More of a Fighter

I was talking to my friend Cortney the other day about how she thought her youngest son, Cade, would handle the impending arrival of a new brother. She was telling me how much he loves babies (the term "baby" is broadly defined here as any person the same size or smaller than himself)and how he is always trying to hug them and kiss them.
Then she said, "Arden's going to be in for it on vacation, Cade will be trying to hug and kiss her the whole week."
I started laughing and replied, "Well, that should be interesting because Arden is really more of a fighter than a lover."

With Claire, I never worried about her behavior towards other kids. She wasn't aggressive, never bit, pinched, pushed, or hit. She was pretty vocal when things weren't going her way (still is), but she wasn't one to lash out physically. Arden, on the other hand, is just the opposite. And it's not just when things aren't going her way either.

Take today, for instance. Claire was at dance class (on a side note, be prepared for many many pictures of Claire in her recital costume because, seriously, cutest. thing. ever.) and Arden and I were in the observation/play room watching her. Another kid walks in (this little girl is there every week and is the same age as Arden) and starts to play with some of the germ-infested/disease-carrying toys (one of these days, I'm going to throw out the two stuffed monkeys that look like they have dandruff). Arden walks right up to her, says hi and then swats at her arm three or four times.

I took Arden out of the room, made her sit in time out on a bench in the hall and then asked her if she was ready to be nice. "Yeah," she said. So we went back in. She immediately runs to the little girl, says something, which I'm sure was "I'm sorry I'm so aggressive and use force as a means of establishing myself as the dominant one year old in the room," and then gives the gal a big shove.

We spent the rest of class out in the hall, where there was no one for Arden to beat up. I'm sure this is just a phase and my sweet precious won't be picking fights for the rest of her life. Right? Right?

Well, if not, then maybe we can get her to channel all of her aggression into something productive. American Gladiators, perhaps?