Agressive 17 month old towards pictures of babies and kittens?

Hi,
Our 17 month old slaps at pictures of babies and kittens as well as his sister's baby dolls. We were concerned about his day care person, but SHE approached us with his behavior with concern and gave us the thrid degree. We do not spank in our household and he has only been watched by loving family members and one daycare provider. Overall he is very affectionate and social with lots of loving attention. He does draw the line on real babies and has not been exposed to any cats so we care not sure where the behavior is coming from and concerned about his aggressiveness. Is he just being a boy and should we not worry or should we be concerned?
Thank you!

[margypops]

Perhaps he got a big reaction from you all when he slapped the picture so he became aware that he could get extra attention this way, like a show he puts on, I am sure you would not hit a 17 month old child. He has also had several caregivers from the sound of it, you may want to check out how much attention they have made of the issue also.Play it down, say nothing ,when he does it, sounds like a learned behavior that he has copied to get attention. Take a step back, this needs no punishment, no action, if you do and say nothing and tell any others to do the same it will stop quite quickly Good Luck

[margypops]

Could his sister with the baby dolls shown him how to hit the dolls does she get jealous of him at all?

[velyz]

Thank you for your response! We will take your advice as he is quite the comedian already. His sister is sooo sweet with him and is very tolerant of his rants and raves.
Thanx again. It was great of you to answer our question. Happy New Year!