A Civil Little Savage

I don't write about the baby very often. She's too new, and there are still some raw places that don't like to be poked at surrounding her appearance. Also, I'm not very good at funny or touching, and blogs about babies should definitely be one or the other.

But oh well.

My nearly-10-month-old girlchild has taken to raising her hand to get my attention.

This started about two weeks ago. The first time she did it, I thought it was a fluke. The second, third, and fourth times, I was suspicious, but not overly awed. Now it's been two solid weeks, and I am trying to wrap my head around this development in her development.

I always thought that raising one's hand for attention was a learned behavior. We go to school, we have some self-righteous control-freak teacher, and she makes us raise our hands before she acknowledges our presence in any way. In this fashion, we learn that before being heard, we must be recognized, and before recognition comes the madly waving hand that is as often as not completely ignored anyway.

(It's actually a wonder we come to associate hand-raising with being called on, since the results are so sporadic, but we're smart beings. I guess.)

Anyway. My nearly-10-month-old girlchild has never been in school. She's never been in daycare. She's never had to compete for attention with any other babies. Or children, for that matter. I cannot come up with one place that she would have learned to stick her hand in the air and wave it around to get attention.

And yet she does.

Don't get me wrong, this is definitely an advancement in communication between us. Previously when she wanted something, she'd scream at the top of her lungs. Now, she gives me a solid 30 to 45 seconds of hand-in-the-air before she starts screaming.

This has made mealtime much more pleasant.

She gets her toast point.

She rips it apart and gums it to death like the most adorable little savage that's ever lived.

Then she politely sticks her hand in the air and waits for me to notice and give her the next piece.

Conversation can carry on around this ritual. There is no yelling or crying or screaming or other loud noise involved.

Who would have thought this behavior was not learned? But I guess it's not.

However, as appreciated as the decreased volume of my life is to my poor head, I can't help but be a little concerned. Is my darling girl going to be a pushover? Is she going to be a queuer, a stand-and-wait mouse, someone who never gets what she needs because she's always too polite and considerate and patient to throw a temper tantrum when it's warranted? Not-quite-10-months seems a little early for this kind of civility.

Then I fail to notice her chubby little hand within the proscribed window of opportunity, and she howls like a banshee. And all my fears are laid to rest.