Karate Kid

Maddox has turned into a little Karate Kid. This is my nice way of saying he is a bully. He hits, kicks, throws, and head butts anyone and anything. He is the bully in nursery and I think they keep Jeff in there just to have someone be able to keep an extra eye on him. Today I had to put him in time out five times for pushing some kid over, kicking him in the rear when he was bending over and having him face plant and then there was hitting him several times on the head with his own head and his fists. Actual fists! I have no idea where this came from or how to stop it! Time out has no effect on him. The minute he is done with it, he goes right back to doing what he was doing, only he will look at me and see if I am watching. If I am, he will shake he head back and forth, like he is saying no and then do it anyway! I have to admit I have laughed several times, but it is not funny when he seriously is beating up on other people's kids! Any suggestions? The only ideas Jeff and I have had so far is time out and to do it back to him, but obviously we probably won't do the latter.

Another issue we have had come up lately is nose picking. Seriously, he is only 18 months old! He has no concept of picking right now. He is just fascinated with his nostrils. He found them because we are working with a speech therapist to help him talk and mainy learn how to eat better and chew, so in order to help him understand and remember to use his mouth, we taught him to touch him mouth and say a word. So when we are saying bird, we will touch our own mouth and say "ba, ba, bird" Then he will repeat it touching his own mouth. Only now instead of touching his mouth, he sticks his finger up his nose and says it. And it is not just a pick and flick. It is a very obvious I am digging for brain matter kind of pick. He has given himself two bloodly noses from sticking it so far up there! And then when I try to take it out he gets mad at me and tries to head butt me or hit my hand away OR he laughs and thinks it is a game. I am writing this smiling throughout all of it, and hopefully he will out grow most of it, but boy is he all boy.

I hope that everyone is having a great time this summer! We wish we could visit everyone, although I am sure not everyone would want us to visit right now with Maddox in this phase. So, with no promises or ideas as to how long this will last, to all of you who we will visit soon, consider this my warning to teach your children self-defense and to provide Kleenex for boogers. If he is set on the fact that he going to pick, perhaps I can at least teach him wear to wipe.