Letter to Matthew - Today Is Your 2nd Birthday

Dear Matthew:

Today we celebrated your 2nd birthday. Two years passed by in the blink of an eye. We still remember the day you were born and the day we brought you into our home. The first year was a blast, but the second year you surprised us with how smart a little boy you are, not to mention how affectionate and beautiful at heart you are. Every day, if I had time, I would write pages and pages of new and cute things you do. Let me outline some of them for you.

On your first birthday, you were laughing, but you were not talking yet. Today you talk so nice; you talk all day and say nice things to us all the time with your little sweet voice: "Thank you Mommy", "Thank you Daddy", "Hi Mommy", "How you Mommy?", "There you are Mommy", "God Bless You Mommy", "God Bless You Daddy", "Mommy?", "Wake up Daddy", "Mommy? A Hug", "Mommy, Stop It Please", "Good Night, Daddy", "I love you, Daddy", and "I love you, Mommy". And there is more, you greet everyone: "Hi Lady", "Hi Man", and "Hi Friends". With your manners, you put many smiles on people's faces.

Will you be the next Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky? Matthew, your musical skills are unbelievable. You definitely didn't get them from me, but probably from your Dad. You can recognize so many songs. All you have to do is hear the first few notes, and in the split of a second, you know what they are. Your favourites are I Believe, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics theme song, and Wavin' Flag. Not to mention all the children's show theme songs you know—probably twenty of them. You almost know all the words to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itcy Bitcy Spider, and the Alphabet Song. One day you looked up at the wall, looked at Jesus, and said,Jesus is reading Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, as you thought that the writing on the Bible were musical notes. You definitely associate musical notes with piano, as you continue to search for the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star song in my piano books. We couldn't believe how much you pick up from the commercials, like the McDonald's theme song, and you sing Para Pa Pa Pa, I am Lovin' It to us when you see the big M logo. Now you know it's McDonald's, but you choose to hum the song instead.

Matthew, let's talk about your other great skills. You can count to 10 very well and almost to 20. You can actually count objects up to four. We introduced Ukrainian counting to you, my mother tongue; why not? You learn so fast. Then Daddy kicked in with his Italian. We were surprised at how quickly you learned to count in those languages. You are like a little sponge. Let's not mention all the colours you know, shapes, days of the week, oh, and the alphabet letters since you were 16 months old.

We have a feeling that you will be reading soon, and you definitely love books. The other day you spelled 'c o l g a t e', and you read 't o o t h p a s t e'. Definitely a good start. But then you can clearly recognize a lot of words and read them to us: mom, dad, go, stop, open, slow, Bible, Matthew, Tonka, Google, Tim Horton's, Canada, and Walmart. Yes, Walmart was today's surprise to us, as you recognized the word on TV and, of course, got excited like you always do. You are just so adorable when you do that.

We don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing, but we introduced a computer to you when you were less than 16 months old. You picked up on it very fast. Now you check and delete my emails, watch your favourite shows on YouTube,  search on Google, and sometimes play games (more with Daddy than Mommy). Oh, I forgot, you can operate that mouse very well. You very well know the sequence of how to boot the computer and shut it down. However, the rule is that you can only play for so many minutes a day.

Okay, you little joker. You are very creative when we ask you questions. "Little boy, what is your name?'", we ask. "My name is Matthew". We love hearing you over and over again, but you don't like to repeat the same thing over and over again. "My name is a car", "My name is a poon", "My name is a table"—sometimes you respond.

Now that beautiful spring has finally arrived. You do spend a lot more time outside. You are very well known on the street too. Your friends range in age from 2 years old to 11 years old. You visit the playground every day, play with children, and talk to them. You still need our assistance when walking up and down the stairs and curbs. You still fall. You always ask for toys, saying, "Please play shovel and bucket". You say "Thank you" for each toy they give you. You ask your friends, "Playing computer?". And you put sand on girls heads, and you think it is funny, but then you say, "Sorry putting sand your head". I really have to give you credit for sharing your toys with other children, and I really have to give you credit for 'not sharing your mommy with anyone'.

Matthew, you love nature. In addition to playgrounds, we visit local ponds and trails almost every day. You chase birds, and you laugh at rabbits and chipmunks. You don't have the concept of danger yet, as you keep running away from me into the fields. You would love to go into the creek or pond and wet your feet. You pick flowers, grass, sticks, and leaves, and finally, you know that dog poop and goose poop are not for touching. You go on your knees and try to catch ants. When you hear chirping birds, you say, 'Listen', and put your finger into your ear. I still don't understand what's with the licking. Every time I turn away from you, I find you licking the grass, tree trunks, or stones. I hate to tell you that nature may look good, but sometimes it does not taste that good. Oh, did I tell you that sometimes I tried to fool you and take a different route home? No, I cannot fool you; you seem to know where you live, where to turn, and where to go, and I have to follow the orders.

Like every child, you love toys. Lately, you've been very attached to your pumpkin on the bike. You love hearing stories about your pumpkin, which we named Poopi (your nurse at the hospital used to call you that). Poor Pumpkin Poopi has been injured so many times in our stories, and so many times he fell off the bike and broke his bike. But then you always came to his rescue with your bandage and tools to fix his bike. After building many castles with Mega Blocks, you finally started to build Robots. After I coloured hundreds of Elmo colouring pages, you finally started to colour pages too. After asking for 'scissors, a screwdriver, and glue, Daddy finally got you a tool set. Now you can start fixing your little sports cars. After me and Daddy made hundreds of paper boats, you started to make one too.

Matthew, in the past few weeks, we have finally started to take you to church. We know you probably don't fully understand who God is, but you are doing very well getting to know Him. You know that "God lives church". You know that "Sunday going church". You know you give money to God, and you know the sign of the cross very well. "God bless you Matthew, God bless you everyone", you always conclude. You often pray while on the potty, but I am sure God understands that you are still learning.

Lastly, dear Matthew, you got your time and breastfeeding a little confused. Firstly, you are a big boy now, and the timeline for African style breastfeeding is two years. Soon we must cut off the supply. I know, I know—you don't have the full set of teeth yet, and it bothers you as it is really taking a long time for each tooth to come out. We saw your eye teeth, but then, with you also growing, they seemed to recede back. But this is not the timing I am talking about. Whenever we ask you, "What time is it?", you respond, "5:35, bed time, booba". It's okay to tell this to us, but please don't tell your friends, because last time you said that, they wondered what booba was, and I have to do all the explaining.

Matthew I hope one day you and I, and your Dad, will enjoy reading this letter. I want to tell you how much me and your dad love you. You were born on May 7th, 2008, close to Mother's Day, and you know you were my best gift ever. I am proud to be your mother. Happy Birthday, Matthew! I love you.

~ Anna

[Previously published on My Only Photo Journey Blog]