This kid is killing me

My relationship with Zander has been a roller coaster lately. He can be the absolute cutest, smartest, funniest little guy under the sun one minute and an absolute beast the next. I’m not sure if it’s his age or if he is really falling into his role as the middle child but it is painful to watch.

To start with my once independent little guy is now just as clingy and demanding as his older brother. He wants to cuddle all the time (love) and wants to be watched while playing all the time (hate). This is the kid who used to disappear into his room for an hour to play quietly. I don’t mind watching and playing sometimes, but it is every. single. day.

And then there are the tantrums. He’s taken to choking, hitting and kicking. It isn’t pretty. And his new favorite thing is to lay on the ground and tell me that he can’t get up. It’s too hard. He’s trying (he does try, but then intentionally falls back down). It’s bad. And I have no clue how to fix it.

And I can’t forget his sudden desire to be mean to Ben. He told me the other day he likes to be mean to Ben. He will push on and squeeze his hands and just be very rambunctious and dangerous very close to Ben’s head. It drives me crazy.

All of these things make me think this isn’t his age, but his desire for attention. We do our best to give each child the attention they need, but it is definitely hard. I thought we were doing OK, but maybe we aren’t.

And because I have shared all of Zander’s negative personality traits I have to share the good one’s too. Because there are plenty of them, too. He is still the most imaginative child I know. He can find fun in just about anything. He says the craziest things (the most recent was that the moon must be full because it had a big dinner). And his faces crack me up. Case in point:

It’s really hard to stay mad at this kid when he starts doing something cute like this.