We have a hitter on our hands. He looks at me straight in the eye with brow furrowed and swats at my leg, my arm, my butt, my face, my hand, my foot or whatever body part of mine is closest. Sometimes he just swats around when he is excited and it doesn't seem intentional. He'll swat up and down, mostly hitting himself, while laughing or screaming/talking to Daisy. But when he looks me dead in the eye and I don't give him whatever it is he wants he hits and he waits for me to get mad. He puts his finger in his mouth all innocent-like, like he has no idea why I would be mad. And as soon as I finish saying "NO hitting, Sam! Hitting hurts!" he takes that finger out of his mouth and swats again. [sigh]
Sometimes he'll start crying a guilty whine before he hits and it seems as though he knows it's wrong and bad and makes me upset, but he's jut going to do it anyway. Sometimes the crying comes afterwards and he hugs me (or snoop dog) and I feel he's just hitting because he's tired. But it's still hitting and it still sucks.
Today while frantically trying to escape from a messy diaper change, I was trying to distract him so he would stop bicycling his legs. Apparently he did not like this and he went to swat. His hand landed in the pile of poo (thankfully semi-hard, sorry but thats an important detail) and it sat there for a milisecond before he grabbed it and threw. Now theres poo on his hand which is moving to rub his eyes as he is definitely getting sleep from all the raucous. And I just couldn't stop it. Luckily I think the eyeball-poo contact was minimal, but if he ends up with pink-eye, I'll know why.
There was some crying, and laughing (guess who was doing what), and then I couldn't find the poo. (If anyone watches How I Met Your Mother, you've already started saying "Where's the poop?") I got down on my hands and knees to search for it, and of course it was in a very convenient and easy to reach spot behind his dresser/changing table. I was going to have to move furniture to get this poo. Awesome. Maybe I can skip the gym today afterall.
The damage to the wall, floor, and furniture was minimal, but my confidence took a big blow. What the heck am I going to do about this hitting phase? I know Sam's not the first little kid to hit, and THANKFULLY he hasn't ever tried to hit anyone else other than me (and Phil once or twice). But why hit me? I figured the mom-hate wouldn't start until at least middle school.
At least he's advanced. And might I say a really good thrower.
This is the mid-hit look...I happened to piss him off yesterday when I yelled at Daisy to sit. I understand the want to protect your siblings, but how the heck did he get all Tony Soprano? NOT cute.
And then 5 minutes later, he laughs and tells me how big he is. VERY cute. Jeckyll/Hyde?
1 comment:
I'm so sorry you had such a rough day!! I know all about difficult diaper changes and hitting. My oldest was so bad at diaper changes that I had to lay him on the floor and put my left leg over his torso to hold him down while I changed his diapers! And oh the hitting...I know it hurts your feelings but just remember he does it to you because that is who he is most comfortable with. My oldest also was a hitter and a biter. He had a speech delay so he was frustrated that he couldn't communicate. So, hit and bite instead. Just remember you are not alone in this crazy thing we call parenthood! ;) And when you put yourself out there with a post like this you get the comfort you need! Really, if we all truly knew how hard it would be to become a parent nobody would do it right? :)
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