Talyn's Travel's!
From 2 - 3 years & beyond....
October 22nd 2009...
These are our most recent family portraits. Now these are only photo's of the photo's so the quality is not the best but it's enough to give you a general idea :)
August 20th 2009...
Well I just finished a massive update on Caleb's page so I figured I'd best come and update things here while I'm at it :) Oh...I just realised I said the same thing at the start of the last entry....hehehe
I've said a lot of the family/holiday type news on Caleb's page so I won't repeat that again here so....what's this little cherub been up to?
Well he is continuing to do fabulously well at daycare two days a week. After years of tears and guilt from Caleb, with Talyn, I finally have a child that just waves me goodbye and goes off to play. I love it!!!! :))
He goes to daycare Tuesdays and Thursdays, Mondays we usually visit the library and art gallery together, Wednesday is playgroup day for us and Friday is usually the day we'll run errands, do a little shopping etc or visit a friend for a play. It's always an action packed week and then the weekend hits and it gets even more hectic!!! *wink*
Next weekend I think we are finally moving Talyn from his cot to his big boy bed too. We've been meaning to get around to it for ages but we had to save up to get him a new doona, pillow and valance first so we hope to get all that next week then move him that weekend. I'm sure he'll do great with it and if he's anything like Caleb he'll be thrilled with his big boy bed. Caleb never gave us trouble getting out of it etc so I hope Talyn's move will go just as smoothly.
We have been struggling with the dreaded 2yr old tantrums a bit of late but the only way to manage it is consistency and as much calm as we can manage. We use the 'naughty corner' for Talyn just as we did with Caleb and while he's not doing so well at being quiet there yet he does stay put at least. When a few minutes have passed we sit down and talk to him about how he ended up there and we make sure he comes out and says sorry to whoever was involved for the actions that got him in trouble in the first place. Now if we can just get him to be quiet there too instead of howling the place down.....*wink*
We are off on yet another family holiday in a few weeks time for Simon's birthday which we are all looking forward to. But I've got that story on Caleb's page so again, I won't repeat it here too :)
And father's day is coming around again soon. I love all the little gifts the boys hand make at school and daycare for their beloved Daddy :)
The other task we've pretty much accomplished of late is toilet training. He of course still wears a nappy to bed and he still often has a nappy on to go out etc but he is more than capable of managing the potty when he's in training pants. Even last night when he was in his nappy and pj's ready for bed he decided he needed to do a wee so he took himself off to the toilet, took his clothes and nappy off, did his wee in the potty then brought it out so show us all :)) Clever boy! He wears undies at daycare too so I really need to bite the bullet and start taking him out and about in them each day too. Caleb did really well with that, I'd just offer the toilet a lot, remind them they had pants on and ultimately carry a few spare undies and shorts just in case of little accidents. Hmmm yes...I think it's high time I got these day nappies gone for good....tomorrow will be the day to hit the shops in big boy pants for sure ;) Wish me luck!
Talyn's talking is well and truly back on track now. He never shuts up!!!! He chatters away incessantly, very clearly and is easily making several word sentences now. It's very cute to listen to him gab away. He's quite the drama queen when he get's going! Gestures and wild actions to match his stories etc. He's so funny!
We've continued to get the boys used to being babysat by our neighbour of late. We've had two nights out so far and while Caleb is an angel, Talyn is still good but instead of being in bed where we leave him he's gotten up and get's to stay up and play quite a while. I think she's just not familiar with how we settle him and he takes full advantage of her to get up and play for longer ;) She doesn't mind though and both boys have been no trouble for her so that's a relief at least :)
Ahh I love em both so!!!
Cheers P
June 4th 2009...
Well I've just finished updating Caleb's page so I thought I'd best come here and fill you all in on Talyn's latest also :) Also rather then repeat myself here, pop on over to Caleb's page to hear all about our family getaway planned for next weekend - extended family and all - yahoo!!!! We are all so looking forward to that...like REALLY!! :)
So what else is new in the world of Talyn?? Were do I begin. Well since today is daycare day I may as well begin there. He loves it! Like seriously love's it. After the years of hell we went through with Caleb's separation anxiety Talyn is an absolute treasure!! He goes every Tuesday and Thursday and from when he is told it's daycare day he nods and smiles and calls out Ms Nommy's name (Naomi) - his room leader who is just lovely. He never cries when I leave and instead just get's on with playing. When we collect him I just love to see him spot us and run over waving wildly saying "Ello Mummy, Ello Daddy!!" which he does with the cutest little cockney type accent :)
Speaking of speech....boy that boy has not looked back of late. He's talking like a right little trooper. So much emotion, humour, excitement and understanding there ...after his slow start it's great to see him catch up to normal. Other's still have trouble understanding some things he says which is normal at this age but Simon, Caleb and I can usually understand clearly what he says or wants. He talks in his sleep even which is so funny. He can even let out a full excited squeal mid sleep and not even stir?? tee-he He doesn't need to see the speech therapist anymore and I'm sure....like his brother...now that's he's caught up he'll NEVER shut up *wink*
We finally got rid of his bedtime dummy since last entry. As with Caleb, it was pretty easy. We snipped the end almost through, showed it to him and asked him to put it in the bin. We had a few tears for the first day or two then that was it. I mean so long as you don't cave it really has no choice but to work quickly :) He never looked back :) And the best part is that now he doesn't wake most nights looking for it he pretty much always sleeps through at last. Occasionally he'll wake for a drink but that's about it. Yey!
We are still working on the toilet training but that is progressing slowly. Having said that when he has training pants or jocks on he always runs off to use the potty just fine...it's just that with the weather cooling down it's harder to leave him in just undies so now we need to get him pulling his pants down too. Sometimes easier said than done in the winter woollies. That's why I'd hoped to get this done before winter...which we've come a long way towards doing....it just needs us to be more vigilant with it really? Life has been kinda crazy of late to say the least but as things settle back down we'll ditch those daytime nappies in no time. At least he is able and willing to use the potty which is half the battle and he can recognise when he needs to. Then the cutest thing is when he runs to us jumping up and down and clapping saying "more wee - more wee!". And we are expected to jump and clap in return ;)
As many of you know we don't have any family support or babysitter in town so getting out alone for 'adult' time has been non existent for us this year. So we have decided to do something about it. Our elderly neighbours have said many times how they'd like to babysit for us and we've decided to take the plunge and let them :) We had to go to a funeral last week so we took the opportunity to leave Talyn with Norma for 2hrs while we did (Caleb was at school). We left him at her place so her dog's could distract him and he did great! Now we just need to built up to an evening outing. My birthday is at the end of this month and we'd LOVE to have our fist night out together this year. What could go wrong right?? snicker. Norma would come to our place for the evening until we got home and we could have the boys settled into bed before hand so I'm sure it would go ok?? We just need to get over our fear and get on with it :)
We have been taking them out with us a lot more - out of necessity when there is no babysitter we have to take them, go separate or not go at all. Caleb is great to take out at his age but Talyn can be a little more challenging. We do take books, pens, toy cars etc and ply him with snacks and drinks but his shelf life of sitting at a table is pretty limited. Oh the joys of boisterous 2yr olds huh ;) Is ok though....this phase will be passed before we even know it so I'm enjoying every second of it for now.
Before we know it, number 3 will be here!! *wink*
Cheers P
April 2nd 2009.....
Finally!!!! I've been trying to get around to this update for far too long so today is the day!! I've not done an update since just after Christmas so I should begin by telling you all about his 2nd birthday which was January 12th.
Well...it was a great day!! His birthday actually fell on a Monday (when I had to work 2-11pm) so we had his party on the Sunday before. We spent the morning at home playing before all of his friends and family arrived for a pool party at our house. It was meant to go from 10am-12pm but I don't think we waved the last person off until 3pm - it was that much fun!! We all swam, had water fights and just generally played in the backyard, sandpit, cubby house, trampoline and swings.
As usual he was thoroughly spoilt with gifts that included instruments, wiggles toys and a little wiggles lap table, books, swimming muscles, clothes, swimmers, Thomas travel bag on wheels, bop bags, a toy sizzling BBQ with play food, footballs, toy cars, and so much more I can't even remember now. He enjoyed a yummy cake and lunch with all his friends then the evening was spent playing with toys at home.
The next day, his actual birthday he got to open all of his gifts from us and we all enjoyed a morning at the park before it was time for me to head off to work :( It was really sad to work on his birthday as I've never missed one of the boy's big days before but it was only the evening and at least I'd been there for the celebrations the day prior for his party.
Since then he just continues to grow like a weed and his little character is coming out more and more every day :)
He has still had some delays with his speech so we took him to the speech therapist recently for testing and advice. Seems his speech is only slightly delayed but his comprehension etc was spot on. She wasn't too concerned about it and assured us it would catch up in no time. Until we see her again we have some little exercises to do with him but basically we are just working hard to get him to say what he wants instead of grunts etc and to label as many things are we can for him to get to learn. He does at least say a few dozen words now and is beginning to say two and three word sentences at long last so we are making some progress at last.
He started another big chapter of his life last week - daycare!!! Caleb started daycare at 1yr old but I kept putting off doing it for Talyn since Caleb gave me the most awful guilt trip tears every single morning for years of daycare. For Talyn's daycare we found a great new, modern and secure centre that provides everything - food, drinks, nappies, wipes you name it! All we have to pack each day is spare clothes and his naptime bedding...so much easier then making lunches. We had originally planned to only start with one day a week as Caleb had but this particular centre does a minimum of two days a week so he goes each Tuesday and Thursday.
The first day he only stayed 2hrs until lunchtime, the 2nd day he stayed for his first naptime and the third day he had his first full day. The naptime went great which was a relief seeing as they only have little stretcher beds and Talyn is used to his cot. We did have some tears on day 2 and 3 when he realised he'd be left there but the workers say it settles instantly once we leave and that he has a ball the rest of the day. Today when Simon dropped him off for his 4th day he said there was only a whimper so *fingers crossed* he may not turn out to be a daily cryer like Caleb always was.
When we arrived to collect him on his first day they had a laminated poster made for us with photo's of all the things Talyn had enjoyed playing with on his first day - how nice is that!!
He's enjoyed the meals they serve there too. Either morning tea or afternoon tea is fruit and the other is crackers and cheese or some other snack, lunch is usually sandwiches with one hot meal a week. I think it's a good idea for all the kids to be eating the same thing there and unlike Caleb with his allergies, Talyn will eat pretty much anything and lot's of it!!
I swear that boy is a TOTAL eating machine *wink*
He's forever running to the kitchen cupboard pleading "Eeaatt"...tee-he. He and Caleb both do have a healthy diet though and love fruit, popcorn, sultana's or yoghurt for snacks, sanga's and more fruit for lunch and meat and veg for tea so I can't complain.
Talyn just absolutely loves his big brother Caleb! He follows him around to play and do whatever he wants to do and loves going to school every day with me to drop off or pick up Caleb. They seem to squabble over EVERYTHING they play with but I guess that's two boy's for you?? Talyn is the more dominant one towards Caleb as far as throwing toys etc at him and Caleb seems to enjoy nothing more than dobbing on Talyn but I guess all that will change when Talyn is able to speak more.
Physically he's a lot more capable then Caleb was at his age. If I had to categorize the two I'd pick Caleb as the scholar and Talyn as the athlete. He just seems so much more capable with running, jumping etc then Caleb was at his age??
Like Caleb did, Talyn very much thrives on routine. He knows that after lunch comes story time in bed then a nap. He usually naps for about 1.5-2hrs of a daytime. He knows after tea comes bath, teeth brushing and a short play before another story and bedtime about 7pm. He almost never plays up for his bedtime and I think that comes from a predictable routine since birth in that regard. Unlike his big brother he is, thankfully, much more into sleep-ins. While Caleb is up from 6am or earlier Talyn will sleep in until after 7am - IF he's not woken by Caleb noise :) We quickly learnt the effect of combining the two while on holidays recently when the boys shared a room. This meant they were both awake at 5.30am - hence we all had to be. Oh my!!!
We've enjoyed a few family trips of late which is something we never did much last year. For Valentine's day we all spent a night in a cabin in Bargara and last month we spent a weekend in another fantastic cabin at a tourist park in Forest Glenn and had such a blast. This weekend we have planned another impromptu weekend away - at Noosa this time. We are all so looking forward to it and the boys just love seeing us pack their little travel suitcases on wheels and load up into the car for a fun family adventure :) They have the portable DVD player in the car for big trips and for the most part are great travellers :)
On our return we have a new mission for young Talyn. The removal of the dummy!!! Both of our boys were only allowed their dummy's in their cot only from a very young age - we can't stand big kids out and about with dummy's plugging up their face!! Caleb had his removed at 2yrs old and it went surprisingly easy. For Talyn we will use the same technique we did for Caleb - I'll snip the dummy a little with scissors then show Talyn that it is 'broken' and have him throw it in the bin himself. We had only minor tears and tantrums from Caleb with this method and it was all over in less than 48hrs but given the stubborn nature and firey temper Talyn has (not from his Mummy I'm sure *wink*) I'm not sure he'll give up so easy?? We want to get it done though so that he stops waking us up most nights to go in and find his dummy and plug it back in for him. He probably does that about 4 nights a week and one to two times a night so it will be fantastic for us all to sleep through every night once that is over - BLISS!
Our other task at the moment is toilet training. Oh the joys of that! I must admit I've been less than consistent with this so with winter coming up I want to hurry up and get it over and done with. Talyn wears his training underpants to do this and so far has done one poo and two wee's in the potty but for the most part he only notices it after he has already wet his pants. I just have to commit to staying home and facing the inevitable puddles for a couple of weeks and that can be one more big task behind us. Then down the track it will be the move from cot into his big bed. But I think the dummy and toilet training will be enough of a task for now :)
Anyhoo....I've got lots to organise before we go away tomorrow so I'd best leave it here for now.
You can view Talyn's latest pic's here.....Caleb's latest update here.....and Caleb's latest pic's here. Enjoy
Cheers P
Daycare Pic - June 09
