Sigh... I say this with the tons and tons of love and adoration BUT my child is exhausting!! He's always been a little (well a lot) of a handful. I've known this was coming since he was a few months old and wouldn't lay still for one second. I remember trying to put him in bed with me to relax for a few minutes and he would cry and strain every muscle in his body to sit up...even though he was only about 10 weeks old. And when he started the temper tantrums at 6 months old I knew we were in for it.
Here's what a typical day sounds like around our house:
"Noah, mommy said not to touch the dog food." He looks sweetly at me, pulls his hand back, then does it again.
"No Baby that's yucky." Continues to do it...
"Mommy said No!" Laughs at me...now he thinks it's a game.
"Noah, (me finally grabbing his hand) we don't play in the dog food!" He screams and hits as I pick him up. Then we wash our hands and have a lot of "fun" trying to grab the faucet and spraywater everywhere. Then he screams and hits again as I take away the water. And as soon as I put him down, he goes right back.
And this happens all day long with the trash can, the dog water, pulling Max's tail, hitting Zoe with the bat, his diaper pail, the toilet, the cabinets, biting me, etc.... I could go on for quite some time.
So, the big question is...
How do you discipline a 14 month old who you know understands you but isn't really into obeying yet?
The answer is....
I have no idea!! The best strategy we can come up with is to continue to talk sternly to him without yelling or spanking. Then doing some time outs for really bad behavior (I'll get to that in a second). Hopefully he will start wanting to obey after we do this consistently. I think the trick is to always stick to your guns. Which is hard for me. Sometimes I just want him to be happy so I'll let him do what he wants. Mistake! Then he thinks he can always do what hewants and that starts the tantrums.
The worst thing that he does right now is get violent when he doesn't get what he wants. He's getting big enough now to actually cause some damage. He hits, bites, and throws himself downon the grounds and bangs his head. He's actually now hitting himself in the face when he's mad. He also does this weird finger flicking thing that is actually hilarious so it's really hard not to laugh at him while he's mad. He sticks his finger in his mouth then pulls it out really hard while flicking it on his teeth. When he does it he just looks so mad and serious. He is definitely letting you know he is NOT happy with you. It sounds like he's a little nuts, I know, but I've read this is extremely normal for kids his age so I'm just trying to correct him without freaking out.
When I talk to Matt, I'll be telling him that Noah is mad at me for whatever reason and the first thing he always says is, "Did he flick his finger at you?" If so, you know Noah is NOT HAPPY. I'm laughing as a type this because I've NEVER seen a baby do this like Noah does. He's so funny and stubborn and determined. My hopes are that we are good enough parents to help him turn these traits into a great positive force in his life. Keep us in your prayers as we try to get Noah through this stage in the most positive way possible.
Here's a good progression of what happens: Noah happily cleaning his high chair. I get the camera to take pictures. He wants the camera. I don't give it to him and tell him "no". He starts flicking his finger at me and crying.
I should do a blog post just with pictures of Noah pulling off his hat...
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