Snuggles

Justin is a very snuggly toddler, a marked improvement from his babyhood. When he was six months old I used to envy all the other parents in Church with babies snuggled into their shoulders, arms draped affectionately round their necks. Justin's reaction to all this was confusion. Until the moment when his eyes defied his final struggles and closed, he was wide-eyed, head up, checking out the world.
I don't think age has produced the change, though. I think it's weaning. Nursing, of course, provided consistent, built-in snuggle time--several hours a day when he was little, not to mention most if not all of the night. And now that he's all but weaned he usually responds favorably to requests for hugs and kisses. He likes to cuddle when he's tired or when he's hurt, and sometimes in the morning when he wakes up he'll get in our bed, snuggle up with us and go back to sleep. Father and I are both snuggly people so we're glad our son is too. It's making it easier on me to wean him, which definitely has its emotional challenges.
To try to compensate for the fact that nursing will soon be entirely absent from his life, I've started rocking (something else he didn't use to like) and singing to him just before bedtime--and naptime if I can manage it. Today I was patting his back and he started patting my arm. When I put him into his crib and lean down for one last hug sometimes he grabs my head and holds me there. I love baby snuggles.