Mean baby.

Today has been a very trying day with Evan. I have a baby that hits. People judge and criticize and give me well meaning but nerve wracking advice about what I need to do as a mother. I mostly get comments like oh no he shouldn't do that. I know that. I have tried everything!
He mostly hits when he is hungry or tired. As of late, he must be going through a growth spurt because he is always hungry or tired. Add 2 to 4 molars coming in.
Anyway the point of this blog is not Evan's mean right hook (but anyone on the receiving end of it knows). The point is a lesson I have learned in patience. This morning after struggling to change a diaper and then being punch and screamed at as I put on Evan's clothes, a huge part of me wanted to throw Ev across the room. Instead I stepped back, let Evan play while he was half dressed. I tried dressing him again and ultimately put the lil guy in his crib and left the room. I came back to a more cooperative little baby. He needed a timeout, and apparently a banana. He was hungry and didn't want anything to do with getting dressed.
When I pick him up from the sitter, I get an angry tired fiend. All day the poor milk junkie is tormented by milk that he cannot have (she nurses her own baby) and immediately wants to nurse. I usually fight him off and he gets all the milk he wants at home. When we got home today, he had the worst meltdown ever and thrashed on the ground while I took off our coats.
At what point do you stop correcting, ignoring or diverting the behavior? And when do you use tough love? Leaving the room today was our first moment of tough love. My hope is that this is a phase and he is just going through too much growing right now. I also hope that people stop telling me how to raise my child, so I can focus on raising my child.
Meanness is a trade off. He is rough but he can take a hit, and the other kids that he knocks down, can knock him down 10 fold without him batting an eye. He also one passionate baby. For as many times I get punched, I also get attack kisses. And for every time I have to scold him, he shows remorse and hugs me. I'm glad that he has feelings even though they are not expressed in a gentle way.