Rough Cycle

We have definitely been riding the behavior roller coaster all the way to the bottom of this set of track with Samuel for the past couple of months.

Yesterday, he was staring in the refrigerator when I told him to close it, if he was still hungry, he had a quesadilla sitting on the counter.  He picked up said quesadilla and flung it across the room (whacking me hard on the arm with his throwing hand in the process.)

I actually think we may be on the upswing, though.  I was surprised by the flinging of the beany, avocadoey, cheesy tortilla item through the air because we had been having a lovely day up until that point in time.

Last week the violently tossing of foodstuffs across the room would not have shocked me in the least.  It would have paired perfectly with the yelling at me for not doing exactly as he desired every moment in time, purposefully wandering the house looking for things he knows he should not do, and deliberately finding ways to make his sister scream, repeatedly, until I intervene.  Shira for her part has responded to this behavior by hitting and biting Samuel, and then telling me that she did it very matter of factly.  I imagine that is my fault since the first time she responded badly to Samuel's deliberate needling, I told Samuel that it wasn't surprising that she acted that way, and was likely to get hit by lots of people if he treated others the way he has been treating his family members (I also told Shira she shouldn't hit or bite, but I imagine the lack of sympathy for Samuel - bordering on satisfaction at her response - set a bad precedent.)

My very attached child has apparently discovered he is an independent being and is doing everything he can to prove he is not me.  I believe I'm getting a nice window on adolescence.  It looks awesome.

He just informed me that he doesn't want me to be present on any of his playdates anymore - including in our own house.

As an added bonus, now after Samuel asks me what I'm making for dinner, he usually responds by saying "yuck!"  The only things he won't complain about eating are fruit, nuts, bread products and cheese.  Everything else he insists he hates, even if he then proceeds to eat it and enjoy it.

Woo hoo.  Loving parenting right now.