Nature or Nurture?

Typically, when someone arrives at my bedside before 6am, I usher them back into bed and re-tuck extra tight.  Let me tell you, this is a difficult skill I've had to learn as a mother.  There is just something so extra sweet about cuddles in the early morning, that is until it becomes "the habit," and the habit is what drags me out of bed to re-tuck. They say it only takes three occurrences for a child to develop a habit, but "they" are vastly wrong when it comes to crawling into a warm, safe, and cozy bed with a mommy (daddy is equally applicable.) 1.25 times... that is all it takes and they are HOOKED!  Before you know it, it's 3am and someones toe is shoved up your nose, a freakishly sharp elbow is piercing your shoulder blade, and a kids is cradling your head, just as the picture (and yes, I too wear lipstick and pearls to bed.)  Something had to change!  After three nights of tears (mine from having to get up 15 times a night!) and some withdrawal shakes from the boys, we had broken the habit!  I now understood the importance of hallway ushering.

On this morning at 5am, I heard the telltale *THUMP* of little man jumping out of bed.  His feet set out down the hallway like an Olympic sprinter crossing the finish line, but as soon as he hits the door to my room he stops and tip-toes in.  He climbs on to the wood frame of the bed, puts his nose next to mine and whispers "mommy, I come in?"  He reserves this voice solely for this moment so as not to overuse it, and trust me... it is sweet enough to give you a toothache!  "Come in baby, but you have to go back to sleep."  I know I'll regret this decision, but I just couldn't help myself today.  Guess which child likes to sleep as the above referenced picture??  As I lay there, still wide awake, with a 43 pound, 3 year-old snoozing on my head I wondered.... Is a love for cuddling precipitated by nature or nurture?  Are we born with a cuddle gene or does our babyhood cuddle status impact our love of cuddling, or lack thereof?  

Jackson is the least cuddly of the three.  He also got the least amount of time sleeping with mom as a baby since I was ultra-cautious and sure he'd do a double back flip off the bed.  As each new kid came along and sleep became more elusive, my thoughts on the topic quickly changed.  3 boys under 4... you do what you gotta do to survive... and that means sleep!  Joshi spent a good amount of time sleeping with me and is super cuddly, but only on his terms.  Jamison would only sleep with me, so off to bed we go kid.  He is by far the most cuddly!  So nature or nurture?  Our experiences lead me to believe it is nurture.  Whatever it is, I'll take all the cuddles I can get... after 6am!