Several weeks ago, Jim and I were discussing when we should start incorporating Joba into some of the things we do with Mattie. Joba knows Mattie goes to a lot of doctors appointments and does “exercises”. He has even seen several OT and PT sessions. Every time we go to Gainesville for ABM we leave him home with family, so he knows we go “far away to do Mattie’s exercises”. He never seems to care… until he starts acting out in a way that makes me think he might be a little jealous of the attention Mattie gets.

Joba does not realize that there is anything wrong with Mattie. She is his sister and he “helps her learn to do the things she can’t do”. If we are doing exercises he will lie down next to her and say “look Mattie, this is how you do it”. It is very cute to watch. Lately Joba has been interacting with her a lot more and she is constantly watching him. He, like any boy and brother, will have his moments of being rough but most of the time he is very sweet to her. I love to see them interacting together. It makes my heart smile.

We are not prepared yet for how we will explain to him that Mattie has cerebral palsy, I think he will start to understand it in the coming year as he sees babies/kids younger than Mattie doing things that she can not do. We have bought several books about having a sibling with a disability to read to him when we think he is ready. We also decided to take him to Gainesville the next time we go so he can see what we really do up there. I want to be able to include him in “Mattie’s World” since it takes up so much of our free time. I hate that we break up our family to make these weekend trips. It will probably be a disaster with 2 kids and us in a small hotel room, but I want to start including him in what has become a big part of all our lives.

So here is a little bit about Joba Roo – The Rooiest Roo of all the Roo’s

The other night after I put Mattie to sleep, I told Joba that we had a special task to do and he had to sit like a big boy at my desk and answer some questions about him and Mattie. He was excited about it and after we were done, he wanted to do it again 🙂

20 Questions with Joba

What is your name? J-O-B-A (he spells it out)
How old are you? 3
What is your favorite color? Pink (we keep thinking he will grow out of this…)
What is your favorite toy? Buzz and Woody
What is your favorite food? Carrots
What is your favorite TV Show / Movie? Buzz and Woody (AKA Toy Story)
What is your favorite animal? Moose’s (????) and Ladybugs
What is your favorite song? ABC’s
What is your favorite book? Pinocchio
Who is your best friend? Giovanni and Sebastian
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play Baseball
What is the hardest thing you learned to do? Clean Up
Who do you pray for at night? Giovanni and Sebastian (usually this is Uncle Bill)
What is one special thing about you? I don’t know, let try another one
Who is your Sister? Mattie
Do you love her? (nods his head)
How do you help Mattie learn? I help her play
What do you like the best about Mattie? (no answer)
Do you want another brother or sister? Yes, a sister!
What is your favorite thing to do with Mattie? Lay down with her and play

For the actual audio of this “interview” and Joba singing the ABC’s CLICK HERE.

To see a FANTASTIC slideshow movie of Joba and Mattie CLICK HERE.