In the car today Pip and Moriarty had this exchange:
Pip: Moriarty, I have a question
Moriarty: Yes?
Pip: Why are you so cute?
Moriarty: *long pause* I'm a baby, Daddy. [singing] I'm a baby. I'm a baby.
I'm not sure he could be cuter. When he wakes up in the morning or from his nap he sings to himself and I hear it through the baby monitor. I'm told I used to do the same thing. He's starting to make up song lyrics too. A favorite song he learned at school is called Slippery Fish. It's adorable, and about the circle of life (bigger fish eating smaller fish). But while we were baking last week he changed the words from Slippry Fish to Spatula and created a song about his spatula swimming in the water. He charms strangers everywhere we go. He just talks to people and asks them questions. A couple weeks ago he approached the lady using the ATM and asked her what it was and what she was doing. He's so tiny they're always impressed and charmed.
The biggest news this month is that Moriarty has become a potty master. All the books told us to prompt him to use the potty, but he says "no" every time we ask if he needs to go. He tells us when he wants to go. Period. And I'm learning to trust him. It stresses me out when he goes down for his nap without peeing first, but he hasn't had an accident since the week we took the diapers away. He's a rock star! When he learned he could wear underwear now he only wanted pink, so that's what we got him. Some striped, some with hearts, and even one with butterflies.
We've been seeing a lot of Pip's family lately. We went hiking last weekends while Pam and Kent were here. The toddlers are so cute together. They give each other hugs and have toddler conversations. They held hands some of the time we were hiking. It was adorable. We hiked down to a beach and got our feet wet in the water. There was also a wealth of slugs including 'nana slugs' and 'hot dog slugs' (as the brown ones have been named).
We've been spending a lot of time out weeding the garden. Moriarty is a great helper. He helps pick up the weeds and put them in buckets. And he plays with the dirt and even puts little piles of dirt on the window sills he can reach. I don't particularly want piles of dirt, but he he's so happy and I can clean it up easily.
The last exciting update this month involves muffins. Some of you know that I have a burning passion for muffins. To the point that I describe Moriarty as being grown from little more than muffins and coffee. Up until now he hasn't been able to eat muffins because he has an egg allergy. But, our allergist agreed to do a baked egg challenge and Moriarty passed with flying colors. We got to bake a batch of special muffins and bring them into the clinic. Then he got specific doses over the visit and they watched for reactions. He did great and can now bake banana muffins with me using the same recipe my mommy used to make. He's a great helper. He pours out the ingredients into the bowl. He turns on the mixer (and keeps his fingers away). And he's an expert at eating the muffins! We have to limit his intake to foods where egg isn't a primary ingredient and they're baked at ~350 for 10+ min, but that opens a whole world of breads and baked goods, as well as egg as binder like in lasagna and swedish meatballs.