The Little Hands of My Little Special

When Andrew discovered he had hands his eyes grew really big, sparkled and glazed over in amazement at these wonderous things that were part of his body. He was about 4 months old or so. Gosh he must have thought they were just awesome. He’d stare at them and then move his arm around while watching his hands. In fact, he very quickly learned he had two of them even and, how neat is this, they could  touch each other and the fingers would interlock. Now granted, it may not have learned the terms for these appendiges on his little body but he loved reaching out with those little hands of his and touching things.

 He grabbed my shirt tighter, in an almost iron grip, when I picked him up. His grip was so tight in fact, that I had to pry to finger under his and force it off of me. This was usually met with those beautiful, big blue eyes staring at me with such cuteness as though saying, “But mommy, no. I don’t want to let go of you.” It was just dear to me.

He also liked to fold his fingers across his little belly or chest, depending on his mood, and sit back and watch everything. He looked so serious sometimes. Intent on trying to figure out the world around him and make sure he didn’t miss a thing. Sometimes he even just touch the tips together. Then we would really chuckle at how “grown up” he looked in his little tiny body. It was great!

Then he found out he could reach out and grab things in those hands and the wide eyedness just started all over again. It was hilarious. At that point he would grab at the hanging animals on his bouncy seat and would stare at Pooh and Piglet on his swing and touch them. I think he thought that he almost had it all if only he could walk and run with his brothers.

Now, during most meals, when I was home or with my family, I would seat Andrew on my lap. He would be perched on my left leg either facing me or away depending on his age and his mood. I never wanted him to feel left out. Especially after the stage when he was awake at suppertime and would nap either right before or right after. So this was a ritual for me. I’d grab my little sweetie, kiss his forehead and rest him close to me and sit down. And I would eat one handed. No big deal.

Well, one day, we were eating spaghetti for dinner as a family. Andrew was in his usual spot at my side and was looking all around as usual, so curious about what was going on. And suddenly I heard a loud plop and felt spagetthi sauce hit my hand, chin, cheek and shirt all at once. I jumped a bit since it startled me and looked down. There was Andrew’s arm on my plate. “Well,” I said as I looked down met by his big, inquisitive eyes. I smiled at him, chuckled to myself and reached for a towel. “Aren’t you just wanting to grab everything.” I could sense he was smiling a bit thinking that was kind of neat. I cleaned off his little hand and arm and gently told him that he wasn’t to grab at my food. Then I moved my left leg out and got him as far away from my plate as was possible. “I guess the fun’s already started. I’ll just have to make sure you’re farther from my food until it’s time for you to get some.”

We had been feeding him little tastes of soft, runny foods like mashed potatoes, pudding, vegetables, etc. He wasn’t really liking  any of it. But he was staring down that road.

“He’s hungry,” commented my husband. Then he looked at Andrew, who was now looking at daddy awaiting his response to the situation. “I bet you thought that was pretty neat huh.” He grinned. Such a pill.

We both chuckled, as did our other boys and the meal continued on without any further incidence. He never did do that again.

Touch was huge to him. He and I snuggled a lot. He loved it and so did I. He liked the closeness and then when he discovered those hand things, holding my finger and touching and being touched were even bigger to him. And I loved obliging his need for affection. If you would have stopped by our home, you would have seen him in my arms when you came to the door or quickly thereafter, in my arms. He was my little special.