More stages

Ellie has reached that clingy stage in her development... well, one of the many, I imagine. I say that because as she has become more clingy and needy, so, too, has Joshua. Imagine that! When I leave the room, Ellie shrieks like I just broke her heart. Never mind peaceful swinging during dinner time, she wants to be held... or better yet, eat at the exact same time as the rest of us. Not that I can blame her, it is no fun to eat alone... but you should have seen me with the kids by myself the other evening at the dinner hour. (Joshua does pretty well on his own these days, but he still needs some help.)

Anyway, I realized that Joshua was unusually needy. He wants to cuddle more, and he will charge David and me to give us a big bear hug spontaneously. (Talk about trust... he really takes us by surprise sometimes, but we have caught him every time up to this point!) Sometimes I think his desire to cling is simply because he sees Ellie shriek and get a response. Other times, I think that he has reached yet a new level of awareness of who he is who we are.