Those Hands

Because my pregnancy with Harper was considered "high risk," I had a LOT of ultrasounds.  During many of these ultrasounds, the tech would often have to jostle Harper around to get  shot of her face because she always had her hands up in front of her--as if she were shielding herself from the paparazzi.

Harper loves keeping her hands close to her face

After breaking free from her hospital swaddle!

Well, ever since she was born, that baby girl hasn't been able to get enough of those hands.  In fact, she is quite the little escape artist!  In the hospital, Harper's nurses had their swaddling technique down to a science, and they could expertly wrap up a baby into a neat little burrito in no time at all.  Many babies will stay wrapped up too, likening the cozy confines of the swaddle to being in utero--but not Harper.  Even while she was asleep, she would fight the swaddle, wriggling every which way in an effort to free her hands and stretch out her long arms.  Dallin and I would always laugh because her arm span basically covered the width of her little NICU crib.

Our little escape artist

Reaching out for Mom's hand

Since she has been home, we routinely swaddle Harper in an attempt to help her get a good, sound sleep; when her arms are free, she often startles and wakes herself up.  Still, we can hear her grunting during the night, and we will wake up to discover that Harper has escaped the confines of her swaddling blanket.  Perhaps her most creative effort was when--not being able to get out of her swaddle--she instead removed one of her arms from the arm of her pajamas and got it out through her collar instead.  She fell back asleep soon after, but you can imagine my surprise when I got up for a middle-of-the-night feeding to discover my silly baby girl with her bare arm poking out of the collar of her pajamas.

Big stretch!
(This picture helped me realize that Harper had outgrown these pajamas!)

These days, Harper has discovered a new use for her hands as a replacement for her pacifier, and she has taken to putting one or both hands in her little mouth.  With this kind of resourcefulness and dexterity, perhaps she'll grow up to be a star basketball player like her daddy.

Maybe someday these hands will shoot baskets, paint, or play the piano...