It's My Way or the Highway Mommy!!

I'll admit, as much as Boston's smiles and contagious laughter bring about everything that is good and joyous in this life his scream can send me wanting to run away and hide until it's all over.
I think it's safe to say that at 21 months the "terrible two's" have hit... hard! He pulls me, pushes me, points and whines to try and get his way. I'd like to think that I never give in, but I know I do, all in the attempts to avoid a melt down. It's funny how kids sneak up on you. One minute he was this innocent little baby who couldn't do any wrong really, and all of a sudden I've come to the realization that he knows exactly what he is doing and I'm left grasping for some sense of control.
Why did I think parenting was going to be easier than this? We watch Supernanny, I read all the parenting books, I'm the queen of schedules and teaching kids to self-sooth and yet I swear I have the monster child of the neighborhood. Yesterday, one of our darling neighbor boys said to me "he's a really whiney kid huh!"
I suppose I really shouldn't expect anything different. I was the worst kid I've ever heard of. All of my babysitters hated me, and JT got into more mischief than I could ever even think up, so it's no wonder our kid would present some challenges along the way.
I'm not asking for advice, infact.. I'll be honest, I don't want it. I'm stuck in my ways. I know what I believe I should do but I'll also admit I'm not perfect and I often find myself doing things I know I shouldn't.
I don't believe he has a hearing problem because he seems to hear us when he wants to and follows instructions very well. I do however come with two questions/concerns that I need help on that are not disiplinary in nature. If any of you have experienced these issues let me know. At 18 months it seemed like Boston was right on track with his language skills. He could point to 3 body parts, say about 15 words and make a few animal sounds. Slowly over the last 2 months I've watch him drop word after word until now he only says Juice, mama, daddy, wiggle, bye, and mo which I'm not sure if it means more or not. He will not say one animal sound. He will not make the airplane sound which he would always do. He will not point to one body part. He jibber jabbers constantly and then just pulls me and shows me whatever he wants. I don't believe he is autistic because he doesn't show one other sign other than the fact that he's a bit shy around other kids and will sometimes go off and do his own thing. He is very affectionate and interacts with me and JT. All these speech problems coinside with some major sleep issues (a.k.a not falling asleep for hours after being put down, not napping well, waking up at night and thinking he is up for the day at 3am etc.) he has also been unusually ornery as mentioned above all over the past couple of months. I don't know if his lack of sleep is affecting his learning or not. My other concern is I know he watches too much TV. I got myself in a rut over the winter and since his attention span is so short it seems like it's the only thing he will do that lasts more than a couple minutes where I can get an occasional thing done. I'm working on that with Summer approaching :) So.. could the TV be inhibiting his speech? (Curious George talks in eee ee oos) or do you think this is a control battle he is putting up or do you think he has a real problem? My biggest issue is the regression, not the speed of him learning to speak. Don't be scared to tell me please, but I am nervous to take him in to the doctor fearing that maybe something is really wrong or maybe they will laugh at me for being a stupid first time Mom. So any advice on the speech thing/ TV issue would be greatly appreciated!