Attack of the Baby Whack

Since the day he was born, Lucas has been a laid back, patient, sweet little guy. Some of that may be birth order (the second child has no choice but to be laid back and patient, especially in our household) but we think some of it is just his personality too. A big cuddler, Lucas always stops playing to run over and give you a big hug and kiss and to get a quick cuddle - something the non-stop Elise was never interested in doing (until her little brother came along - now they seem to be in some sort of hug competition, much to our delight). He never seemed to be in any particular rush to be mobile and once he was mobile, he was never in any particular rush to get anywhere. If Elise (or anyone) took a toy from him, he just shrugged and moved on to something else. Our laid back boy was not really attached to anything and could easily move on.

But in recent months, Lucas has gone from Supreme Chill Baby to Slightly Uptight and Mildly Violent Toddler. Suddenly, when someone takes something from him, when he can't reach something he wants or you stop him from doing something he wants to be doing, it's full on tantrum time - we're talking throw his head back, fall onto the floor kicking and screaming classic tantrum! But the tantrum really isn't necessarily the bad part (especially since his "tantrums" last about 15 seconds and then he is over it and back to his smiley happy self). The worst part is the hitting. Yes, our relaxed little guy has apparently gone into serious training to become a boxer (or he's vying for title of Slap Champion). His first reaction to things he doesn't like - particularly being told no, having something taken from him or not getting his way - is to clock someone or something. When he's really tired and cranky, he actually walks around with his arm cocked, ready to whack.

And we can't help but wonder - what happened to our chill little baby?! As energetic and wild as Elise was as a baby and a toddler, she was always gentle and nurturing, never showing any signs of aggression (well, besides that one tackling incident at day care), so this is completely uncharted territory for us. We have developed all sorts of strategies for encouraging our little Whack-a-Mole to stop hitting and use gentle hands, but none of them appear to be working yet. He continues to hit, bang and throw things passionately. And this kid has quite an arm. Poor Elise usually gets the brunt of the whacking - mostly because she is usually (unintentionally) doing something to get him angry or frustrated. But luckily, she remains patient and sweet with him, if not pleased that she gets to remind him to be gentle and stop hitting.

Now all of this is not said to paint our little darling as some kind of monster. He is actually the sweetest, loviest, happiest child on the planet 90% of the time. This hitting streak only comes out when he's angry or frustrated, and he is still typically fairly laid back about most things. This side of his personality comes out especially when he's tired but also when he's reached some sort of boiling point. He is almost always radiating happiness, blowing kissing, giving kisses, waving, laughing hysterically and being friendly and sweet with the people he loves and strangers alike. Which just makes his hitting streak seem all the more bizarre and out of character.
Lucas has begun to enjoy randomly sitting on the potty (with his pants on) as if to say "I'm a big boy! See!"
We are hoping that it's just a phase, coming out of his frustrations with not being able to communicate everything that he wants to say and do (now that he actually has things that he really wants to say and do). I suppose that only really being able to communicate a handful of things (like "more" and "please") aren't cutting it anymore now that he has realized that there is a whole world of understanding out there. Lucas also seems to be noticing that there are lots of things that everyone else in the house does that he cannot do (like using the potty, talking on the telephone, going in and out of doors as he pleases...) and he has been particularly annoyed about that lately. Hopefully as his vocabulary and communication grow, his frustrations will lesson and this hitting phase will disappear. In the meantime, we continue to redirect him and encourage our little sweetie to be gentle.