You're not crazy. Your son sounds very much like my son--now almost 3--when he was a young baby. Some children are innately wired for MORE: more stimuli, more excitement, more learning, more emotions. He is still like that now, and always will be. It is both richly rewarding and exhausting to be a SAHM with my son. I love it!
My best tips are:
1. Assuming you are breastfeeding, continue to do so as long as possible and cosleep for your sanity, to calm him, and to promote and stretch sleep intervals gently. I swear up and down that my DS spent 75%+ of his first year's sleep--if not longer-- in REM. He would wake after 30 minutes of sleep ready and raring to go. I quickly discovered that co-napping and co-sleeping allowed me to settle him immediately upon his waking to ease him back into an extended sleep. He needed that additional sleep but didn't have the neurological filter to achieve it without my presence.
2. Read. A lot. Get a library card for you, your husband, and your son. Check out as many books as you can reasonably carry and refresh your reserve regularly. At that age, my son asked to be read to for hours on end. Delve into every detail on the pages, name everything in sight, discuss your thoughts and feelings. Your son will be excited to hear the stories and learn from you.
3. If you don't already have one, buy a good infant carrier (we loved the Ergo), tuck a few diapers and wipes in the front pocket, and hit up some cultural venues--museums, galleries, parks, etc. Talk to your son about everything around you as if he's an adult companion. Being at an adult's eye level will afford him considerably more interesting views than being in a stroller at knee level, with the added benefit of the comfort of your touch and voice. I loved keeping my son within kissing distance until he became too heavy to carry in a front carrier a few months ago.
4. Disregard all age recommendations on children's products, within the bounds of safety. My son was playing with toys targeted at 3 and 4 year olds in his first year. Baby toys bored him.
I've started a thread with recommended media for toddlers that you might like in a few months. The books might interest you now.
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/topics/154238/1.htmlWelcome to the forum!
