pre-toddler

There has been a slight regression in Eddie's behavior lately. He is acting very needy at times - wanting to be held a lot, wanting to have "scooby snacks" (my nickname for boob sessions that occur outside of the usual pre-sleep schedule) and waking up a lot more during the night. He was sleeping through the night consistently for about two weeks, but now for the past week he has woken up once or twice a night to feed. I think he is just acting normal for his age, as he enters toddlerdom and explores with his new found sense of individuality and independence through his ability to move about and make decisions on his own. Not sure if "pre-toddler" is an actual term, but that is what I think accurately describes him right now. Sometimes he acts very independent, plays actively on his own and does not seem to need any attention, and at other times he acts still like a baby with high needs. The other day while visiting with cousin Noah he became very jealous of my holding and feeding a bottle to Noah that he literally climbed into the chair to be in my lap and stole Noah's bottle, sucking on the nipple. I had to put Noah down so that Eddie could then nurse - a little scooby snack was all he wanted. The exciting thing about this stage though is that the world is his oyster, or so I think the expression goes - he explores everything with such fervor and intensity that it never gets boring to watch his every move. He loves playing outside the most right now - he digs in the dirt with his big hands and crawls on every type of surface, even the brick and peat gravel path. He watches butterflies with wonder and hisses when the winds blow through the trees. He will love our vacation to Maine, I just know it. We leave in less than two days...so this may be the last blog entry until then...and maybe for awhile since I doubt I will have access to a computer until we are in Portland towards the end of our trip. Eddie is sure to enjoy meeting all of his cousins and relatives, and will probably love to stare at all the kids running about...maybe it will spark an urge in him to start walking...