23 months

today talan turned 23 months. that's right, in exactly one month my baby will be 2 years old. that's insanity. i'm hoping this month drags on for awhile.
even though talan is not quite two, he most defiantly has hit the terrible two's. his favorite word is "no" and often times it's not enough to say it just once. it's more like "no, no, no, no, no no" said extremely fast. his favorite activities include screaming and throwing things. and he has picked up the nasty habit of swinging his arms so as to smack you in the face. that's a fun one.
so, yes. talan has learned all about "time outs."
despite all of that, talan still continues to be a hilarious kid with a huge personality that we love to death and would never trade in.
talan was due in for surgery back on february 27th to put tubes in his ears and to remove the cyst on his nose. about 2 weeks before the surgery, the ear dr. called to say there was some miscommunication between them and the plastic surgeon (who was taking care of the cyst) and we would not be having our surgery on the 27th. because the plastic surgeon hadn't seen us since december of 2007, they wanted to see talan again before scheduling the surgery. we went in to see the dr. last tuesday for one of the most pointless appointments ever. the dr. simply felt the cyst and then told me he would have to pull up the old ct scan to see if it was attached to anything so he could determine how he would be removing it. i told him it wasn't attached and almost told him....don't you think you should have done that BEFORE we came in?! but i managed to keep my mouth shut. see, i'm growing! i still have not heard from the dr., so i will be calling them today to figure out what in the world is going on. i would guess he should have the surgeries later this month or next.
talan's old man cough had taken a little break these past several months but is now back in full force. we took him to the dr. because it had gotten so bad that he ended up throwing up in his crib one evening. turned out he had an ear infection on top of the cough. we made it almost the entire winter without one!!! and just days before his almost tube surgery. the whole surgery cancellation worked out for the best as they never would have preformed it with him wheezing and coughing the way he was.
the dr. put him on amox. for the ear infection, 2 different kinds of medicine for breathing treatments and a steroid to open up his lungs. later that evening he had a fever so we also put some tylenol in him and then some nite time cough medicine to help him sleep. even with all of that, he was as active as ever.
the cough has cleared up a bit, but yesterday started getting a bit worse again. i think it's because he's coming down with a cold though. shockingly, his nose will start dripping and he'll tell me "nose, nose" so that i wipe it. and he actually lets me!!
talan has done quite well with his breathing treatments. he loves to sit and watch the they might be giants here come the abc's dvd and look for the letter i. last month his favorite letters were m and w. he still likes them, but they can't touch the letter i. he runs around looking for words that he can point the letter i out in. there is a part in the dvd where the recite the whole alphabet and he says each letter after the robot does. he says almost every letter next to perfectly. he's quite the good talker.
a few weeks back talan and i were driving to church for mops. we drove past mcdonalds and i heard talan yelling something from the backseat. i listened a little closer and realized he was yelling "yeahhhh! fries!"
i was down here in the office one day doing something on the computer when i noticed talan pulling on his pants and saying something. i couldn't figure it out, even though it sounded very close to what he was actually saying, because i never in a million years thought he'd fess up to it. he was standing there pulling on his pants saying "i tink. i tink" (i stink, i stink).
he now also says "chair" "door"...which he kept saying while in the dr.'s office hoping we would leave..."dude" "outside" and he knows a lot of the thomas trains names. thomas is just a noise he makes that comes from his throat...it actually sounds a lot like justin. percy is "fifi." james is "dames." emily is "emmy." henry is "henny." and he doesn't just say their names, he can point them out to you as well. oh...and track is "cack." every day we have to build a wooden train track in the living room. several times a day actually because he likes to destroy it and then want it built again.
for whatever reason, talan has grown a huge love for basketball. or so he thinks. whenever we pull up to the house, he sees the basketball hoop sitting in the driveway and has a fit when we go inside instead of going back to play. he is ready for spring!
he continues to LOVE music and wants to "rock" often. he has gotten quite good at holding his guitar and showing off his rock moves. he loves to spin it in the air and sometimes he'll even play it behind his head. his favorite time to play it is when he's watching fireflight on tivo. he'll point out justin and say his name and now will also saw dawn's name. but every time phee comes up he will simply say "dum dum." don't worry, he's not calling phee dumb, just pointing out that phee is playing the drums. at least i think....
he still is enjoying reading books and will come over, hand me a book and crawl up in my lap to have me read to him. i try to do it as often as possible. to have him sitting still for that long is a rare thing.
he loves to take as many things with him when we leave the house as possible. he goes around collecting things like a rubber duck, his drum sticks, blanket, pooh bear. whatever he finds that he thinks he might need while we are out. you know, the essentials.
he loves running around shooting guns with hayden. he loves baths but not so much when bubbles get all over his hands. he loves music. he loves watching movies. he loves chicka chicka boom boom. he loves papa. he still loves making as big of a mess as possible. he loves the toy aquarium he has in his crib. he loves seeing train tracks. he loves isaac gregg. he loves suckers. he loves fruit snacks. he loves his blanket and pooh bear. he loves to dust bust. he loves it when his daddy comes home. he loves to dance. he loves to jump on beds. he loves to show off. he loves a big crowd.
he still hates sitting still or being changed. he typically hates being put to bed, but usually quiets down after just a minute or two. he hates being told no. he hates having crumbs or really anything on his hands. he hates to sit to eat. he really doesn't like eating breakfast at all. he hates that he can't play with the train track in hayden's room.
we have great hope that talan will quickly grow out of his terrible two's. at least when he throws a fit, they don't really last that long. as much of a challenge as he has become, he's still a great baby. i love spending every day with him. not necessarily every minute, but every day! he is hilarious. he is smart. he is crafty. he is sweet. he is active and busy and determined. he is a huge part of our hearts and family.
we love you so much, baby talan. we will do all we can to enjoy this last month with you as a 1 year old! happy 23 months!!!!