Tough Love

    Ayla is now days away from being 1 year old and I'm dealing with an unfortunate behavioral issue. It's cropped up in the last few weeks and is one of the most frustrating things that I've had to deal with thus far. Hitting. Not just hitting either, she'll hit me and then crack up laughing when I tell her "No!"
    Up to this point my only response has been to hold her hand, look her in the eye and firmly say "No." And her inevitable response is to look me straight in the face and laugh really hard. What's even more frustrating is that it always seems directed at me, never anyone else.  It's sometimes hard to remind myself that she's not trying to hurt me but can't express herself any other way. I was reading several blog posts last night from moms who have had similar issues and they've all pretty much said the same thing that I've been doing. Some have recommended time-outs, distracting her with a toy, or even providing a suitable object to hit instead.
    The good thing is that I usually know exactly why it's happening. Last night, for instance, I had to wake her up to feed her dinner. She was exhausted and just wanted to go back to bed. She started throwing a fit while I was trying to feed her and a little later when we were snuggling on the couch. Adrian had to put her to bed and it was the first time I didn't kiss her goodnight and tell her I loved her. It broke my heart but I didn't want to give her another opportunity to hit me. And to tell the truth, my feelings were hurt. This morning it happened again. We were playing on the floor before I took her to daycare and she started getting fussy and hitting again but she actually crawled into my lap to hit me. I placed her back on the floor, looked at her and said no. Finally, after three or four times, I gave her the rest of her morning bottle and it stopped. Maybe the distraction thing works, maybe the night's sleep helped calm me down but I felt more confident that this was a stage that I could get through without wanting to rip my hair out.
    She's still my sweet baby, but I guess this is a sign of what road lies ahead. I guess the real parenting is about to start. Tough love sucks!