taming of the shrew

i will be the first to admit that i have a really darling little.
right now especially.
he is walking and talking like crazy.
its hilarious,
but i have one itty bitty problem.
temper tantrums.
and guess what else.
i am the mom and not the dad.
do you realize what this means?!
mom= tantrum
dad= happy

mom has to do all the dirty work, and by dirty i mean, i have to deal with the shrew. (ps- i know a shrew is a woman, but go with me on this.)
don't believe me?
you do not believe something as precious, cute, and charismatic as he could throw a tantrum?
pahaha.
girl please.
i get yelled at, whacked, my hair gets pulled out, and i have to witness the infamous body check to the floor and maybe a few head slams.
whoa.
it is not pretty folks.
i just kind of stare and think, "what has entered my child?"
for some reason nikson only throws tantrums with me.
when blake is on duty, you would have thought we have raised a well-mannered, well- adjusted, perfect child.
someone help me!
what do i do?
is it an age thing?
do some kids do this at almost a year and a half or am i doomed to have a dysfunctional relationship with my eldest child?

i have yet to lose my cool though because he is just so dang cute.
most of the time i do a little pretend pout and tell him he hurt my feelings. (which isn't pretend.)
he starts crying harder as he rushes up to me, snuggles up, and holds me.
it's actually pretty cute.
he will give me a kiss and start smiling, hoping that i will just forget the spectacle of himself he just made.
i usually do.
his smiles have magic memory erasing powers i think.
tricky little booger.
i am trying to practice the positive parenting techniques in hopes that we can tackle this obstacle quickly.
no matter how hard i try though, i will never be able to duplicate the bond that the little has with handsome.

blake walks in the door and the whole feeling in our house changes.
they wrestle, laugh, play, laugh, read, laugh, sing, laugh, swing, jump, slide, dance, and laugh.
(i have tried these things mind you. maybe it's because i sing bieber instead of bon iver or maybe it's because i take all the chalk when we color on the sidewalk. it could be because i forget to give him water after he's had a big lunch or because i talk on the phone during baby einstein. i am not perfect people.)
most of the time the little and handsome talk to each other with their eyes.
it's like the force.
i am getting better at that.
i keep trying anyway, you know, using the force.

i love having a son and being able to focus my attention on raising a gentlemen.
but what i love even more is that my son has a dad that he is best friends with.
its pretty magical.
like my eye makeup in this last pic.
bippety boppety boo!