The Talens' Tales

Just a few little stories from this past week. Joash has discovered the purpose of his nose. To smell things. While he still doesn't get the concept of  inhaling to smell, he certainly tries a lot. He smells all kinds of things: his hands, his toys, his food, his spoon. He is pretty proud of himself, since he thinks he is really smelling stuff. In reality, he just exhales all over everything. Joash has also discovered the fun to playing hide and seek. This usually happens around bath time. He will come up stairs with me and then run away giggling. Most of the time, I am right on his tail, so he just lays down on the floor and covers his eyes and laughs. Sometimes he hides in a different room. He tries to get behind a book rack, but since there are no books on it, it is pretty easy to figure out where he is. One day this week he did start to get the concept of actually hiding. I started filling the tub for him and then went in the hall to find him. I didn't hear him, which i...

 M(om): Joash, can you believe it? J(oash): Believe what Mom? M: You are 18 months old already! 1 1/2 years old! What a big boy you are! J: Thanks Mom! I like being a big boy. I like it when you let me sit next to you on the couch or put me in a chair by myself. I like that I can run around outside and pick up lots of fun things like rocks and pine cones. M: It is fun to see all of the different things you do everyday. What else do you like to do? J: Oh, the same things as always, really. But now I really like to push my trucks and tractors. I like to push them back and forth with you. And I like to put my animals in the barn and say the sounds they make. I also like to point out things on pictures, including people like Oma and Opa. M: Any new things you can do? J: I can go down the stairs by myself now. And I sometimes like to give you a hug and a kiss. M: That is really nice. What new words can you say? J: A lot of them. Oma, Opa, apple, bath, bed, wall, wo...

Today after lunch, Joash decided that he wanted to take a pretend nap with Dad before his real nap. Wilbert was more than happy to pretend with Joash. He even introduced Joash to the fine art of fake snoring. Soon, Joash would lay his head on his bunny and proceed to snore. It is was really cute, and reminded me of all the other ways Joash copies us already. For example, the other day we were reading devotions after supper. Wilbert is a finger-licking page turner. After devotions, Joash wanted to look at the Bible a bit more. He then licked a few fingers on one hand and turned the page in the Bible. He used the hand he did not lick to turn the page, but it was still really funny. Joash has decided he likes to brush his teeth now. He likes to try and do it himself, and his favorite part is rinsing off his toothbrush in the sink. He rinses the brush and then taps it a few times on the edge of the sink. I know he learned that from me, because we often brush our teeth together. Wil...

We have been enjoying some amazing weather the last few days. And since Joash has decided that being outside is much more fun that being inside, we have been taking advantage of every minute. We have now picked up just about every stick in our yard, collected pine cones and some rocks in a bucket, and touched all of the crocuses that are blooming. We even have snack time outside. Joash sometimes like to wear his sunglasses. They are a bit big on him, so if he is wearing them while he is walking, he is always pushing them back up. It is quite cute. but, more often he wears them for about 30 seconds and then takes them off. I don't know about you, but we are ready for summer!

It has been fun to see Joash's imagination coming to life. Sometimes he pretends to drink out of a cup (or anything that looks like a cup) with nothing in it. He like to pick up a phone (or anything in a rectangular shape) and pretend to talk on the phone. And the other day he did this: I was building a little structure for him and decided it looked like a chair. He sat down, backed up into it and starting looking at a book. You never know what he will do next.

Sometimes things are not always what they seem. That sentence rang true for this book on many different levels. Heather is a driven career woman. She is working out a deal to sell her family’s land in Texas and get a huge contract that will guarantee her a promotion at work. Everything looks great until her mother and brother have a change in plans. Heather goes to Texas to try and sort things out and soon finds herself in the middle of something much bigger than she imagined. While trying to sort out the truth about her family, her father’s death and her feelings for a high school classmate, Heather finds she has to choose between the life she has and the life she discovers she really wants. I will admit that when I started this book, I thought it was going to be another predictable story. The cover looked like it, the first few chapters seemed like it. But, boy was I wrong.  I don’t want to give too much away, but the plot had so many more layers than it first appeare...

It seems that everyday Joash finds some different things to do. Little tasks that he really enjoys and takes very seriously. His little missions. For example, he is now starting to pick up his toys a little bit at the end of the day. Espeically his books. He will pick up all of the books and put them in the books basket. He takes this little mission very seriously and checks over the floor several times to make sure he has gotten all of the books. Another thing he really enjoys doing is playing with cookie cutters. My cookie cutters are stored in a tin. If I open the tin, he will take all of the cookie cutters out, one by one and lay them on the floor. Then he will put them back in the tin, one by one. One his latest missions in the pop cans in the pantry. He will take each pop can out of the box...  And then walk a few steps over the table and set the can on the table. And then he will take them down again and put them back in the box. He did this at least three...

I know we are a bit late in saying that. That is because while Easter Sunday was last Sunday, due to a snow storm, church was cancelled and our Easter Service is now this coming Sunday. But, Jesus is Risen and we can celebrate Easter any day we choose. Joash got a nice big box in the mail yesterday too with an Easter card and gifts from his grandma, grandpa and great-grandma. Grandma and Grandpa gave Joash some really cute summer clothes. So watch out for the fashionable little man this summer. Great-grandma sent the bear in the picture above. As you can see, Joash really likes it. When you push the button on its foot, the bear speaks and plays peek-a-boo. Joash laughs every time. What a fun way to be reminded of the love from our family far away, and the love of our Savior.

Joash likes to do silly things now like get in a box or a basket. Then we of course cannot help but put a lot of other stuff in the box too. This usually leads to Joash having great fun throwing out everything that we had worked so hard to put in the box.  Joash and his Megablocks Joash and a few of his stuffed animals. He sat in this basket for a long time because he also had a truck with him. It was too high for him to get out on his own, so he was nicely contained for while. That sure helps the cleaning process!

I am still catching up a bit from our time on the farm. A few days over March break were more like summer than spring and we loved it!The crocuses came up Joash loved visiting the animals in the barn and taking us on walks. He is very good at pulling you by the hand to where he wants to go. He does pretty well in the barn. He is brave enough to walk by himself, but not to brave to get to close to anything. He also cannot walk over silage, he must walk around any silage in his path, which can be tricky at times. Here are Joash and Wilbert checking out a cow.  Joash also tested out Wilbert's sun glasses on the sunny days. He thought he was pretty big stuff!

Since we were staying on the farm last week, Joash got a chance to spend some time in the tractor with his Dad. He enjoyed every minute of it, and would have liked to spend a lot more time in the tractor. We are looking forward to the summer when there is a lot more tractor time. Joash will really enjoy that.

M(om): Joash, do you know what time it is? J(oash): Time for some cheese? M: No Joash. It is time for another interview. You are 17 months old already. J: I know Mom. I have been 17 months for a week now. Why didn't you do this interview earlier? M: We were at the farm and it is just easier to do it when we are at our house. So, how is life? J: It is good, especially now that I am starting to feel better. M: I know Joash, we were both not feeling well for a while. I will be glad when this is behind us. What things are new in your life? J: Well, I like that you are finally starting to understand me when I say a few words. Now you know when I want bread, see a clock or a ball, and I can say bye. M: It is fun to hear you speak a little, though I don't think many other people other than your dad and I could understand you. What other things do you like to do? J: Well, I still love to read books and go to the library. I also like pointing out all sorts of thin...