Thankful Thursday - Things I Love About the Little Man

I recognize that my posts of late haven't been all that positive. I blame the hormones (sorry if that's TMI). So, I decided that since LMW has started gaining more of a personality, I'd list all the lovely things about him. Here goes...

• He is not afraid of anything but being left alone. He takes chances...climbs (he uses his ride-on fire engine as a step stool to crawl on top of the ottoman), pulls stuff off of tables (including coffee cups), lets go of whatever he's holding on to because he's under the mistaken impression that he can walk, plops down hard on his tushy, explores, you name it. I love that about him. I love that he thinks he can do anything. I hope he always has that outlook, as long as he's safe.
• He only wants to feed himself. He would rather eat off of my plate or yogurt cup or apple sauce container or left-over cereal milk bowl than eat off of a spoon from his own bowl. If I'm eating it, he wants a bite. But he has figured out what his food is and mine is, so even if I take a bite of "his" food, he doesn't always want to eat it. I can do the "airplane" with the spoon and he opens his mouth for it, mostly. It's so cute. And he's also started sharing his puffs or whatever he's got in his hand with me. Sweet boy.
• He loves to cuddle in the mornings. It's my favorite.
• He usually wakes up with a smile. Why can't we all do that?
• He LOVES music. He can hear the most random of background music on the TV and will whip his head around to see what's going on. He loves the trumpet intro on CBS Sunday Morning (performed by Wynton Marsalis), violins, baby-sounding music (you know, the twinkling sounds that baby toys or music boxes make?), etc. He has started dancing also and it's super cute.
• He makes certain sounds when he's excited. This weird sorta grunting sound but not as deep as a grunt. I can't explain it, but I know what it means.
• He naps best on my chest. I know he will eventually get too big to do this, as well he should, but I pretty much eat it up on the weekends. I'd rather just sit there and hold him than clean. I have my whole life to clean and only a short time to enjoy a baby, right?

Mmmmm, that foot tastes good.

LMW is definitely not a "compliant" child. He doesn't sit and play quietly and pacify himself when I leave the room to do something. He can destroy a room already. He cries when we leave or don't pay enough attention to him. He is pretty much what Dr. Sears calls a "high-needs" baby, or he at least has many of the attributes of a high-needs baby ("draining," "demanding," "unsatisfied," "unpredictable," "separation-sensitive," etc.). But he is fun and loud and sweet and quick to smile and all boy! Yes, he wears me out. Yes, I have horrible days when I feel like we're in a constant wrestling match. I have days where nothing I do feels right. I have days (like last night) when he refuses to go to bed for two hours past normal bedtime. But we also have great days and there's lots of love and hugs and kisses and smiles going 'round. I hope that his exuberant personality will help him to make friends more easily than I did/do. I hope he's more positive than I am. I hope he has self-confidence. At this rate, I believe all of that will come to pass and I hope and pray that he has a happy childhood and that I don't mess anything of that up. There are some things I need to change about myself so that I don't project on to him and by the grace of God, I can. I foresee broken limbs in my future, but I also see a lot of happy, joyful moments and I thank God for giving us this precious child, meant just for us.