The Cutest Little Naughty

Oh, Otis is so naughty lately.  And I know it's not because he's really "naughty" like doing it to piss me off, he's just frustrated with his lack of words and doesn't know how to communicate these intense feelings he has.  But nonetheless, when he flings guacamole all over your forehead while throwing a loaded chip across a Mexican restaurant, it's naughty.

But he has this sweetness to him that I hope stays.  He loves to cuddle.  He stands in his crib and calls "Mama, Mama, Mama!" in the morning (well, middle of the night?  4am when he comes into our bed...)  He loves to give hugs and kisses.  He gives thee most flirtatious looks to random strangers that say hi to him. 

As a friend said, kids are cute so their mothers don't eat them.  Indeed.

Otis is a Bully. Our Trip to the Museum.

Otis woke up from his nap yesterday in a funk.  Days like that, I know to leave the house as soon as possible to get his mind off whatever is making him crabby.  Usually a walk or a trip to the store will be enough to turn his mood.  Yesterday we decided to go to the Public Museum. 

It did not go well. 

As soon as we got there, Otis did not want to be in the stroller.  Which is fine, run off some steam, go look and explore.  Except he didn't want to walk, either.  He'd go all jelly legs and throw his head back.  So I set him down on the floor, where he commenced the temper tantrum.  This happened at least four times.  It seems the only thing he wanted to do was push the stroller, which is too high for him to reach the handle.  Which does not matter to a one and a half year old, he wants what he wants and he wants it RIGHT NOW. 

At one point, there was a group of school kids nearby.  An 8 year old boy came up near where Otis was screaming.  Otis looked up at him, stood up, and gave a mighty push right in the poor kid's stomach.  My baby don't take no shit!  The kid looked a little dumbfounded, like "did I just get beat up by a baby??"  I think that was the point we decided to leave.  We have a membership, we can always go back some other day...

I am a little worried, for real, about how to deal with Otis.  He is very frustrated lately about not being able to communicate.  We tried signing with him like we did with Ingrid, but he just never did it.  So now we are faced with grunts and points and lots of mad tears.  I feel for him, I do, it must suck to want something and have no way of getting your point across.  But I can't take much more of this hitting, shoving, kicking, and tantrums, and I know it's only gonna get worse.  Terrible Twos are real, ya'll.  I've been there.  I remember thinking Ingrid was being a brat and then she turned two and it was game on.  I'm scared for my future.

Anyway, we did have a little fun while at the museum.  Ingrid got a butterfly to land on her in the butterfly garden.  She thought it was cool at first but quickly decided she wanted it off right now.

  She also enjoyed the Streets of Old Milwaukee section, which has always been my favorite, too.  I felt kind of bad, she was having a good time and then little bro acted up and we had to go.  Boo.

Here's hoping today will be better.