Michael is 45 inches tall and weighs 45 lbs. He is missing his two bottom teeth (which are growing in fast and, alas, crooked). One of his top teeth are also loose - this he discovered after one of his friends lost both of his top teeth. I'm not sure if Michael's tooth was really loose or if he just wiggled it loose, but he was sure delighted. "Mom, I have the most exciting news to tell!" he announced to me and everyone else in the family.As of the beginning of the summer he can ride a two-wheeler bike on his own, although he is very cautious with it and walks it up and down hills. Just today I watched him slam on the brakes in the driveway and make a foot-long skid mark. Wonderful, I thought to myself. The days of having a clean, white driveway are numbered.
Other accomplishments this summer include going across the monkey bars at the beach by himself. Not the monkey bars at school or at home though. They're too high. The beach must hold a certain amount of magic for Michael for he also WILLINGLY and ON HIS OWN put his head under the water and didn't come up crying. This is probably the biggest accomplishment of the year for he has hated getting his eyes and face wet ever since he was little.
Michael can whistle but can't blow bubbles with his gum yet. His favorite colors are red, yellow, gold, and blue. His favorite tv shows are Clone Wars, Sponge Bob Squarepants, Dragon Tales, and Word Girl. His favorite anything is anything that has to do with Star Wars or Clone Wars, especially Star Wars Lego and lightsabers. He has 3 lightsabers but that doesn't seem to be enough as he has already put another two on his Christmas list. He sings loudly the Star Wars theme song as he plays.
Michael has now added garbage to his list of things he collects. Well, he doesn't call it garbage, he calls it treasure. Gum wrappers, popsicle sticks, old fuses, string, plastic forks from samples at Costco, and BOTTLE CAPS. He jumps at the chance to take back returnables because he can look for the bottle caps on the floor. This does not please me as I understand how many germs are on the floor and on the bottle caps. However, most often they don't make it out of his pocket and I find them in the washing machine clean and shiny, so no harm no foul, I guess.
Other "treasures" of Michael include 66 pencils collected from every party or free event (yes I counted them!), 10 hacky sacks, a toteful of stickers, 30 plastic mardi gras beaded necklaces, 60 buttons collected from FIRST robotics events, various business cards that look pretty or interesting, and a whole bunch of trinkets and toys that he's collected from the pinata break at birthday parties. I've even been known to stuff his pinata with his "excess" treasures, but don't tell him - he hasn't missed them yet!
Like his mother used to, Michael hoards candy. He's got a small bin full of candy whose origins I'm sure date back to last Halloween. In fact, just today, he found some from Easter that he'd forgotten about.
Michael's a pretty good eater. His favorite breakfast is apple and blueberry pancakes with syrup; lunch is a toasted ham and provolone cheese sandwich; and dinner is pizza. Tonight he asked for tacos, though, which apparently is a new favorite. He likes carrots and bananas and broccoli and salmon, the latter he always gives me grief for serving and then promptly gobbles it up. Dessert is, of course, his favorite part of the meal. Chocolate chip cookies and Oreos (double stuffed) are his very favorites, along with any kind of ice cream.
He's really imaginative and likes to be alone to create new lego ships or play with his Star Wars figures (figgers is how he pronounces them). I often catch him in his room just staring off into space, thinking about or dreaming of something only a six-year old can.
Michael is usually pretty sweet and easy going, but lately he's been a bear: whiny and cranky and cantankerous. The type of behavior that comes at the end of the summer and makes moms everywhere dream of the beginning of school. Last night as I was lying in bed with him I learned that he's not very excited about going to first grade because "I'll be away from you, Mama."
Melt my heart. Even with all of this growing and independence, Michael still loves to hug and cuddle and confide in me. I hope he always will.
