Spotlight on Michael (uhh...what's new?)

I'm in love with this photo of Michael and have to get a nice print for our living room.  Some things we've noticed about our rough & tumble toddler lately (you know, the details that really no one cares about except a mother):

• Adores music--begs for songs such as Grease, Key Largo, Reflections, Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport, Hot Potatoe, Stayin' Alive, pretty much anything by "Jackson Michael" or the Jackson 5, Santa Baby, "Jesus Sunbeam," and Beethoven's 5th.  He's got the words and music almost completely down for them all....and for a good 50 or so other songs.  His repertoire is decidedly eclectic, a definite reflection of the night-and-day musical tastes that he's exposed to between me, Serg, and his grandparents around the corner.  However, this kid seriously has an amazing ear for lyrics...he's really lingusitically inclined and I can't wait to get him into a Spanish language immersion program.
• Loves trucks and cars--shouts in delight any time he sees a truck, van, car, bike, airplane, or train.  His exclamation is usually accompanied by the color of the vehicle.  He LOVES to ride in Grandpa's red truck and still talks about his red truck birthday cake
• He refuses to eat any vegetables or anything that remotely looks like one.  Anything that resembles cake or chips is in his mouth without the need for much convincing.  I don't completely get this one--there are all sorts of fruits and veggies he used to eat, but now refuses to.  I'm hoping this stage doesn't last too long.
• If Michael could eat what he wanted at every meal, it would be pizza, chicken nuggets, cake, ice cream, and milk.
• Michael recognizes about half of the alphabet letters correctly.  The rest are a bit more hit and miss.
• He can count to 10 perfectly, to 20 almost perfectly, and has great one-to-one correspondence (though he sometimes counts some items several times--but one by one).  He can also count to 10 in Spanish, but (embarrassingly) although his first words were in Spanish, he now laughs at the sound of Spanish.  Again, dual language preschool will begin at age 3!
• He's starting to request that I write the letter M...starting to see it as "his" letter
• Loves coloring (anywhere and everywhere--lots of floor and wall cleanups lately) and playdough (moved quickly passed the feed it to the dog and eat it myself stages, thank goodness;  he's now in the sneak pieces into the living room and stomp them into the carpet stage....grrr!)
• He's talking in long phrases and sometimes compete sentences.  Some of his favorite "sentence stems:"   "I want ______"  "I like _____"  "I love _____"  "Michael's (gerund)"  "Mommy's/Daddy's/etc (gerund)" "I see _____"
• He loves to get on the phone with Daddy, Grandma, or Grandad
• Michael loves to wrestle and play fight with Daddy and Uncle Jason.  He absolutely LOVES to visit their school and play with their training equipment
• Loves to "jump like a kangaroo"
• Still talks about his trip in an airplane
• Thinks anything with a machine-like "whirring" sound is a vacuum--an item with which he has a love-hate relationship
• Has an adorable cow-lick that I don't believe will ever be tamed beyond an hour or so
• Loves to "clean" with paper towels and a spray bottle of water
• Sits in time-out for a minute, waits for the timer to go off, and even occasionally puts himself there...so far it's worked really well and he emerges ready to give me a hug and kiss and try again with a smile.  To be totally honest, it's not even a form of discipline I was using until he put himself in time out (He said, much to my surprise, "sit in time out?" and plopped himself down on a patch of carpet in the living room that's been his self-designated spot ever since.  Kinda easy, I know.  We'll see how long it lasts!)
• His favorite book right now is Mama Do You Love Me? He's got most of the key words memorized.  While being asked to read the same book 5 times in a row during a 30 min period can be a little monotonous, how can I say no to that book?  It's a cute one.
• He's finally interacting in our super brief FHE lessons and remembering what we're teaching.
• Afternoon church on Sundays is a fun one.  Church meetings are exactly in the middle of his normal naptime, so Michael's a bit of a mess and either Serg or I spend pretty much all of sacrament meeting out in the hall.  I really don't mind off-duty (enjoying the talks in the chapel without a two-year old throwing projectiles at the heads of people in front of us) nor on-duty (hang out in the foyer and socialize with other moms of equally active two-year-old boys).
• Loves belts and buckles, clips, and ties.  He loves putting pieces together and pulling them apart.
• He can down 3 slices of pizza in one sitting
• He very literally aims at lamps while throwing small toy balls in the house...not strong enough to really knock something yet, but it's just a matter of time...
• Loves to climb, especially on a chair to stand next to me while I'm cooking or washing something.  I love it.
• He loves apples and peanut butter (but hates apple peel), cheesesticks ("white cheese"), tortillas ("tortitas"), yogurt, bread, fruit snacks
• He memorizes names really quickly.
• He loves Sesame Street Fiesta and any episode of Elmo's World.
• He loves to pull Prince's tail and make him yelp
• Michael covers his ears and closes his eyes when in trouble.  I can't see you, you can't see me.
• He loves being outside and playing in water.  Bathtime is a favorite (and sometimes a bribe) as is running in the sprinklers, playing in his tiny pool, going to the water play area at the park, etc.  I've got to make sure he starts swimming lessons next summer!