13/14 weeks old Baby is now tracking and picking things up

Another developmental milestone, our baby is using her hands with purpose. I'm selflessly going to buy her something to help develop her hand eye coordination.

picture of baby grabbing nose

Although I like kids, I've never been a 'baby' kind of guy. They just don't do much, I think they're more fun at an age where you can interact with them. Eye contact and smiling came first, followed by giggling which still cracks me up.

Like most babies, ours would grasp a finger right from birth. At about 2 months old I watched in amazement as she picked up a rattle. Over the following few days she picked it up again a few times, but it just didn't seem intentional, and she didn't seem interested in whatever she may have accidentally picked up.

She has been supporting her bottle with her hands most of her life, but other than that she has been a passive observer of life in our household.

Over the past week she has finally discovered that she has hands and they can do stuff. She will pick things up intentionally and try to put them in her mouth. She is very taken with my nose and eyeball, although most of the time she has to make do with cuddly toys and her mobiles. She also lifts up her bib and jumpers if she doesn't have anything else to play with.

I've been waiting for this for some time now. I could appreciate that walking on two legs, and talking would take a while to master. I'd just assumed that babies could use their hands and pick things up pretty early on.

Every week I'd be handing her my bunch of keys, and passing her toys expecting her to reach out and take them from me. Every week I'd be frustrated, so when she picked up her rattle on her own I was in shock. I expected that to be the sea change, but it took another month before she was really reaching out and picking things up.

I've learned my lesson now, and realise it will probably be a while yet before we are playing paper, scissors, stone. Perhaps longer still until she becomes a worthy adversary for me as reigning house Mario Kart Champion.

Not one to be discouraged, I'll be buying a Nintendo Wii for her this Christmas just in case. This will be especially useful with the new motion sensing controller, perfect for development of hand eye coordination. When I told Clare, she suggested the Nintendo was for me, and I was using Amélie as an excuse. Can you believe the cynicism?