Anybody who's anybody in the Baby Squared household knows that pointing is where it's at. Get your little index finger out there and aim it at your mother, your father, your sister, the cat, the couch, the wall, the inside of somebody's nostril....who needs a reason or a meaning, just point!
I wonder why this is a common developmental stage, this pointing thing? I suppose it's a form of communication: As in, "Look, I am indicating something." (My girls, at this point, don't seem to be pointing at things they want; they just point.) And at the same time, maybe it's a sign of developing self-awareness: As in, "I am aware that something exists outside of and distinct from my own self. Look! I'll point at it!" A third possibility is that it's just a by-product of improved small motor coordination (Hey! I can control these finger things!) that happens to get a good reaction from grown-ups.
Clio's favorite pointing maneuver is to do it E.T. style. She'll reach her finger out toward you, and if you touch your finger to it, she gets a big goofy grin on her face. (To match yours.) Another of her favorite things to do is point at your mouth. In this case, I recommend nibbling on her finger while making pretend "munch munch munch" sounds. Gets a laugh every time. The girl has always been into putting her hands in other people's mouths. Perhaps she'll be a dentist. Or a performance artist.
Elsa is a little more concrete with her pointing: she likes to point at pictures in books, and occasionally at the cat, while saying "dah!" But she'll sometimes play the the E.T. finger touching game with Clio. It's very sweet. (An aside: I think Clio is good at bringing out Elsa's sillier side. She's got her doing the head-tilting trick now, too. The two of them will sit in their high chairs side by side and tilt their heads onto their shoulders simultaneously, for no reason except that they seem to think it's cute. They're right!)
Anyway, maybe the next development in this point-fest will be the ability to point at actual objects to indicate need or desire. Like pointing to food or bottles or my breasts when they're hungry, or at a book when they want me to read to them, or at the door when they want to go out on a walk. For the moment, however, we're all just enjoying pointing for its own sake. It's a nice reminder of our own existence. Or something like that.
