My affectionate little boy...

So, to describe Otis as affectionate is perhaps the world's greatest understatement. I've honestly never known a person affectionate to the same degree that he is. I love it, I encourage it, I relish it, but I'm also not 100% certain that it is not bordering on inappropriate.

We don't have a lot of physical boundaries in our house. The three of us are very free with the cuddles and the kisses, and we all walk around naked whenever it suits us. Afew days ago, I was sitting on the toilet, and Otis grabbed a handful of toilet paper and attempted to wipe my bottom for me. He tried down the front at first, and when I blocked him, he went for the back. He's trying to do for me what I've been doing for him his whole life...

It's sometimes not until you see other people react to your child's behaviour that you begin to question whether or not it is a little weird. We went to mass with Mum the other night, and he spent most of that hour stroking my face with two hands and gazing at me with the kind of loving looks usually reserved for romance novels. At one point he had one hand up my top, rubbing my now enormous tummy, and another on my boob, although this one was at least on the outside of my clothes.

People stared. Some oohed and aahed. Some looked a little perplexed. Many referred to him as a girl (because, didn't you know, only girls are capable of affection...?) I was enjoying the adoration and the intimacy, but was also feeling ever-so-slightly uncomfortable.

The next day, we were at the park with some friends. One little girl, older than Otis, went down the slippery dip with him between her legs. When they got to the bottom, he lay back on her and just smiled, enjoying the cuddle, whilst other children yelled at them to hurry up and get out of the way. Another of his friends was having a bit of a tantrum at one point, and Otis lay his head on the boy's chest and stroked him, trying to calm him down.

Is my baby going to grow up to be one of those people who invade your personal space and hug and kiss you upon your first meeting? Or will he just be a loving, tender, cuddly man who some very lucky woman will be so grateful for? I'm not sure. But I have a sneaking suspicion that the end of his hyper-affectionate ways is just around the corner, and I should enjoy his slightly freaky antics while they last.