Ooooooooooooooooh SNAP!

Here comes the uglies. After a positively blissful couple of weeks with a girl who is sporting SIX teeth, who is eating like I always dreamed she could, and who has been sweet and delightful, I must tragically announce the development of a not so darling new habit. Hitting.

So, we don't hit eachother, or G, or the cats. She has not learned to hit from anyone that I know of. She always gets a little exhuberant with the kitties after some kisses and hard patting, and starts pounding a little harder than they like (I am secretly waiting for a good old fashioned retaliation, but alas, our kitties are very tolerant). That has been the case for ages, so nothing new there. But last week, something new began. Gilly would love, love, love her baby doll, then lay baby down gently, and start walloping on it. Not just that, but chanting (progressively louder) "ya-Ya-YA-YA-YA!!!" whilst in the act, as if it were a battle cry. This prompted me to react, and say, "No Hitting" very firmly, kinda like the tone I would have imagined Moses using when reading the commandments (very somber, folks). Then, following up with the run of the mill, "gentle, Gilly. we touch [insert object] gently, like this". Hearing this, she hugs the baby, pats it's back, and kisses it, but within 10 seconds it happens all over again.

So, what's the big deal about a baby doll? you ask. Well, nothing until she starts beating the baby, then looks at me for a reaction (last Wed). And then there was poor Francie, who was the object of Gillian's abuse on Friday- a real, live baby. Gillian hit Francie over toys and because she didn't want Silvia to hold Francie. In fact, Francie was so traumatized, that apparently she was beyond eager for Sean to remove our child from the premises ASAP when he showed up to pick her up and bring her home. By all accounts it was a "rough" day. Not to say that Francie has never dished it out herself (Gillian was sporting a nice scab for two weeks where Francie bit her and drew blood over a toy-you have to appreciate the primordial world of toddlerhood!). But here's the thing: How do you react to this behavior in the way that's most likely to make it go away soonest?

What I started to do today was take the baby away when she hits it, and hold it and kiss it and tell her she hurt the baby and that the baby is sad, and does she want to be nice to her and make her happy again with hugs and kisses? It incenses her to see me holding the baby, so that may be an incentive. Clearly, we must address he hitting with a "no hitting". Particularly because she has hit me in the face a few times over the past couple of days. As the words "Gillian, no hitting" are coming out of my mouth she is puckering up for a kiss. As if the kiss erases the smack down. She does that with the baby doll too. From here on out, a smack will equal being put on the floor and walked away from. As in, no one wants to be around you when you're being ugly.

Before Friday I thought it might be best to ignore it since she was clearly anticipating my reaction and began trying to elicit one. But you have to stop the buck somewhere when it spills out of your house and into someone else's. She is testing boundaries, and there is definitely a firm and unwavering one in our house when it comes to meanness. So, my precious little angel, my perfect butterfly, is channeling the Dark Side. Her yin is out of balance. Apparently, this isn't a rare thing between now and 20 months of so, but as with all the other unpleasantness I hear about with other people's kids, I was hoping to skip this one. No such luck.