Happy Birthday, Michael!

It's my son, Michael's, 19th birthday today. He isn't here with me, he's at college. I'm missing him lots, so I thought I'd blog about him today. Michael was the only one of my kids born in Morristown NJ. He has always had "ants in his pants" - he can't hold still for even 1 minute. It's pretty funny. When he was a baby, we had to put him in a high chair across the room because he would throw food at us. Michael didn't really talk until he was around 3 - Grant talked for him. He just started talking in sentences one day! Words that Michael came up with: Hobone (hobo), elbone (elbow), Batman bedones (Batman Returns).

Grant said that when they were little and shared a room, he could always get Michael to have uncontrollable hiccups by making him laugh hysterically. Then he would start laughing too, and then Dad would come in and get mad. They would do it again, quietly, after he left.

When Michael was young, he thought there were monsters in the closet, so we had to make "monster spray" (we covered a can of air freshener with black construction paper and wrote Monster Spray on it), and then sprayed the closet with it. It worked!

Last year at the cancer walk (it was on the track of a local high school), Michael (who was 18) and his younger brother Alex and cousin TJ disappeared. We couldn't find them anywhere. We looked for hours. We finally reported them missing to the police department. Then they just magically appeared! I asked them where they had gone, but they would only say that they had been "around". Well, a few months ago, I learned the truth. They decided they wanted to tour the high school (it was late at night) and so they went up on the roof and found some kind of skylight and broke into the school. Seriously. (???!!!!!) They went to the principal's office and got a map of the school. Michael didn't just want to take it, so he used the copy machine in the front office and made a copy. I'm one of those moms who believes that her kids are really good kids. They would never do anything naughty. Yeah, right! I know there have been other episodes like this, but I don't really want to think about it right now.

Michael is always concerned about his friends. He has a soft heart and always wants to help. He is always the center of the party - he gathers people together and helps them have fun.

Michael is so much like his dad. He loves to figure out how things work. He takes things apart. I can always count on him to figure out what's going on with my computer.

Michael's Favorites:
FOOD - Chinese
BOOKS - Ender Series, Battlefield Earth, Harry Potter Series
DRINK - Cherry Coke
MOVIE - The Prestige
MUSIC GROUP - The Shins
TV SHOW - Important Things by Demitri Martin
GIRL - Ashley Yoshikawa
SCRIPTURE - Book of Mormon
COLLEGE CLASS - Chemistry
JOB - Dominoes Pizza Delivery Man
WEBSITE - stumbleupon.com
CITY - New York City

Michael is brilliant! He wants to do something in the medical field, but doesn't know what. He is currently studying for his last final - tomorrow he will be done with his first year of college. He is headed home to work for a year, to earn money to pay for his LDS mission.

A few words that describe Michael: kind, smart, funny, sincere, obedient, happy, friendly, spiritual, handsome, tall, talented, dedicated.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Michael: