Reading. Its Where Its At.

Despite not having watched the movie Toy Story in a long time (we're talking years), Micah's favorite toy is still Woody. I don't think it has anything to do with his love of the movie, but more so the fact that Woody has become a friend. And he's more than that. Woody is a comfort object, best friend, and favorite toy all in one. I think he's also a habit. While Micah does play with other toys, and even has a plethora of other Woody dolls, he has a favorite one that he must play with every day. That Woody has no head. At all. We call him Headless Woody. He replaced the only African American Woody we've ever seen. Black Woody was so well loved and played with that his all-cloth head turned black with use. Pouring bleach right onto his face did nothing to remedy this. Black Woody is still around, but Headless Woody is now the favored. I love that Micah remains loyal to his friends despite their severe disabilities when there are whole Woody dolls with shiny new boots in his toy bin.

Woody is necessary for a lot of things, but most especially when Micah is watching the dogs wrestle, or watching football on TV, or when there is an action scene in a movie. Woody dances quite the jig when there is action or wrestling going on as a way of joining in on the sidelines.

I was watching Micah read books this evening, which is kind of a new thing for him. A thing that I'm very excited about, too. And then Micah found Woody and sat down to dance his best friend on the pages of the book. I love this even more than Micah flipping through the pages of a book. This means he's engaged in the action going on in the photos of his picture books. This means that his imagination is working in overtime (which isn't a shock at all). This means that he's growing up.

It also means that he'll be getting some new books for Christmas.