23!

Dear Mattias,

I can't believe how long it has been since I've done one of these.  I want to document your crazy life, but you don't really leave a lot of time in the day to do it.  You are constantly on the move and I love it.

 You are still talking in your crazy, made-up language. I know that you can speak "properly", because every once in awhile you will pipe up with something like, "the purple ones", or "popcorn". But when we ask you to say anything, your reply is always, "nope!"

In fact, this is a conversation we recently had:

Me: Mattias, can you say Elise?

You: Nope!

Me: Say toast!

You: Nope!

Me: Can you say Mattias?

You: Nope!

Me: Can you say nope?

You (with a mischievous look in your eye): uh-huh

Comedic timing... you get it, even at such a young age.

My favourite word by far is your word for bananas, which is meomas.  Usually said with great glee.  In fact, whenever we go to Target, the first thing you do is run down the main aisle towards where the bananas are, yelling, "MEOMAS, MAMA... MEOMAS!"

You love babies and the mere sight of one will make you say, "awwwww, bebe!" You are particularly infatuated with the cartoon baby on your diaper cream tube and you like to give it kisses. This makes me happy as pretty soon there will be a real live baby joining the family, poised to usurp your position.  Get ready to be okay with that. 

One of my absolute favourite things about you is how much you love your sister.  It is so much fun to watch the two of you sitting at the breakfast table, each of you trying to make the other laugh the hardest. It is sweet to watch and music to your Mama's ears.

Your latest skill is putting your dishes in the sink.  You won't even let me clear your dishes because you are so proud of how you can carry them from the table to the sink.  There are some adults in this house that could learn from you.

I have loved watching you grow from a tiny baby into a silly, quirky, passionate and fun little boy who would wear mismatched pajamas all day if I would let him.  I love your sweet heart, and how you will immediately run over to comfort your sister if she's crying.  I love your enthusiasm for sports; whether it's watching the Rangers on TV ("Go ball go!"), or shouting "GOOOOAL" when practising a rather wicked forehand shot with your hockey stick.

I even love watching you pout when you don't get your way. The way your tiny lower lip curls out and how you stomp your feet, showing your displeasure with a rather emphatic "HMPH!"  As long as you don't do it to often.

And yes, I even love you when you do something crazy like swallow a battery and I have to rush you to the ER for surgery the day before I'M supposed to have surgery. All I can say is, you are lucky you are so cute.

I love you, little T, and I can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Love,
Your Mama