Manipulation?

I've noticed that Hippo has already started tuning me out. I can't believe this has started already, seriously. I did every 'good' parenting strategy I could think of to get him to put his toys away before bath tonight to only rip his dump truck out of his hands while he cried hysterically (it's a large mechanical truck which would likely kill him if he took it into the bath if you were wondering why I just wouldn't let him have it in the bath) and threw himself on the floor.

I've taken to getting him to listen to me by pretending one of his toys is talking to him. When he came to visit me at work today I used a puppet to talk to him and he was completely engaged for nearly ten minutes. It was incredible. So, tonight, when he was throwing a different fit unrelated to the dump truck situation I took a Little People Fireman and began talking to him in a funny deep voice. He began calming down when suddenly he hit the fireman out of my hand. It ricocheted off my face. Hippo has been on and off again aggressive to L and I throughout his life--never to anyone else--and this is concerning to me, as well as unacceptable. Instead of putting him in time out I pretended to have the fireman cry and say, "It hurts when you hit me." Hippo's eyes widened and he looked between the fireman and me and began crying so hard he couldn't catch his breath. Clearly he felt remorse (and I celebrated silently to myself). The fireman quickly recovered and told Hippo he forgave him, and then gave Hippo a hug and a kiss.

I learned to talk to toddlers this way from my sister. I went to the zoo with her and her oldest son years ago and she used a hilarious voice to pretend she was the big horned sheep we were viewing to talk to her then three year old. He was captivated. Maybe I'll have the fireman ask Hippo to clean the bathroom tomorrow.