Just curious. Mine is extremely independent. He won't go to sleep anywhere but his own bed, he doesn't like kisses/hugs/being held, has no interest in our cat, and will straight up push you away if you are in his "personal space."

It's not that he dislikes people. And in fact, he does bring his toys sometimes and sit next to me or my husband and play with them. He just won't sit in our lap and play. And he does play occasionally with his 3 year old brother. The only time in recent memory that he let me hold him was when he had the flu and was on the verge of hospitalization. And even then, once his Tamiflu kicked in, he went right back to being my little independent man.

And he's super indifferent to my cat and other animals, which I find super strange. My cat is also a cuddler and follows this kid around like he is made of tuna. And my son isn't mean to the cat or anything. He just does not care. The cat used to try to rub against his face like he does with everyone else, but my son would push him away and tell him no, so he learned not to.

Wondering how common it is because my older son (3) has always been a cuddle bug. And he is independent as far as playing goes. But he still takes breaks from playing every hour or so just to come give me and his dad hugs or kisses. He still likes snuggling to sleep. He loves cuddling with our cat. And he really loved hugging and kissing his brother until I had to tell him that while it was very sweet, he needed to respect that his brother doesn't like to be hugged/kissed. Now he just blows him kisses a million times a day.

Its just so bizarre to me to have my boys be so completely different in this way. And I'm due July 2nd with my third and wishing I could love on my soon to be middle child, but he doesn't like it so I of course won't force it on him. But I've never met a kid so darn independent.