He sounds normal to me too. All of my kids are prone to be runners.
My daughter, who is now 16 years old, was an only child for a long time till she was 11 years old. I chased her around all over the place probably because, I had no one else to keep tabs on. She was raised as a free spirit. And by the way, she's a very good girl as a high school student and she does show self control when it's socially appropriate to do so. So, I hope this helps to encourage you if you have any fears about what his temperament will be like as he grows older.
But, I tried to learn something from my experience with her because I wanted to avoid some of those challenges we get into when we do allow for a free spirit. One way I learned a thing or two is that I observed a friend of mine that would not chase after her children (unless it was an emergency). She had 3 babies in a row. So, each one was expected to come to her. She wouldn't chase them down in the house and with that practice, she rarely had to chase them down in the street. They came to her upon her request, they understood outside boundaries (like the edge of the lawn means you stop), and they followed her around in public like ducks in a row. She didn't even turn back to look at them but once in a while. Very rarely with a sturn voice and gentle tug, she'd have to tell them "No running off, you stay with Mommy." And during times of danger, she would give him a swift shocking swat on the diapers, and tell them they must come inside now or come to her now... I was just so impressed by all of this. She was consistant and she didn't get frazzled.
But, when I had my son I forgot all of my good lessons of course. He was a runner. And he too was also like a first child all over again. Only with him, I had a little bit more restraint on my whole "free spirit" attitude. I waited and looked for opportunities to teach him to come to me just to get the practice started. I also raised my expectations of him. I don't think I gave my daughter enough credit for her smarts. So, I raised my expectations to include a belief that he could listen to my words "Stop. Come back." and then, I'd watch him actually stop -he didn't always come back without my assistance. Most of the time I didn't even need to move my body though. But, I was shocked that such an infant could learn to follow these verbal directions. With this new found confidence in his intelligence, I began to raise my level of expectations about all kinds of things. I found myself often trying to appease -a fear- of a behavior that hadn't already begun. So, I just stopped trying so hard and watched what he could do for himself. It was kind of fun.
At 17 months old, though, he went through cancer treatment and was so weak and ill that he couldn't walk anymore. So many typical parenting techniques where just thrown out the window. As he recovered from the chemotherapy and surgeries, he doubled in height and weight and physical ability. He became Superboy. So, in 6 months he was up and running again, only with a big boy body. And we had to start all over again. Only now, I didn't know where I should place my expectations because even still we don't know all of how the chemo has effected him and his brain. He's a very impulsive and physical 3 year old boy. I hear it all the time, "Be grateful that he can run and jump and be rambunctious after all the scary diagnosis we got. He's a miracle. He's been through a lot. Give him extra time to grow out of it. Thank God, that he's just a rough and tumble normal boy."
When our kids are such a miracle and in such good condition we need to keep things in perspective. They are special boys. But, they are not so "special" that we don't expect them to be their best selves and have many non-special mainstream experiences. I was really sad about this one evening that we went to big sisters band concert. A little girl, the same age as Hunter was sitting in front of us, wearing her "fancy" dress. She sat there, listened to the music, and was so sweet. Hunter disrupted everyone with his commotion. I really struggled with wondering if I should expect him to be challenged and struggle through, just sitting there for the duration of his sisters band or if I should just accept that he can't handle it. So, we fussed, faught, left the room, ran around the high school halls and completely missed her solo. I just don't know sometimes. I was sad for him that he had such a tough time and I was sad for me that I missed my daughters solo.
Well, now, I also have Lilly, who is 19 months old. All of the wiggling is very age appropriate for her. As far as she is concerned, for stuffy events, we just don't go. I can't expect her to sit. However, I did see one family in a movie theatre that brought the car seat in so that their little girl could sit and watch the movie like that. The car seat was a cue to her that she must sit still. Perhaps things like that would work in a restaurant. I know for sure, that Hunter would probably complain, but Lilly might actually go for it for a while.
But, Lilly is so sweet and such a joy I don't have to be too firm with her. And with her, I am really enjoying training her and watching her show her self control and her intelligence. Just the other day we were in a crowd a the library, she walked up ahead of me to the doorway and then looked back at me. I said, "Stop, Lilly. Stay with Momma." and she came running back. Hunter followed up with "Stay with your family, Lilly." But, for sit down events like grocery shopping or whatever... food and tippy cups is the length of her attention span. Otherwise, she cuts loose to jump around and climb. I just feel so blessed that on some level I feel like I'm getting it right and it's coming easy.
I hope that some of this helps.
Take what you like and leave the rest.
And although this may sound like something you've heard before... be grateful your son is jumping all around like that, sounds like he's a little miracle and things could have been worst for him with the Marfan's Syndrome. He sounds very high functioning physically.
Oh, and the lack of talking.... I wouldn't worry yet. Boys do tend to talk later than girls. That friend that I was so impressed with that had the duckling children, her middle son didn't talk till he was practically two. He had great physical ability even with putting shoes and coat on and off. Which my 3 year old hasn't even mastered yet. He also comprehended verbal directions easily. He was just more of a listener before he was a talker.
