Discriminating Hugging

Lucy is a bit of a hugger. Her sign for hugging is a tap of her chest with her open hand, and we see that sign a lot when she wants to hug something or someone.

But she doesn't like to hug me. For a while, when I asked her for a hug, she'd say no, but I learned that if I asked for a "little hug," she'd say yes. But she sees through that now. My requests for hugs, little or regular size, almost always get rejected. She will pat me, though, so I still have that.

While she is loathe to hug me, she will, of her own volition, hug a wide range of inanimate objects. Here is a sampling of items she has hugged recently:

• A package of diapers
• A lotion bottle
• Stars on a page of a book
• A bunny on her shirt
• Her stuffed kitty
• Her baby doll
• A bird on an accent tile on our bathroom wall
• A fish on the front of a Duplo package

It is good to know where I stand with her.