26 months

talan turned 26 months old today and boy has he ever embraced the terrible two's.
he continues to be a huge maker of mischief and is able to find his way in, out, and on anything he shouldn't. our front screen door proves to be tricky to unlock for even hayden, yet talan seems to be able to open it with no troubles. needless to say, we need to close the front door anytime we leave the room as we fear his escape. i imagine one of these days we'll be the parents on the news report of the 2 year old found walking down 8 mile.
he is very determined, so if he asks for something and is told no, he'll scream for a minute and then go about finding a way to do it on his own.
just in time for hayden's summer vacation, talan has decided to amp up the fighting with his older brother. talan has been perfecting the art of the younger brother and can find a way to push hayden's buttons like nobody else can. he will push, hit, lean on him, get in his face....anything to make hayden angry. and the more hayden yells no at him, the more he does it.
talan loves to watch and even try to play the bowling game on the xbox and at least once a day will bring me the game and say "bowling pin, bowling pin."
he continues to try and repeat most anything that we say, and often times comes really close. he still is really only speaking in about 2 or 3 word sentences, however. but he has more and more words and even phrases added to his vocabulary on a weekly basis.
he continues to love making messes. most days you can clean up the basement two or three times and pretty much right away he's back to taking every toy out of it's spot. he does often do a good job of cleaning up if we are down here telling him what to clean up though. so that's nice.
he still loves music and rocking out and plays his drums several times a day, much to the annoyance of his older brother who is usually downstairs trying to hear his video games. talan actually broke one of his electronic drumsticks in half by using it on the drums. needless to say, he's quite the heavy hitter.
he still doesn't usually have much of an appetite. he almost never sits down for an actual breakfast, but will walk around picking at things all morning. come lunchtime he's hit or miss. many times he will eat a whole "lunchable jr." which consists of turkey, crackers and cheese but many other days he'll take a few bites and then throw the rest on the floor. dinner's are also pretty hit or miss. sometimes he'll eat most everything on his plate and other nites he'll barely take a bite. no matter how much he eats, or doesn't eat, he still always has an abundance of energy!
his favorite foods would probably be pickles, salami and pepperoni. of course he loves any junk food as well. ice cream, cake, suckers, jelly beans, fruit snacks, pretzels, chips...anything that has no real nutritional value.
talan loves spinning around on the office chair. he loves running around the basement with his trucks and throwing balls. he loves motorcycles and says has to say "motorcycle" over and over every time he sees one. he loves playing outside and scooting around on his bike. he loves his blanket and has it with him almost all day. he loves his binky's and hates that he only gets them in his crib. he loves messing with hayden. he loves bath time. he loves going to grandma and papa's house. he loves yo gabba gabba and imagination movers and blues clues. he loves fireflight and all other bands that rock. he loves to be silly.
talan hates getting water in his face during bath time. he hates sitting. he hates actual meal times. he hates going to more than about 2 stores in a day. he hates being told no. he isn't very fond of having anything to drink other than milk. he hasn't been too fond of his new class at church. he still hates being wiped while getting changed. he hates wind blowing in his face and will put his blanket over his head.
talan still keeps us laughing every day. we try to enjoy the mischief he makes as much as it drives us crazy, because in all honesty, it is really quite funny. he is a very independent little toddler that has far more energy then most. he keeps us on our toes all day, every day.
we love you, t-money! happy 26 months!