Jus Wuv Pats

When Brandon hugs Isabela, he sometimes pats her back or her bottom.  She would be furious, and yell, "Don't hit me!"  Brandon would reply, "They are just love pats, because I love you.  I am not trying to hurt you."  Soon, though, it became a game.  They would "pat" each other, and say, "Love pats!"  Only their pats were more like hits.  So Isabela started this game with Xander. She would hit him, pretty hard sometimes.  He would yell.  She would reply, "Love pats!" and run away.  So it began.  I have tried to stop it when it is just mean, and the other one is not having fun.  Then we have tried to teach that "pats" are soft, not hard. 

Today in church, a little girl came over to Chauncey in his carseat and touched him ever-so-softly.  She grinned and was so happy to play with a baby.  Xander sees her, walks over, and slaps Chauncey on the face.  To my surprise, Chuancey didn't cry, but he was stunned.  I grabbed Xander away (wanting to explode since he just hit my 2 month old baby), and explained calmly but firmly, "Xander, you CANNOT hit the baby."  Xander proceeds to grab my face, and look directly into my eyes. "Mom."  (He removes his hands and uses them to gesture and emphasize every word.)  "They. Jus. Wuv. Pats!"  (Mind you, the sacrament prayer just started.)  Now I don't know what to do.  Laugh. Cry from laughing so hard.  Or smack Brandon in the face since this is all his fault.  I opted for holding my two month old baby who was all smiles in all but 5 seconds after the incident.