Letters from Dad: 2010 Memories of Micah

As I think back about 2010, it's been amazing year of growth for Micah. One thing I've wanted to do is just write down some of the things I remember about it, so we can look back later to think of the funny or amazing things he did. Here's a list of what I recall (in no particular order and some with more detail than others):

Skills and abilities

• "Playing" the guitar with daddy. It started out as just hitting the guitar randomly (which I didn't like too much), but then he learned to strum the guitar nicely. He also likes to feel my guitar pick and drop it in the guitar opening (doh!).
• Blowing kisses without moving his hand off his mouth.
• Brushing his teeth (at least putting the brush in his mouth and biting it).
• Sniffing and blowing his nose. It's really hard to teach someone how to sniff and blow their nose. But he finally got it. For a while, he just wanted tissues all the time to practice blowing, which got old. Now, he likes to smell all the spices we are using to cook. Sometimes he gets his gooey hands or even his nose touching the spice bottle instead, which makes for interesting faces as he tastes or continues to smell the spice.
• Waving. Micah starting waving "hi" and "bye" pretty early. Amazing, he doesn't say the words go along with "hi" but he does say "bye bye" very clearly.
• Looking out the window. He loves to move the curtains aside watch for cars, say goodbye as someone leaves, or find the dowels that we use as additional window locks.
• Waving goodnight. Micah always kisses mommy goodnight and waves to her before daddy puts him to bed. But he's started to not even look at her when he waves now. Instead, his head is snuggled in my shoulder and he's waving backward in a random direction towards mommy.
• Sleeping in a toddler bed. Micah really did well transitioning to a toddler bed. He fell out a few times, but now he'll crawl into bed before we're done reading stories. Of course, he doesn't like to sleep with his head at the top of the bed. Instead, he points toward the footboard and lies with his head that way. Then he looks and says "bu" (blanket) and whinnies like a horse if you don’t give him the blanket with all the horses on it.
• Climbing up and down stairs. Throughout the year, Micah progressed from not even crawling up the stairs to now walking up them while holding our hands. I just recently taught him to hold onto the handrail too and he's already taken 4-5 steps down the stairs on his own (while holding the handrail but not us).
• Words. Some of my favorite words from Micah: "mi mi mi" (milk), "juss" (juice), "nak" (snack), "chhhhhzz" (cheese), "bu bens" (green beans), "blue bear" (blueberry), "pch" (yogurt—he likes peach as his favorite), "mo" with a think Boston accent (more), "pwzzz" (please), "stkkk" (stick), mayman ("mailman"), ep ("help"), "up", "me" (Micah), "elbow", "eyebow" (eyebrow), "noooose" (nose), "dog". He even occasionally says "My ah" (for his own name). But the best one is still "no." Whenever he says it, he sticks out his lips, furrows his brow, and vigorously shakes his head.

Games and activities

• Tent. Micah just got a small, play tent for Christmas and it's setup in the living room. He has all his stuffed animals in it, and he loves to sit in it and ask us to come join him (even though there really isn't any room). He'll even watch Fraggle Rock episodes on the TV from within the tent.
• Mailman obsession. One early Christmas present came via the mailman at our door. Shannon explained that the mailman brought the package for him. Since then, Micah has been obsessed with mail carries, whether USPS, FedEx, UPS, or others. He knows all the books we have that depict mailmen and whenever we build things with the lego or wooden blocks, he wants them to be mail trucks that deliver packages. I just hope the post office is around when he's older because he's got the passion for the job right now.
• Playing the piano. Most of the year, Micah has loved to play the electric keyboard that we have. Plus, he's played the real pianos at Shannon's parents' houses. He even imitates the motions and sounds of playing the piano by moving his fingers up and down and saying "no no no no". He'll even build lego blocks into a piano shape and start "playing" it. Now, he has his own piano (from Christmas) and loves to tink around on it.
• Hide and seek. Micah loves to hide behind pillows or other objects and be found. He also loves to close his eyes (especially in his high chair after dinner) and call out for mommy and daddy as if we can't see him. He gets so excited if we start to say "Where's Micah?"
• Running in circles. I don't know what it is, but he also loves to get dizzy. He runs around in circles around the house or spins in place and then tries to walk around, without much success. We have a great circular route through the kitchen, living room, and dining room, and one of his favorite games is to chase (or be chased) around the circle many, many, many times.
• Ring around the rosy. He's just learned to play ring around the rosy and he loves the falling down person. It always ends with lots of clapping and him asking for more.
• Making animals sounds. Micah seems to make more animal sounds than actual words, but he's good at them. He knows the pig, lion, bear, cat, dog, elephant, monkey, gorilla, seal (barking and clapping), octopus (squishy sounding), owl, and more that I'm forgetting.
• Reading books. Micah loves books. His favorite books seem to change every few weeks, but he will always pull out loads of books from his bookshelf, ask you to sit, and then come sit on your lap to read him a story. This isn't many things more precious than that.
• Asking us to sit. Micah is happiest when mommy and daddy are both playing with him. To get us there, he often points to the couch or a spot on the floor next to him, and then says "daddy" (or "mommy") and "sttt" to get us sit down with him. It's really hard to turn down. Once there, you'll likely have Micah in your lap or tackling you to start playing.

He's such a special little boy. It's amazing to think how much he's grown and how much he can do after less than 2 years. And it's also amazing to think back to these abilities and games that we never knew about until this past year. Some are taught, some Micah invented. All I know is that it's a joy to be his parent.