Two Posts In Two Days! or, Diaries From a Boring Kitchen Table:

e-baby has found her hands. I had read that this happens around 3 months, and in true e-baby fashion, at 3-months-and-1-day we caught her staring intently at her right hand, turning it over and over, wiggling the fingers (1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4), then sucking on it, then looking at it again. It was the most interesting thing she'd seen since lunch. The next day she found her left hand. Now, flailing her arms about, she stops mid-swing to look at her hands, turning them over and over.

She already knew how to grasp things in her vicinity, like pushing her pacifier back into her mouth if it was slipping (more of a forearm-push than a grasp, really). With the discovery of hands, however, she is learning to grab objects held in front of her. This feels like a milestone, the beginning of Big Things. However, it seems that grasping comes much earlier than letting go:

*On her swing, there's a setting where she can grasp the fish hanging on the sides to make the music start and stop. She's been able to control this feature for a few weeks. However, after a few minutes of playing, she'll start fussing and then crying and tugging, tugging, tugging the fish, changing the music each time. It is quite evident that she does not know how to let it go.

*SNG gave her a tiny red teddy bear, and she bopped herself in the nose, chin, forehead with it before crying and shaking it about like a sticky piece of trash, all the while clutching it tightly in her tiny fist. She was undoubtedly aiming for her mouth, missed, and wanted it to Go Away.

Our lesson for the day is this: If a baby grabs your hair and won't let go, remember that it is probably as distressed about the situation as you are. Addendum: Don't take your baby mackerel fishing or you will pay hefty fines for keeping illegal-size fish. Most states won't even give a fishing license to a 3-month-old for this very reason. Babies just don't understand catch-and-release.

Oh, yeah- this post is going to reel in some interesting Google searches.