Missing the Cuddles

It's official - my Little Miss Independent will no longer cuddle, rock, or do anything that resembles sitting still and cuddling with me. Sigh . . . I suppose she is just too busy, you know, with all the playing, running around, reading, getting into every cupboard/drawer within her reach, and everything else that makes up a 17 month old's day. Which reminds me, she does at least sit still on my lap for long periods of time if I'm reading to her, so I guess I'll take what I can get. As much as I like her independence, there are a lot of times I really just want to scoop her up, and cuddle, cuddle, cuddle. For the most part, she's always kind of liked her space. She does NOT like to sleep with us, and has always preferred her own bed. There are times I've tried to lay down with her, but she just ends up climbing all over me. Just yesterday, she kept doing her sign for "help me" to Monte. He couldn't figure out what she wanted, then she finally grabbed his hand and led him back to her room and pointed to her crib. So he put her to bed, and she was happy as could be, playing for a while, then falling asleep. And now she's got a cold, and part of me thought, yes - now I can rock her and love her all day since she's not feeling well. But no, she wants nothing of the sort. She is VERY affectionate, though, giving lots of hugs and kisses all day, and her first 15 minutes of every morning she spends cuddling (I see how I rate, she cuddles with him!), hugging, and kissing her daddy! Oh, and the patting, oh my the patting, she is always patting her daddy and me, we always say that people in church probably think she is hitting us, but it's just her "love pats". So I guess she is very affectionate, but still . . . I'm missing the cuddles.