R.M.
This is pretty typical behavior for little ones around this age. My youngest grandson just turned 1 a week ago and my daughter has been pretty sleep deprived for the past week or more. She said he doesn't just wake up and want to nurse...he wakes up and wants to play...or will just SCREAM if she won't get up with him!!! Behavior like this normally comes just before and during a new "learning phase"...my grandson is currently really getting good at walking....and he is displaying a renewed interest in signing...and just in the past 2 days has added about half a dozen signs to his "vocabulary".
There is a school of thought that says as new connections are made in the brain, as they learn new things, that sleep is disturbed. But take heart...my daughter reported yesterday that they slept really well the night before...so there IS hope!!!