spitired little beast

Whenever I hear the word spirited it makes me giggle. This has been my favorite word to describe Olive lately. I kinda always assumed she would be of the spirited type but I guess I never really knew what that fully entailed. It's not necessarily a negative word but it definitely makes life a bit more interesting. I've mentioned that she has been hitting me and throwing stuff at the dog. When I say this I mean it happens every once in awhile. The other times she is a sweet lovable baby until she isn't. You get me? When I told my mom she was doing this she was very casual about it and said they all do it and its nothing to worry about. Remember she had me as a daughter so I'm pretty sure nothing phases her and I did it all. I've only had one other friend telling me about their daughter hitting her which honestly did give me a little relief as not feeling alone but still no matter what you never want your kids to be violent. Of course I blamed myself wondering what I did but obviously Blake and I are not violent and no one hits or throws in our house so I guess this is just something that they do. I have to say I was quite pleased when I got my monthly baby center email and it said this....

"Spirited and mild-mannered toddlers alike will experiment with ... how shall we say it? ... undesirable behavior. If your toddler indulges in fits of screaming, hitting, and biting, you can take some solace in knowing that his development is right on track. Discipline can be a challenge with kids this age, so try to build a little personal time into your schedule each week as a way to refuel your patience tank."

Haha personal time. Ya I'll get right on that right after I can pee alone and eat a hot meal. Although this little phase we are in now is not the most fun I feel much better knowing that I am not alone. I've tried many approaches to dealing with it and I'm not sure what works best. She doesn't really respond to any of them. If I calmly tell her no and explain that we don't hit she keeps doing it over and over. If I hold her hands she laughs and tries to break out. She thinks it's funny even when my face is dead serious. I've tried the firm no and that usually makes her laugh too and depending on how mean I am she will occasionally get even more frustrated and cry and hit. I guess the hard part is not knowing what to do and what will work. I want her to know that it isn't right but I don't know if she is getting it. After she hits me I will tell  her we don't hit and that we hug and she hugs me but then I'm wondering if she thinks that after we hit we hug and not that hitting is bad and hugging is good. Uggg how do you communicate that?? I wouldn't change my spirited little one for anything. She has the most incredible personality, is funny and has no fear in the world but I need to teach her we don't hit and we don't throw things at the dog. Anyone have this problem and want to give me some advice???