Signs of affection
Wednesday, 12th August 2009 by julie
We were really blessed by having in Jon such a laid-back and unfussy infant. In his general approach to life, he was every newbie parent’s perfect baby.
One of the things that he definitely wasn’t though, was affectionate. (This probably goes hand-in-hand with useful qualities like enjoying his own company. 
)
We noticed other babies who even at a very young age, somehow cuddled up to people and enjoyed being held close, but after much experimentation, we concluded that our lovely Jon just wasn’t one of them.
Picking Jonathan up for a cuddle, unless he was sick, or half asleep, would just lead to squirming, fidgeting and wanting to get down. Even when he was tiny, he’d resist the idea.
We were wondering if this would vary as Jon matured, and noticed as he was approaching two, that little things were starting to change in his general approach to affection.
One very noticeable milestone on the road to affection was in Australia where Jon (somehow) figured out how to kiss while we were in Sydney.
And not just any old kiss. When Jonathan decided he wanted to give you a kiss, he would take your face in both hands and firmly pull you towards him — in the very best romantic hero style!
What you got at the end wasn’t so much a kiss as bumping faces (he still hasn’t quite mastered the puckered lips), but the delivery more than made up for that. Cuteness overload!
After that, Jon could often be persuaded to kiss on demand — and that got you an approximate bumping of lips (no hands). See above.
It was probably a bit before this time, that Jon started showing affection to soft toys. We took particular notice of this tendency though, when he snagged himself a super-cuddly koala off a shelf of toys at an Australian airport, and proceeded to hug it like a long-lost friend.
It was also during our time in Australia (probably Jon’s most concentrated exposure to people aside from Mum and Dad), that he developed his limpet habit (which most parents would be well familiar with), of clinging tightly to a safe person’s thigh when the situation became a little too challenging.
At some point, the leg-hugging developed into the administering of more general hugs, especially if Jon was pleased to see you. We now frequently spot him hugging his friends, and other completely random toddlers, at playgroups.
For us, the best bit is when you ask Jon for a hug and crouch down, at which point - if he’s in the mood – he will happily throw himself into your outstretched arms. (Including lifting his feet off the floor which can make balancing into an interesting exercise!)
It’s taken a long time, but I think our lovely Jon has finally worked out for himself all the benefits of affection — and it gladdens the parental hearts no end. 
