They’re staples of childhood: Playing baseball. Running around a playground. Eating pizza.

But for 11-year-old Jai’Wan Davis-Harbour of Taylor, they’ve only been dreams — until now.

Born with a set of kidneys that didn’t work properly, Jai’Wan has been a dialysis patient since he was 7 months old.

He received his first kidney transplant at the age of 3 — but five years later, his body rejected one of them, and he had to go back to a rigid treatment system.

Sitting in a chair at the dialysis center at University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital for three hours a day, four days a week for the past four years, Jai’Wan has patiently waited for a match.

Last week, Jai’Wan received a new kidney — which he’s named “Pinocchio two:” “…because I just want to be a real boy.”

Tuesday afternoon, hospital administrators, dialysis center staff and family members celebrated what staff called "his home run."

Wearing a Detroit Tigers hat and jersey, Jai’Wan was wheeled into the room at the hospital for a press conference with a baseball blanket covering his legs and clutching a Spongebob Squarepants pillow.

“This is the best day I have ever had,” said Jai’Wan’s mother, Cherisse Davis-Harbour. “We are thankful for the donor and at the same time we’re expressing our condolences.”

Jai’Wan has been featured on posters for the Michigan Secretary of State Office’s push for more organ donors.

“I want to say thank you to the donor who gave me the kidney,” Jai’Wan said today, bashful in front of the room of people and media cameras.

About 3,000 people are waiting in Michigan for a life-saving transplant. In the past year, nearly 400,000 people have signed up to be an organ donor in Michigan — nearly a 25 percent increase in the past year.

About a quarter of the people on that list are children just like Jai’Wan, said Rich Pietroski, CEO of Gift of Life, noting about three organ transplants take place every day in Michigan.

“Everyone in this room represents what it takes for one little boy to play baseball,” Pietroski said.

Secretary of State Ruth Johnson was present to greet Jai’Wan and his mother, and presented a fresh pine baseball bat for the dialysis staff to sign as a gift in place of a signature on a cast.

“This is exactly the reason Michigan Secretary of State staff … and so many volunteers work so hard to promote awareness about the gift all of us can give to others,” Johnson said.

Dr. John Magee, the surgeon who preformed both of Jai’Wan surgeries, said he hasn’t been able to keep the tears from flowing each time he watches a video the hospital made of Jai’Wan talking about his new kidneys.

“I applaud him and his mother for working so hard to be advocates,” he said.

Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter @amywrites_.