Pete and I are fully aware that Hannah won’t hit developmental milestones at the same time as her typical peers, and that when she does, the moments might be sweeter than they would for typical parents. I must be the world’s biggest sap because even the smallest signs of progress cue the waterworks.

Over the last few weeks Hannah has developed a huge desire to grab all.the.things. More specifically, grab them with both hands. This is a big step for her because she had a tendency to only use one hand at a time, and usually favored her left. My dad, Jeep to Hannah, also noticed a difference in motor skills between the two hands. If she was under an activity gym, the left hand would smash the toys and the right hand would try to grab them. (Our Birth to Three teacher, Maureen, said it’s common for motor skills to develop differently.)

I started to notice the grabbing when Hannah was in a seated position. As I’ve learned, this is because babies will feel more comfortable using their arms if their heads and torsos are secure. Anyway, in the car seat she’ll grab the blanket before I can even place it on her lap, or she reaches up to grab the plush fish dangling from the handle. When she’s in her rock n’ play, she goes absolutely nuts when she sees her cloth book Fuzzy Bee and Friends, crinkles the pages, whips the book around, munches on it. With both hands.

So far the best demonstration of her grabbing skills was in the bath the other night. What you don’t see in the video  is an extremely proud momma with tears in her eyes. A momma that loves to see the pure joy in her daughter’s eyes for a cup. A momma smiling so hard because her little one wants to grab something while holding on to another item. A momma that clearly needs to bring a box of tissues everywhere she goes.

Click here for video in case you missed the link above.