terrible?
What about mean? Or just plain scary?
So, when I mentioned that things were going so well with our angelic 17-month old – that weekends were filled with Marc and me sharing our thoughts on how adorable our son has become – how smart, how sweet – that because of that perfection we were undoubtedly headed for trouble. Ten days ago I chalked the trouble up to a measly little cold… THAT WAS NOTHING. Because all of a sudden the kid decided to turn into a teeth- and fist-wielding maniac. Headed full-force into the horrible, terrible, terrifying TWOS.
He is biting, pinching, choking, pulling-hair, pushing… and then laughing about it. And most of it is directed at me. This development has left me angry, confused and really, unbearably sad.
To be fair, these outbursts do not happen all the time. But, when they do – he becomes a different person. His eyes glaze over and when he smiles his maniacal smile you can see that his cute little mouth with his cute little baby teeth have turned into the gaping jaws of a crocodile.
So, we have started implementing timeouts. And I will continue to Google “early signs of a violent criminal” for any clues on his next move. In the mean time we will relish the sweet times and try to forget the real toddler Harrison has become.
Listening: Pink Mountaintops
Aimee,you know how u have to register Bubbies before birth for school…………well u can sign him up for ‘Austin’s most wanted’.After all u have already labeled him a murderer.
totally normal for his age. look back to my blog and tyler’s and you’ll find a post around 15 – 16 month’s or so where we start to questioning if terrible two’s could start already. i did timeouts with owen and ignored his tantrum’s as much as possible and the “behavior” really did start to dissipate. two really is a fun age, three is questionable =)
http://tyler.littlehellraiser.com/2008/06/23/terrible-2s/
apparently john was righting the blogs back then and it’s not documented, but trust me owen had tantrums, wasn’t really a biter but dylan bites and hits mostly owen but sometimes i’m the target too. which gets a prompts and stern reprimand and usually get’s him put down on the floor.
Aimee, first of all, Todd and I both got a great laugh at your expense today which, I know isn’t the nicest thing to say but both you and the situation really are funny. Kara is right, EVERY kid does this and if their parents say they don’t they are simply liars. He is realizing he is a separate person from you and can make his own decisions and really wants you to know this. We did (and do) timouts too although they weren’t really effective at H’s age but we did put him in timeout for 2+ hours (seriously) at around 18 months for hitting me and I can’t remember if I blogged about that but I should have…it became a battle of the wills and I wasn’t giving in…thus the 2 hours and let me say, he DID NOT hit me again. Like Kara, we ignore tantrums that are not tied to a negative behavior that warrants a timeout…good luck!
You know my cure for biting, but I agree with Kara and Nicole – he is just becoming his own person – hard to take but he will be fine. The cute times will far outweigh the times he is naughty.
woops! i’ve forgotten how to right… ur…write too.
The terrible twos do start early, but the aggressive bouts come in short phases that will pass so…hang in there. He’ll do something freakin’ adorable to counter balance it any minute now.
The most abusive relationship I have ever had is with my children. And all of the physical abuse is directed at me, not Josh. They pull my hair, stomp on me, yank and pinch. If you think they will stay in a ‘sweet stage’ forever you are in for some serious disappointment. Stop being so hard on yourself and learn some serious self defense skills : )
HA! Bonnie – thanks. I knew kids got terrible – I just thought I had a little more time.
: )
And in all seriousness, he is still just as sweet as ever – but, we’ve gained a new aspect to his personality. It’s just going to take some getting used to.