The Touching Finger

*touch* 

I caught this pose randomly when I was taking pictures of Nate and Seth in their new birthday outfits (not to be confused with birthday suits btw, which you can safely assume would be their preference). Not a great shot in general, but a pretty good silhouette of the hand-dynamics behind the Touching Finger. I say "pretty good" since the Touching Finger is normally fully extended when approaching a touchable object. This was clearly shot mid-touch.

This isn't an easy hand gesture either. I have fairly flexible fingers and cannot manage to even come close to accomplishing it, but the finer points are thus:

1. Middle finger fully extended (some of you might be good at this part, but I assure you the rest is hard). 
2. Index finger pulled back completely, as though it is in the way. 
3. All other fingers (plus thumb) are in a relaxed state. 

If you can accomplish all of the above with ease, then get touching! It's apparently the way to go.

*touch* *touch* *touch*

I first alluded to the Touching Finger in this post where Nate was giving careful examination to a Cheerio. Things that are new are always greeted with touches. 

And when you're only 12 months old, there's a lot that's new. Like the first time he spent some one-on-one time with this guy:

Poor Teddy got his eye poked and poked and poked. Er... I mean "touched". A lot.

Remember this photo? 

It was an add-on to a post that had nothing to do with anything really, but I liked it enough to want to include it. At the time I said:

I took this picture last week and while it's not the greatest photo ever, there's something about it that I love. It's very Nate and I wanted to post it before it got lost in the shuffle (as things do when you're chasing two rather mobile babies around all day). Much like his brother, he has a way of looking at the camera that just takes my breath away. 

I didn't know then that I would someday be writing a post about the Touching Finger, but I can now admit that one of the things about that photo that I loved was the Touching Finger in action and that's at least part of what I meant when I said, "it's very Nate". The rest really is the way he's looking at the camera. That's very Nate too btw.

You were probably too distracted the first time you saw this photo to even notice the Touching Finger. 

Cute baby + cute costume and a pumpkin too? I almost didn't catch it, but this is probably one of the best shots of the Touching Finger in all its glory. 

And just in case you hadn't already picked up on this... 

It's an ambidextrous touch. The Touching Finger knows no bounds and is very equal opportunity that way (especially when it comes to blueberries).

And lastly, the photo that finally prompted me to write this long-awaited-much-anticipated post: 

While digging through The Vault, I came across a picture I took when Nate was all of 4 days old, Touching Finger on full display even in the throes of much upset.

Honestly, it took at least a few weeks after he was born before I even noticed Nate's endearing affectation and yet he'd been doing it right from the beginning – which made me think he probably didn't just start doing this on Day 4. Looking back it seems more likely he was already practicing his special Nate brand touching style before birth, perhaps right around the same time babies learn how to suck their thumb in utero.

It makes me wonder how many of the smaller movements I felt around that time were actually Touching Finger touches.

*touch* *touch* *touch*

- L.

PS. The last time I mentioned the Touching Finger was here. I think everyone attending was a little surprised that Nate chose to use his index finger at the time, but over the last week I've seen him doing this more and more – which as a mommy, makes me a little melancholy already. I felt it was time to write this post for reference just in case.