Mikaere Haumaha: 6 years old

November 2015: Mikaere lives life at full tilt. He has excellent hand-eye coordination (was able to catch a ball aged around 15 months) and loves outdoor activities and sport.

Mikaere’s favourite colours are red and orange. He dislikes arguments and getting out of bed in the morning, and he wants to be a builder when he grows up.

Whānau (Family)
Mikaere is surrounded by whānau. He sees his paternal grandparents most days. His sister is due to give birth in December 2015. Another exciting event in the past year was the family going on a 10-day cruise in the Pacific. 

Health
Illness and broken bones have slowed Mikaere down recently. Viral infections and high temperatures have hospitalised him on a number of occasions, and he broke his fibula and tibula in an accident at school.

His mother Kimmi also had an accident about a year ago and fractured her leg. She had major surgery to repair it, and has metal pins and plates in her leg and ankle. She was off work for about six months.
 
School
Mikaere attends St Mary Catholic School in Putāruru. After school, his paternal grandparents take care of him and his brother Cruix. They garden and do art and craft activities together.
 
In the school’s WOW (World of Wearable Art) show, Mikaere wore a papier-mâché monster mask he made.
 
Sport
Mikaere plays soccer and touch rugby, and takes part in athletics and swimming. He can name all the players in the NRL (rugby league) and Super 15 (rugby) teams the family supports, and the current members of the All Blacks.
 
Cultural activities
Cultural activities are part of Mikaere’s everyday life as he lives next to his marae. He speaks English, but also knows some Māori words.
 
Free time
Mikaere plays, plays, plays ­– especially outside with his brother, sister and pet dogs. He likes gardening with his kuia (grandmother) Maama, riding his bike and trolley, skateboarding, climbing trees, making huts, playing with tractor tyres, digging holes in Dad’s lawn. Anything outdoors is fun … rain, hail or shine.
 
Pets
Animals are a big part of Mikaere’s life. He likes cuddling his cat Tinks, playing with the pet dogs Molly and Missy. He also has a pet nanny goat called Moses or Mo Mo for short.
 
A sad incident was the death of Sam, the family dog.

Screen time
On TV, Mikaere watches Sanjay and Craig, Amazing World of Gumball, Steven Universe, and assorted cartoons.           

His favourite movies are Robots, Home, Minions, and Jurassic World.
 
He plays games on PlayStation 3, and has access to an iPad.

Games, toys, activities
Off-screen, Mikaere plays Connect Four, Snakes and Ladders, Last Card, Snap, and Monopoly.
 
He plays with any ball – size and shape don’t matter. Outside toys – such as Nerf guns, water pistols, bikes, skateboards, and scooters – are favourites. Skateboarding is probably his favourite activity right now.

Food
Mikaere’s favourite foods are ice cream, fruit, lollies, bubble gum, bone marrow, fish eyes, and mussels. He doesn’t like caramel chocolate.