Little Bully

My kids have been getting along better lately. Working things out between themselves more often instead of fighting and whining for me to come intervene and lay down the law. I have to say who gets what car and who gets to play in what room it kind of reminds me of some sort of divorce lawyer. I say to Big Brother, “Ok if you get to play in the playroom alone then will you give up that box of cars to your brother.” After he says he needs his top five Little Brother throws two cars he’s holding overhand right at Big Brother. When it comes to dividing up who gets what car out of the big box of ‘only hot wheel cars’ I usually stand over them like a referee as they toss that car and this car back and forth in a silent unspoken understanding that they will both be satisfied at the end of the sorting process. Big Brother grabs a red mustang and Little Brother whines so Big Brother hands over a pickup and a plain car. They both let out a “Humph” like they sacrificed so much when in reality it’s just a case of he wants that one because the other has that one.

Big Brother has gotten to really love playing Wii. Especially on rainy days. His first favorite was the Mario Bros game. Then he got the new Mario Bros. Galaxy game. Little Brother loves watching the action and claps when he sees his brother gets a star. If Big Brother happens to be on the lazy boy playing, or his own chair, or even a couch Little Brother will climb up next to his brother and push him off with his little feet. If Big Brother ignores his attempts at taking over the seat then Little Brother turns to more drastic measures like screaming in his brother’s face, slapping him in the back or legs, and then if he is in a real determined mood he’ll try to pull his Big Brother’s hair or worse case scenario try to bite him. At first we thought Little Brother would bite us out of itchy gums because of teething but now he has turned it into a lethal weapon. Don’t be fooled by a snuggle or hug, I’m telling you that baby will chomp down the second he feels you let your guard down. I pick him up and face him and seriously tell him no biting. And if he tries again I have to go put him in the middle of the floor and walk away. Over the weekend when he was in a biting mood my husband went and put him on one of the kitchen chairs. Little Brother is too scared to try to get down so he sat there like a baby’s first timeout. However, the most effective way to curb his fits of bites is for me to act overly sad and even almost pretend like I’m crying because of it. I have no idea if seventeen month old can feel guilt or remorse but it seems to work. He’ll hug us (without biting) and just pat us or really hug us tight as if to show how sorry he is.

I used to think my oldest was bossy and busy at the age my youngest is but man I don’t know what I was thinking because the youngest is really bossy. If he wants his cup refilled (there is still juice in it, but he likes it full) he’ll hand it to you and if you don’t jump up right away he’ll throw it right at you. This baby really has a good arm because when throwing a car or a cup or food he almost never misses his target. If he wants to peek in the fridge he’ll grab you by the shirt or shorts and pull you over to the refrigerator the whole time yelling at you in his baby language. One day during bath time Little Brother kept shaking his head no. As soon as I got his little butt in the water he pulls the plug. I quickly put it back and tried to wash him up. During the next two minutes of bath time there were fourteen more attempts by Little Brother to unplug the tub while I held it down with one hand and washed him with the other. Usually bath time is a breeze, he loves it and wants to play in there for a while but I guess he really did not want to cooperate. When I got him out of the tub he slapped me in the face. Letting me know he really didn’t want to take a bath!

Little Brother will steal the food out of your mouth by climbing up you. Hit you someway or another if you try to resist. Cry and scream if you run away or scold him. And make you feel bad that you did any of the three with his big puppy eyes. Big Brother really gets the brunt of it. He is constantly trying to outmaneuver his Little Brother. Doesn’t ever want to go to his Tota Girl’s or aunties if the baby is going too. He’ll go but put up a fight about it first. He has said he can’t wait for the day he’s old enough to stay home alone because then he’ll be free and not be getting bugged by the baby.

I’m trying to correct Little Brother’s crazy behavior and always stay within arms reach to save Big Brother from getting impaled by a car, a cup, a kick, a hand, or a head butt. Hopefully this rough stage doesn’t last very long but Little Brother doesn’t talk yet so I’m thinking it will probably be lasting until he does…Which will then turn into his yelling a lot of ridiculous commands like, “juice now woman!“ and “Open this door or else mama”. All I can come up with is that Little Brother is just a Little Bully.