This has been a month of parties and adventures. We had 2 family visits. The Lafleur's came to us, and the next week we drove to Idaho to see the solar eclipse with the Johnson's. The eclipse itself was amazing, but Moriarty made it even more wonderful. I spent some time trying to explain that the moon was blocking the sun and that's why it wasn't a circle (through eclipse glasses of course), and that's why it was going to get dark. I'm not sure he fully grasped because he ran around telling people "the sun is blocking the moon", then "the moon is blocking the sun!". Either way he was so excited and we got to enjoy the experience as a family.
While we were in Idaho he shocked everyone there by putting himself down for a nap. For the last several weeks he'll occasionally say "I'm sleepy now" or "I'm ready for my nap", but this was different. The cousins were being put down for their naps so Pip went to find Moriarty to put him down. He found him in his bed with his blanket and animals. Moriarty asked Pip to get me so I could sing him a song. He's just amazing.
He's also maturing so much. I got into a minor car wreck so my neck has been very sore and I've been less able to help him in the evening. Last night he was very hurt by this and after refusing to let me read him bedtime stories (telling me "Go away" and "Leave me alone") he came and found me and said "You hurt my feelings. I'm sad". He couldn't clarify why, but I was so impressed that he could label his feelings and felt safe expressing them. He's also started telling me he loves me on a regular basis. He's so expressive and vulnerable. I feel so lucky.
Moriarty has enjoyed "reading" books to himself for a long time, but tonight was the first time he told us the story of a book out loud. He read Go Dog Go to us. He got close to the actual text on several pages because we've read the book so many times. He used similar voices and cadence to how we tell the story. "Do you like my hat?"
Other highlights of the last couple of months include a trip to Frank and Marcella's Street Food Festival. Their younger daughters adore Moriarty and dote on him every time we visit. We took him to his first music concert, the fabulous 90s rock band Cake. It was at the amphitheater at the zoo and we brought a picnic. There was dancing and much enjoyment. We've also started playing simple card/board games. I learned about a simplification of Uno and we played a long time while we waited during his most recent food challenge (cashews are a go). He voted (our ballots of course) and we picked fresh raspberries and made jam. Moriarty's job was to smash the berries with a potato masher. He excels at smashing things!
Tonight he told me he is a unicorn. He meant because his teacher puts tiny ponytails in the front of his hair, but I think he's a unicorn in a lot more senses of the word.