be saying, "Thanks for the new toys, Mom and Dad."

Comments

[mle292.livejournal.com]

I read somewhere that humans are born on the premature side of the curve for mammals. They can't walk or even muster up the mobility to feed themselves to any degree. The assertion was that this was the cost of our strong spinal cords that give us eventual upright posture, and most importantly - our enormous brains.

She is making great use of her evolutionary benefits. :)

[pameladean]

She is so expressive! That second picture is crazily cute.

P.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

I love that picture too. I think she is an unusually expressive infant, but it may just be that I gravitate towards pictures with a lot of expression.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

That 2nd look says to me, 'Hey, you gotta check this out guys!'

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

I like that caption. Either way, I'm sure the infant thought sequence is much simpler. Arousal and pleasure at the colorful toys combined with an impulse to connect with the nearby faces and somehow share the feelings. The really big step forward may be the ability to process both things at once.

A few days ago we Skyped with Amber and Lena. Amber wanted Lena to smile at us, but the only thing she was interested in doing was getting Mommy to hold her upright so she could practice standing and stepping. She pursued her baby jogging agenda single-mindedly for about 20 minutes (completely ignoring the Skype session) until she was worn out. Whereupon she yawned once, collapsed to the floor, and fell instantly asleep. I find her focus and determination adorable, but it will be even better when she can interact with her loved ones while she's doing things.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

That makes sense. When you think about what's involved in mastering complex motor skills, it must take too much focus to expect her to socialize at the same time.