Aaarrgggg he's driving me crazy!

Jacob is testing me all of the time. He yells, whines, and hits. I don't know what to do. I have been there for him from day one and he has no reason to take his frustration out on me. I know he has no way to vent his anger other than the above stated ways but I wish he was just a little nicer to me. If he hits my hand I don't want to hit his hand back to show him that it hurts because that's showing him that hitting is ok. How do I vocalize to him that it's not ok to hit Mommy? I hope I am not losing control of my son at 15 months and I hope that this isn't a peek in to the future. I have never written a blog other than happy experiences but I am hoping someone will read this and give me some input.