In the last few weeks Moriarty has started talking a lot. He regularly says please, though it sounds more like peas. It makes me melty and I struggle to maintain the proper parental role. I want to give him ALL THE THINGS. But, with a lot of effort, I have stood fast. He's getting more food names down like cheese, [avo]cado, chicken, berry, apple, fish and beans. Nana is old hat now (though I still have to hide them in the cupboard). He has a toy bus and now says bus. He has been saying ball for a long time (more like bah) and now also says bath, though it sounds suspiciously similar to ball. Context helps a lot. He repeats things he might not understand fully like elbow and boop (onomatopoeia is not lost on toddlers for long). He has a favorite word that sounds like appoooo and I have no idea what it means but he says it every day and laughs. Maybe he's pretending to sneeze like in his book Pigs Make Me Sneeze. He tells me when he gets owies or has gone poo poo. And the most indicative of a new phase of toddler-hood, he has acquired yes and no. He was nodding yes for a while now but said it recently but just tonight he said no for the first time. He just made the 16 month cut-off by a few hours. He was having his bath, which he loves because there are balls and splashing, but he bathes in a big plastic tub because we don't have a bathtub. When he stands up he is more likely to slip so he knows (and we remind him) if he stands in the bath he has to get out. All done. And then he sits back down. Tonight he was standing and Pip asked if he was all done and ready to get out of the bath, Moriarty said 'no', and sat back down. It happened twice. We have a replicate! I'm so proud and also excited that the first time was information transfer not defiance.
That's most of the excitement. We bought a backpack style carrier and are carting him around with more storage space for the farmer's market trips. He ate his first hamburger (home cooked of course) but his mouth isn't big enough to eat properly so he open faced the meat and ate it from the middle. He got serious ketchup face. Pip made leek soup this week and Moriarty ate it with his spoon like an expert. Legitimate spooning of drippy soup into his mouth without spilling! Fava beans are harder because he doesn't seem to want to chew them so he chokes. We'll have to wait a while to try those again. He got a taste of lemon at school as part of a sensory exploration exercise and really likes it. And last, but certainly not least, he's obsessed with his monkey suit and wants to wear it every day. For about 10 minutes before it gets uncomfortable. There's a great pic of him kissing himself in the mirror wearing it. He's amazing. Pip also caught a video of him getting stuck in his duplo bucket.
If you haven't heard yet we are buying a house. Our offer was accepted, our inspection went great, closing is scheduled for 8/12. We are planning some updates before we move in and then projects as we go (but I don't want to live in a construction site for long). It's ~2K sq ft of living space and another ~2K sq ft of shop and partially finished basement (more shop). 2.75 acre lot. We hit the jackpot. Moriarty will get a tree house and we'll cut hiking trails and get chickens and someday goats!!!