I have noticed something some people do when very small children do something that, though it is not "naughty" in a child that age, is going to be considered naughty when they are a bit older.
They laugh at the child and cuddle him/her and generally behave so that it seems it was very clever and funny and they approve. Now, they are not going to approve when a child a couple of years older pinches their face until it hurts, or grabs something that they value and dashes it to the ground, or unexpectedly does something potentially dangerous, so at some point they are going to have to stop rewarding them for doing it and start discouraging it, and the sooner the better.
If he/she is doing something you don't want them to, say something in a disaproving voice, almost anything, it doesn't necessarily always have to be "No!" as it is the voice that will register at first. At the same time, firmly remove them bodily from the temptation to continue, decisively enough to make them pay attention, and plonk them down out of sight, if possible, of the scene of the crime. If you are cuddling them and they do that tiny but very painful pinch, put them down as you speak. Don't let it become fun, where you try to move your face out of reach and they follow it to catch you and do it again.
What you are trying to do is to connect the "bad" behaviour with being spoken to sternly, and connect being spoken to sternly with being suddenly and unpleasantly removed from the jolly cuddle or the fascinating danger.
Then be loving again and start the distraction part to give them something new and interesting - which will seem much nicer after that abrupt move and that cross voice that the previous action produced.
If returning to the cuddle just gets you another pinch - repeat the prescription. It could take quite a few repeats with a determined child, but you have the advantage of knowing the end result you want to achieve!