Discipline

Well it appears that James is entering the "Terrible Twos" stage. So now I am forced to acknowledge the fact that I need to get my facts straight when it comes to discipline. James has been such an easy child that Alex and I gave him a lot of room to explore and just be. Since bringing Ryan home from the hospital, we've been getting "He's still here?" looks from James. Well, just the first 3 months. He's used to him now. In fact, when I tell James we're getting ready to go out, he'll walk over to wherever Ryan is and try to pick him up. I guess he figures that Ryan isn't going anywhere but wherever we go.

Back to my point, James is also teething. This is the worst it's ever been for James. He screams, yells and fusses. Usually teeething gel works for the pain, but not the temper tantrums. So, today, for really no good reason, James decided to pull my hair, hit Ryan and throw things around. When he doesn't like my answer of "No" (which I try to use only when necessary) he will either 1: throw himself on the floor and do a snow angel sort of dance or 2: throw some item down or around the house. He has a really good arm and can hit things most of the time. Anyways, for most throwing issues we just smack his hand after he won't listen to us. However, there is a time for bottom spanking and these are those (in my opinion)
1. Outward defiance
2. Doing something that could hurt the child i.e. crossing the street
3. And in James' case, actions that occur when angry i.e. hitting, throwing, biting. For the time being, since he can't talk yet, a few yells are permitted since he's learning to express himself.

So, anyways, he had a rough 2 hours this morning but settled down later. So I'm in the process of finding some discipline books and books on potty training. Any ideas and thoughts would be greatly appreciated.