Talyn's Travel's!
From 1 year old & beyond....
My boys!
18 month old!
26/12/2008 (1year, 11.5 months!!!)
Well....finally....our boy speaks!!!!
Honestly I was beginning to wonder if it would EVER happen!!! *wink* He still uses mostly grunts and ooh's and ahh's to communicate but slowly and surely the words are coming. On average he's adding a new word every day or two. As well as the hot, mum, more, and boo he now says lawnmower very clearly, motorbike, tractor, train, rain, plane, same (when he holds up his wiggles toys to the same character on the TV), recently he added boat and he likes to make little woof-woof sounds when he see's a puppy. EVERY day I have to name every single bus and truck which he spots - and believe me that's at least a few of each every day....so while he's now saying 'truck' I'm guessing 'bus' won't be far away?? When we show him a photo of him and Caleb he'll say both names but while his sounds a little bit like Talyn, his word for Caleb is completely unrecognizable so far...tee-he But he's trying. He does call his friend 'Layla' by name and we hear a lot more Daddy then we ever used to also. This week I've been working really hard on drink and 'ta' I really hold out on giving him drink and food while I try to get him to say it but the stubborn little bugger won't give it up :) Soon! It's just nice to know that he is finally catching up with his speech and I can stop worrying about it now :) I'm sure in no time he'll be talking the leg off anyone who stands still long enough!!
We are still working on the potty but in all the Christmas madness that's one job that's kind of taken a back seat of late. Now that things are settling down again I will work on this though while the weather is still good for it. It's much easier to do in summer when they aren't wearing too many clothes and when they can have naked time outside to see for themself where it all comes from etc :)
He finished with his bedtime bottle a couple months back now so his last symbol of babydom is his nappies and dummy. Since 12months old we've only ever allowed his dummy in his cot (Ugh I hate seeing toddlers getting around in public plugged up with a dummy!) and since Caleb got rid of his at 2yrs old I'm guessing we'll do the same for Talyn soon (can you believe he's 2yrs old next month!!!!)
While things have closed down now for Christmas he had very much been enjoying his weekly playgroup visits and swimming lessons on a Saturday morning. He's quite the water baby like his big brother and he really get's a thrill out of weekly lessons. He's always keen for a swim in our pool and is now quite confident to swim alone with just arm floaties and occasionally a ring around his middle.
If there is one thing that boy likes more than anything else it's back scratches...just like his Daddy. You ask Talyn if he'd like a back scratch and he'll drop on the spot, lift his shirt up, lay there gazing a million miles away and drooling as he zones out and blisses out for his back scratch :)
He's also very much into babies and puppy dogs of late. He loves to point out babies at the shops and says "bubby" when he see's one. Even though sometimes that 'bubby' is not much younger then him *tee-he*.
Talyn is absolutely loving having his big brother home on school holidays at the moment. Granted they do battle a gazillion times a day but what siblings don't huh? They certainly love each other to bits and what Caleb get's away with now Talyn will take revenge for one day I'm sure *snicker*
Talyn is absolutely 100% wiggles mad of late. He just loves them!! Morning TV is devoted to Wiggles DVD's whether we like it or not *wink* The TV then stays off until after tea at night when the adults get to pick the shows so it's not like we begrudge him some wiggles TV fun each morning after breakfast. He loves to dance with them and Henry Octopus and Wags the dog are his favourite's. Hence why he was absolutely beside himself when we took him to a Wiggles concert (performed in Sydney and streamed live to cinema's around the country) last week. It was his first cinema trip but boy oh boy we sure set the bench mark high from now on :)
Of course his other big thrill of late has been the big man in red. He just loves Santa!! Talyn has a story time after lunch and before his afternoon nap everyday and all through December we've been including 'The night before Christmas' to get him in the spirit. Did it ever! He was a little hesitant on his lap for his Santa photo but any other time he saw Santa or his picture somewhere it was excitement central!
He loved the Christmas tree and our daily advent tradition. Since Caleb was allergic to dairy we could never get a traditional advent calendar for him (you know the type, open a door each day in December for a chocolate). Several years ago we found a giant carved wooden tree and each day you open the door to take out a hand carved and painted tree decoration. Well this year Talyn took it out each morning and Caleb hung it on the tree. Boy did they love that each day!! Talyn was really good with the tree in general actually.
It surprised me. We didn't put the usual barrier up around it but while he would often go to look at it or touch things gently he never pulled anything off or down which was great.
Talyn really appreciated the nights we'd go out a couple times each week in the lead up to Xmas and drive around to look at the Christmas lights as a family. This was the first year he could really take it all in and boy was he impressed!!! As well as this he enjoyed his Santa photo, carol's by candlelight in the park, Xmas playgroup breakup party, our own pre-xmas bashes and of course the big day itself.
Rather then repeat it here...please pop over to Caleb's page to read what we did on the big day :)
Present wise...Talyn was thoroughly spoilt. He had Wiggles DVD's and a singing/talking Captain Feathersword doll, toy trucks/cars/playsets, tools, swimmers and PJ's, lots of books, crayons, gardening toys (whippersnipper, hedge trimmer, rakes, brooms, watering cans etc), giant books, pool toys, a water/sand table for around the pool and of course he shared in the two major gifts from us - the cubby house and the trampoline (again both are discussed in detail on Caleb's page).
He had such a wonderful action packed Christmas and we really enjoyed our first solo Christmas with no extended family or out of town visitors. It was lovely to celebrate our own real "family" Christmas :) And Christmas with two kids was a hundred times more fun for all of us then when it was just Caleb on his own...this time the boys fed off each other's excitement and us off theirs. It was truly magical!!
Merry Christmas everyone!!! :)
I'll be back next week to share all our Christmas photo's with you!!
Cheers P
02/10/2008 (1year, 9 month's old!!!)
Wow....just like Caleb's page which I just finished updating...I've fallen behind here also. Ok ... let's see what's been happening since last update??
Let's start with Talyn's speech - he still does not speak! hehehe Ok well he does a little bit but I can't believe how much slower he is to develop this then Caleb was. Talyn can now say Mum (which is always pronounce - Maaarm!) oh how I wish he'd say Mummy, he can say hot, hat, more, me and boo. That's about it. But he is lately babbling more, trying out sounds and different noises and hopefully once he starts he'll be chattering my ear off in no time. We are very aware not to let him get away with grunts and noises too easy and always use the word when we give him drink/food etc, point out a plane or puppy and say ta and please at the appropriate times to demonstrate it for him. But the little bugger is so stubborn that he refuses to use them. We read stories every day. We tell him the name of everything around him over and over but....nothing?? In time I guess. All in good time. In the meantime he understands speech just fine and can follow our instructions like get your shoes, go put the book away, let's go outside etc so I know he does at least understand speech ok...he just doesn't want to use it.
Last entry we had him referred to a speech therapist but I ended up canceling this. I just think it's too early and he's too young. If he's still not talking when he's two then we'll try again but in the meantime I don't want to overact and we'd rather just give him some time to catch up at his own pace. Does that make sense?
Food wise....we cannot fill this boy up!!! We weighed him the other day and he was 10.8kg so it's not like he has a weight problem. He's lean and active but boy he can eat - and he wants to eat all the time!!!!! tee-he He has begun to self feed now though which he loves....it's messy but worth it. He'll eat his own breakfast cereal and tea from a bowl and spoon and lunch is usually finger foods and sandwiches etc. Other than the mess it's great for me because it means I can be loading the dishwasher etc while he eats so I get much more done around here :)
He's gone off TV a bit of late, in fact most days it doesn't even get turned on until after school or later as we just don't watch it during the day. Talyn has discovered drawing of late and loves to do that, or play with toys or blocks or go out with Mummy on various errands/shopping trips and excursions through the week. I do a lot of walking for exercise so he loves to be pushed along the Esplanade on his trike or in his jogger pram. He loves the park and the beach we go to most weeks. At first he was timid of the waves but now he just loves the beach - especially if Caleb is with him to play with too.
Talyn has loved Caleb being home on school holidays the last two weeks and the two of them have near drove me batty. All I hear is "but I had it first" or "Talyn won't share" from Caleb and from Talyn all I hear is him screaming blue murder when Caleb either takes his toy or when Talyn does not want to share the one he has. Brothers huh?
Talyn has become a hitter of late, slapping out at Caleb and occasionally Simon and I also. We are taking this VERY seriously and he's learning VERY fast this will not be tolerated! He even makes a little fist when he hits Caleb which we work very hard not to laugh about. It just looks so ineffective with his tiny fist but if we don't stop it now it soon won't be ineffective. In some ways this is karma coming back to Caleb for all that he did to annoy Talyn when he was too small to fight back *tee-he* Still, we can't overlook it so somebody is going to be spending more time in the naughty corner in weeks to come.
The naughty corner always worked great for Caleb but Talyn is at an age where it's difficult to make him stay there yet .....so for now it's more often his cot he has time out in. That's tricky too though as I don't want to create a negative association with his bed...but for now it's the only place he'll stay put!
Otherwise...he loves his bed! He sleeps 6pm - 8am or so most nights. Some nights he'll wake a lot for his dummy, other nights not at all. He also has a daytime nap of usually 2hrs, sometimes 3hrs. He's a great little sleeper, much better than Caleb ever was. Long may it last :)
Talyn is a real outdoors boy too and is loving spending heaps of time outdoors with his Poppy who is here most days building the boys the cubby house to beat all cubby houses! (see Caleb's page for the full story on the cubby house) The boys are getting a round, safety enclosed trampoline for Christmas this year and I think those boys are going to ABSOLUTELY love it!!!! Like seriously love it :) After (and even before) Caleb broke his arm on a friends trampoline 3 days after I brought Talyn home from the hospital - I've always thought they were dangerous and didn't want one but these days with the padding all around and the high nets surrounding them as well - it's hard to go wrong. Let's hope I'm right about that one! No more broken bones please!!
Oops...I hear the little man waking now so I'd best leave this here for now. At least I've caught up on both boys pages today and over the next few days I'll update their photo pages also. :)
Cheers P
15/07/2008 (1year, 18 month's old!!!)
Time for another update in the wonderful world of Talyn :)
I guess the thing most on my mind today is his speech - or lack of it! At this age Caleb was talking the leg off anything that stood still long enough yet Talyn is really only saying 'hot', 'more', 'boo' and the very occasional 'Mamma'??
We label everything for him and always demonstrate every word we use. Eg if he gestures for a drink we'll try to get him to say drink first, then we'll say drink as we hand it to him, we'll say please and ta for him too. We point out planes, buses, trucks, puppy's, birds etc every opportunity we get - these are all things he likes himself and he'll gesture to them and make his little 'ohh-ooh-ahh' noises at them but he won't use words.
We are aware of not allowing him to be lazy in speech and always try to get him to say a word rather then just accept the noises/gestures that he makes for things, which we do understand but if you always accept those the child has no reason to speak more. We also read him stories every day and he already has a love for books like his big brother.
He comprehends speech though as he can follow our directions to get things, put things away, look at things, time to go out, brush teeth etc. So we know he hears and understands speech but his formation of his own words does seem delayed??
Yesterday he saw the GP for his 18month immunisations and he suggested a hearing test when we discussed the speech issue. The child health nurse who did his 18month developmental assessment today also suggested a hearing test and a referral to a speech therapist (that's both boys having hearing and speech input now!!! - See Caleb's site for his details).
According to the nurse today everything else developmentally was good and up to the 'normal' standards. She said at this age he should have 4-8 words if not more, be babbling and perhaps even singing?? I'm comfortable that in all other area's he is developing normally so I'm just telling myself he's going at his own pace and he'll catch up in time?? Otherwise he seems to be a very bright, and interactive little boy so I guess we'll just have to hold out and see what happens?? We see the speech therapist for him in 2wk's and the hearing test is in September so I'll let you know the outcome when I know more.
Food and drink wise there is no stopping him....he eats like a trooper! He'll have cereal and fruit for breakfast, sandwiches, fruit, yoghurt and cheese for lunch and meat, veg and pasta for tea. He loves all his vege's and fruit and I've not really found anything he doesn't like yet!! He's taking full cow's milk now and this week we finally dropped his after breakfast bottle and he now has all his milk and water from a cup with just the one bottle prior to bed at night.
In the coming weeks I really want to give him more opportunity to self feed with a spoon and to drink from a regular cup without a lid or straw. Both of which I know he can do but I guess as mom's you tend to go the less messy route when you can?? He has also started using his booster seat at the big table at dinner time some nights which he does love :)
The nurse today also encouraged us to work on body part recognition with him...eg where is your nose, your toes etc and to let him practice drawing/pencil holding more and to work on some shapes/puzzles a bit more. Otherwise...all is going good.
He has now added The Wiggles to his Teletubbies passion but the Teletubbies definitely win his favourite spot hands down!
Talyn has loved having Caleb home on school holidays but at the same time I think he is happy to be on his own again today and to just do his thing without Caleb always taking over??
Talyn love's to play in the backyard with Caleb and the clever little ducky now knows how to climb the 6 or so steps up the ladder and get himself down that (so far) in one piece ;) He loves the sandpit, the swings or just getting up to mischief with Caleb like dumping out all my clothes peg's etc. He does enjoy trips to the park, the beach or maze mania and he get's lot's of long walks in the pram with me while I exercise :)
We had a big family trip to Brisbane on the weekend to visit the Museum and Art Gallery...a great time was had by all! Pop on over to Caleb's site for all the details and the photo's of our trip. In the meantime......you can go here for Talyn's latest happy snaps :)
Cheers P
04/06/2008 (1year, 4 month, 3week's old!!!)
Yikes! Time has got away from me since last update :)
So what's new in the world of Talyn??
Well he is certainly well and truly mobile now! He walks where ever he chooses and an incline is always a favourite for him for some reason. He loves walking up then down it over and over again! He climbs up onto the lounge and sits down when the fancy takes him and he can run fairly well also now. He still has the occasional stacks but luckily enough he seems to keep his head and face clear of any hard floors and just picks himself up and he's off again.
Food wise....he's a human eating machine! Honestly Caleb was never like that. Perhaps due to his dairy allergy he soon learnt he couldn't eat most of what other people ate around him but Talyn....oh my, any food in sight is fair game as far as he's concerned *wink* He'll eat anything and everything from fruit, vege, meat, yoghurt, fruit/muesli bars and for the occasional treat he's mad on hot chips or a baby biscuit. You always know he is interested by the chant of "hee-ah hee-ah" over and over :)
He is still drinking cow's milk from a bottle but as of yesterday is now down to just two a day. One after breakfast and one before bed. We had to cut out the lunch time one as we found he just wasn't eating his dinner without a huge battle. Yesterday when he'd dropped that one bottle he scoffed down apricot chicken, mashed potato and pumpkin plus steamed beans, peas, broccoli and zucchini for tea and then a yoghurt for dessert! There was no stopping him! Much better then the usual battle :)
He still drinks plenty (milk and water only) from a cup during the day so it's not like he needs the extra fluids. We definitely don't give him any juices or sugary drinks as babies just don't need to get a taste for that sort of thing so early on. Caleb never did and we are glad of that now :)
Talyn even had his first bash at self spooning his yoghurt last night. I tell you it's a good thing he was going straight from tea into the bath because boy was he a mess. But he really did enjoy the process of using the spoon himself so I know I have to steal myself for the mess and just let him at it more often :)
The boys really love bath time together. In fact Talyn just loves to share in anything his big brother is up to. Even a call to brush teeth brings them both running to do it together. Now that Talyn is older we allow Caleb to take him into the back yard on his own to play. We watch from inside but it's nice to see them develop some independence and Caleb is always very mindful of Talyn and keeps him safe and happy.
The only thing is the little rat still hardly speaks! He says 'mumma' and 'hee-ah hee-ah' when he wants food, a drink or to be picked up or taken anywhere. He has said 'dadda' on two occasions but never since then and pretty much the whole day is just these exclamations of 'oooh-ahh-ohh-ooh' to show you that he wants you to notice what he has noticed. Still....if he is anything like his chatter box big brother I'm sure there will be no stopping him soon. All in good time :) We still make sure to read to him everyday to help his vocab in the meantime.
One other thing he has discovered this last week or two....Telletubbies!!!! Oh my god he thinks they are just the best thing ever. He runs up to the lounge to sit and watch it and bops his head, points out characters and ooh's and aahs the whole way through. Tee-he. I've watched them so many times with Caleb over the years it's funny to have them playing in the house again (makes a nice change form Caleb's Ninja Turtles!). I guess I've got Thomas and Wiggles etc to come next. Ahh the joys of boys :)
Cheers P
25/03/2008 (1year, 2 month, 2week's old!!!)
Ok....well it seems like so much has happened with Talyn this last month that I hope I remember it all to share with you here today :)
He's definitely got the walking thing down pat. He walks everywhere now! I hear the little slap-slap of his flat little feet on the tiles and he's away. He loves to chase Caleb around the house and nothing get's him screaming more then one of us coming up behind him, stomping our feet and saying we are going to "get him". He squeals with delight and off he goes!
Up until this last week he was still crawling to a chair, table or leg etc to get to a standing position but in the last week (23/3) he's finally worked out how to stand all by himself. He pops his bum up like a little tripod, steadies himself and then stands. Because it often brought applause when he began doing it now he'll often stand and give himself a big round of applause...tee-he...very cute!
Talyn did go through this weird, but very cute, little stage of backing up to people to sit on their foot. He was terrible at judging this distance and often plopped down near his target only to have to wiggle back for another few tries before he got where he was intending to land :)
He is still waving bye-bye's and slowly getting better at it. Usually he begins to wave AFTER the person has left his sight but he's practicing every morning to get better by waving Daddy off to work.
Food/drink wise he's left another baby milestone behind. He is now totally finished with formula and is having 4 x 150ml bottles of cow's milk each day. Having never had the ease of using cow's milk for Caleb I can't believe how much easier Talyn is to feed without the dairy allergy to worry about. I don't worry about being stranded somewhere without milk, I can give him a taste of anything I'm eating or pretty much any party food and know he'll devour it. I can't sit down to eat without the little beggar coming up for his taste. We taught him, and Caleb, to always sit down to eat food so he comes along, begs and babbles for what I've got, then plops himself down like a little puppy to await his treat *tee-he*.
Meal times are so easy. He still has the occasional jar food for his tea but mostly now he'll have what we are having. I still rely on the odd jar meal for when he's in bed before tea is cooked but I'm slowly stockpiling some meals for him as I have extra so that we can defrost one of them for him instead. I'd say his favorite tea is penne pasta with a bolognaise or pumpkin/basil sauce. He loves the fact that he can self feed this to himself and feel like a big boy I guess?
He has weet-bix most days for breaky, sandwiches fruit and yoghurt for lunch and his snacks are things like sultana's, cheese sticks, pretzels, toddler biscuits, fruit sticks etc. I've yet to really find anything he won't eat. The other day we gave him some cucumber sticks thinking he'd turn them down but even them he loved. And don't even think about opening a banana in front of him without giving him some!! :)
Now the last thing to do is transfer his milk drinking from bottles to cups and then that part of his babyhood will be all done :) My little boy is growing so fast!!!!
Caleb really loves the fact that Talyn is able to actively play with him now. Sometimes it's frustrating that Talyn will wreck whatever Caleb is trying to play with or build with blocks etc but he's very patient with him and the two of them just love each other to bits! Now that Caleb is at school all week I rarely seem to have the two of them in the car together except for weekends but when they do they have so much fun. Like recently I bought Caleb one of those little hand held games that have 14 arcade games on the one machine. It was el-cheapo at only $4 so when I noticed how much Talyn loved it too I got him one also. Now the two of them sit in the car with their game each....Caleb playing and Talyn just playing the music on it over and over....all the while grinning over at each other. Very cute!
Of course his big brother does get Talyn into some trouble too - no doubt about that. Like recently when Caleb taught Talyn to play with the power points. Of course Caleb stopped it as soon as he was caught but Talyn still thinks it's some game to get a switch flick in then take off before we can get to him to reprimand him ... the little devil!!! He's also discovered my kitchen cupboards and drawers but I've given him some safe one's that he is allowed to play in, like the utensil or tea-towel drawer but I have to constantly remind him that the rest are off limits. They have child locks on them mind you but they don't always stop him :)
Talyn's vocab is still mostly gargles and baby babble. He says "mum-mum-mum" very clearly, especially when tired or upset, but mostly the rest is just googly-gock. Simon can't believe he still won't give up a "Daddy" or "Dad-da" yet but it's bound to be any time now. I think he's just holding out for maximum effect *wink* He did just discover the sound of "g" and has created a rather fetching crow impression! hehehe
We've just celebrated Easter here too of course which Talyn thoroughly enjoyed. Of course Caleb had to take care of butting out the egg nests, leaving the carrot and water out for the Easter bunny and such things but Talyn definitely enjoyed his first ever taste of chocolate!!! His little eye's lit up and his mouth went into overdrive :) He also enjoyed his first taste of other party food's at Caleb's 5th birthday party last week too. Oh the joys of discovering yummy tastes for the first time huh :)
We've begun daily story time for him also. It's something that Simon and I feel very strongly about, the benefit's of reading to children cannot be numbered. Caleb was read to from the day he came home from hospital and people are always commenting on his good vocabulary. Talyn got to enjoy Caleb's story time until he began school and I kind of just forgot then to start a story time for Talyn. But this week we've begun the tradition before each afternoon nap. He stands or sits in his cot while I sit on the floor beside the cot so that he cannot reach the pages to rip/turn them. He seemed to really enjoy it so I hope he'll develop a love of books to rival his big brothers in time. That's one thing we have no shortage of around this house - kid's books!! Caleb's bookcase is bulging at the seems so I need to buy Talyn his own bookcase now too so that he can build his collection and take of many of Caleb's baby one's.
Well....I think that's about it for this month?? I'll probably remember a gazillion things that I forgot to mention but I'll leave it here for now. I'll be updating Caleb's page in the coming days with all his birthday/Easter/party news and stacks of pic's so check back there later for the latest :)
Cheers P
26/02/2008 (1year, 1 month, 2week's old!!!)
Well he finally got it!
Talyn is off and walking well and truly now. Where as only a week ago he was really only walking from point A to point B....now he's just walking for walking's sake :)
It looks so freaky too! I'll be in the kitchen and he'll just come toddling around the corner in that funny little Frankenstein walk. Occasionally he'll reach out to steady himself on something but mostly he's fine just to keep on walking. It's SO CUTE!!!!! God help us now - there will be no stopping him!
He's got more inquisitive of late too. I have to lock the kitchen cupboards with child locks again as he's always trying to get into them. I must go and buy some more as I can't find more then one of our old one's that we used for Caleb. I have that on the most important one (the one with the bin and the chemicals under the sink) but I'd really rather not hear him smashing all my plates etc up either. Must get onto that pronto!
The only other change in the world of Talyn since my last entry is that we are now phasing out his formula. At $24 a week that's a good thing! He's having 4 bottles a day still at this stage, of about 150-170ml each. We've now changed two a day over to regular cow's milk with two more to go. I think he'd be fine to just change completely but we are still trying to use up the last 3/4 tin of baby formula up first. Then we'll continue to buy the tin of toddler supplement for a while to ensure he get's all the goodness he needs but we'll give it at the rate of just one bottle/cup a day, so one tin will last about a month which is the maximum opened used by date.
Once he's only having straight cow's milk + 1 supplement, in a week or so, then we'll begin the phase out from bottle to cup. We had some great conversion one's that Caleb used so I'll drag them out again. It's funny to do the whole regular milk thing, seeing as we never got to do that with Caleb due to his dairy allergy. Life is so much easier without allergies!!! :)
Cheers P
20/02/2008 (1year, 1 month, 1week old!!!)
Wow another month has passed already! Golly time flies of late :)
Well what has the little terror been up to of late??
His walking is definitely advancing in leaps and bounds now. He'll still often crawl over a long distance such as from one room to another but he sometimes will still walk the long way but cruise along the wall for parts. He'll walk around within a room, from one place to another. A favorite is to walk (TOTALLY like a little Frankenstein, arms out straight, straight legs up,down,up) to his little lounge and crash down face first into it. He giggles like a little maniac when he does this so he really thinks he's funny.
In fact he'll play with us more and more like that now. Doing something he knows we will think is funny then letting out the loudest, fakest laugh you've ever heard *snicker* He also loves to be chased and 'got' so he'll often crawl off away from me, looking back all the time to make sure I'm following. Then when he hears my growls and stomping feet coming he shoots off like a rocket, squealing in excitement all the way!
Food wise - he is so much easier then Caleb was! It helps that he has no allergies like Caleb did but also he seems game to try and enjoy pretty much anything we put his way. He has weet-bix every day for breaky, usually sandwich, cheese and yoghurt for lunch, then meat and vege/past/rice etc for tea. He loves yoghurt and cheese, biscuits and fruit like banana's, grapes, mango, kiwi, melon and he'll devour a plate of vege's without any complaint. Last night he had just a plate of vege's for tea (potato, pumpkin, beans, carrot and zucchini) then raided our plates for some chicken later when we ate. In fact his little hand was coming up onto the table and helping himself the cheeky monkey!
Funny thing was he already knows what a McDonald's happy meal look like - and he's only 1yr old!!! Caleb get's a happy meal for our once a week take away dinner and yet the other night when I came home with the box Talyn immediately sat up like a dog about to beg and reached up and squealed with delight just at the sight of it!! *shakes head* I guess he has already learnt that Caleb will give him a few fries when he see's that box :)
One thing he is not is inactive. Honestly Talyn never stops! He's always into something, crawling somewhere and often getting up to mischief. The biggest problem behaviours at the moment that we are trying to break is smashing the computer mouse on the desk, getting into the CD's/DVD's and pressing all the buttons on the TV and making a mess of it. All of which he knows damn well he's not meant to do yet he can't seem to help himself. Keeps me on my toes that's for sure.
He's adapted well to Caleb going to school everyday. I think he really missed him at first but now I think he enjoys his days with me and then really enjoys when Caleb get's home. He absolutely LOVES being pushed to and from school twice a day on his trike. The last week or so when it rained every day he screamed bloody murder when he had to ride in his pram instead - not to mention with the rain cover on it as well!
I've now begun the new phase of playgroup - no more Caleb who's at school - just Talyn. And OH MY does he love it!!! Last week he sat up to the morning tea table with all the other kids (his first time ever sitting at a table and chair like that) and then did not stop the whole time we were there. Going from one toy to another, one activity to another, walking off while I'm sitting down then racing back and 'getting' me from behind. He had such a blast!!!! It's actually on twice a week and while I usually go to just the Friday group I think I'll go this morning to the Wednesday group too seeing as he loved it so much :)
Sleep wise he continues to improve. He has a nap at about 9am that last for an hour or more...then another nap at about 1pm that last about the same. He's in bed by 6.30pm and up again about 6.30am. Some nights I'll get up to give him a dummy 3-4 times, other times (like 2 nights out of the last 3) he sleeps straight through. Golly how I hope that continues!!! Simon still get's up to him on weekends though so I can get extra sleep (bless him!) and I'll often have a nana-nap during his arvo nap 1 or 2 days a week which helps take the edge off :)
A few weeks back we left him overnight for the first time ever. Simon, Caleb and I went for a nights camping with friends and left Talyn home with Granny. The boys went out early Saturday morning but I didn't follow until about 3.30pm. That way Talyn was only without us for tea, bath, bed and breaky then we were home about 10am.
Next weekend we are braving a much longer trip. We are off to Brisbane for a night (to attend the Sexpo) and we'll be leaving about 7am Saturday and not getting back until about 11-12am Sunday. Yikes!!! I'm a bit nervous about leaving him so long but I know Granny is great with him and Caleb will be here to keep him company too. But I just know I'll be stressing the whole time!
Caleb never had a sleepover away from us until he was 18months old but I really want to get Talyn used to it at a much younger age. Caleb had also started daycare one day a week at this age but there's no way I'm ready to give Talyn up for a day yet!! Tee-he. I'm thinking maybe around July when he's 18months or so I'll think about putting him in each Friday. We'll see??
Umm...what else? He still has only said 'Da-da' a few times (which drives Simon batty!) but is always chattering and babbling and squealing away. He's very vocal but for whatever reason he's really holding back on Da-da? 'Ma-ma' on the other time I hear ALL the time - and never tire of it *wink*
Well....that's probably enough for now. I've really got to get Caleb's page updated with his school news but that will have to wait for another day. Check back soon! :)
Cheers P
16/01/2008 (1year old!!!)
Oops! I can't believe I forgot to mention an important detail in the last update.
My baby boy took his first steps!!!
The day before his birthday he walked about 3 toddling steps between Daddy and Mummy then did it three times over again back and forth. So exciting! We were squealing and cheering for him. Caleb also walked in the week before his first birthday so Talyn was right on track with his big brothers progress.
However....like every new skill both boys ever develop...he does it once then won't do it again for weeks. Try as we might we couldn't get him to repeat it for his party guests and he's not done it again since then either.
His usual pattern is to gain a new skill, then have Mummy and Daddy think they must have imagined it for at least a few weeks, then suddenly he'll be doing it all the time again. In any case it won't be long and my baby will be a toddler *sob*
I can't believe I almost forgot to share that detail!!??
Talyn also played a game of peek-a-boo with me yesterday for the first time. We have always held him around corners since he was a little bub to play peek-a-boo with Caleb. Yesterday he stood behind the arch way in our lounge and kept popping his grinning little face around the corner at me, just as we had always done with him, and each time he said "Boo". It was so cute!!!! It was surreal to see him play such a deliberate game as such and also the new word 'boo' was so cute to hear too!
Oh I love the adorable little munchkin so!
Cheers P
13/01/2008 (1year old!!!) Happy 1st Birthday Talyn!!!
Well. It's official. My baby boy is a baby no more :(
Talyn celebrated his 1st birthday yesterday with family and friends and had a ball. My family were all out of town but Simon's mom, sister and her husband and new bub came to share the day with us. Talyn's godmother Julie traveled in from out of town and his other godparents (Scotty and his sister Rebecca) and their family all came to join in the fun.
We had a party at home this year. Nothing too formal or organised. Just friends hanging out together, eating good food and having fun. We watched Talyn open his truckload of presents while enjoying some nibblies. Then most people jumped in for a swim before the hot food came out, birthday cake time and more swims.
The cake was so easy this year. Having always had to make Caleb's cakes due to his dairy allergy it was much easier just to order one from the bakery for Talyn this year. And unlike Caleb who has never had a sweet tooth and is yet to ever really enjoy one of his own birthday cakes...Talyn took great delight in eating and smearing his chocolate cake all over him, the highchair and anyone else who passed within swiping range *wink*
My did Talyn get spoiled with gifts. He had so many I'll never remember them all to tell you here but they included stuffed toys, bath toys, clothes, blocks, shape sorters and play tunnels. We got him a push along 3 wheel bike, some cars, a personalised clock for his room and a personalised growth chart for his wall. The bike is fantastic. It has 3 wheels and a little basket on the back. He can put his feet on the retractable foot pegs or peddles as he gets older. From the back of the bike a long bar comes out with a handle for us to push him along, strapped into his seat and then when he gets older the handle can be removed and he can ride himself. It's great. And my friend Rebecca (the godmother) has one for her little girl who's only a few months older so we can walk them both on their bikes while Caleb and Rebecca's son (Caleb's best mate Joel) can ride their bigger bikes beside us :)
Not surprisingly I don't think Talyn really knew the day was anything special for him but he sure did have a good time regardless. He really enjoyed the never ending present opening process and after everyone had gone home and he'd had his afternoon nap he took great delight in crawling around playing with everything.
I've uploaded some pic's of his special day to his album here for anyone who'd like to have a look :)
Cheers P
