Counting, Numbers, and Gravity

I'm SO proud of Michael.  We just had a great spontaneous learning session.  We sat down in the kitchen with a piece of paper and his markers, and I wrote numbers and he identified the numbers.  He also asked me to write certain numbers "write number five", and I would write it for him.

I also would take a number of markers in my hand and ask him "Michael, how many markers am I holding?"  He would wager a guess ... "is it four?", then I would say "more than four" (if I was holding five) and ask him to count.  He would respond with a curious, "more than four?" and then start counting, touching each marker "one ... two ... three ... four ... five ... is it five?"

He also learned about gravity this evening.  He had a chip clip and it kept falling down when he would stand it up and he asked me why.  I explained gravity, and how everything is drawn toward the surface of the earth.  I explained that "things fall toward the surface of the earth because of gravity" and demonstrated by letting markers fall out of my hand and he watched as they fell to the ground.

He is currently trying to explain the concept of "gravity" to his grandparents (wife's parents).  He is dropping markers out of his hand and saying "because of gravity" ... "because of gravity" everytime he drops one.