Over the past few days I’ve been watching Alex figure out how to master the use of his hands. This has been something he has been exploring since around the middle of September. It started in the parking lot of a mall, while we were waiting for a rainstorm to pass over us. Aaron and I watched as Alex stared at a toy, and then slowly made his hands reach out for it. Since then, he’s been grabbing at things, sometimes successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully.
Then just a few days ago while on his playmat, he simply grabbed at the hanging toys repeatedly, determined to master the skill. With each grab he became more successful, until finally he was grabbing the toy nine times out of ten. And I continued to watch him over the course of the days as this action became more of an automated response than a conscious effort on his part. Today, he simply goes to grab things without having to think about it. His hands grasp and ungrasp without the tiny wheels in his brain consciously goading him to perform the task. It is such a difference in the way he functions, and it happened in a blink of an eye. One day, things on the table were relatively safe from his probing hands. The next, we’re having to move things out of his reach.
I am continually amazed day after day at how we learned to master these skills we take for granted on a day to day basis in our adult lives. Who would have thought that the process of grabbing an object could take so much thought and concentration? And alternately, who would have thought that the process of grabbing an object could become so easy that our minds no longer consciously have to work at it?
