My little brother Peter William (P.W.) is my best buddy.  

He is only four, but he's been through so much in his short life: heart surgeries or hospital stays.  Early intervention services and physical/occupational therapy.  Speech therapy.  Regular checkups or doctor's visits.

Peter is an inspiration.  He is the perfect example of "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger".  I love him so much; I can't imagine my life without him, even when he DOES drive me crazy or follows me around like a little brown-haired puppy!

My name is Tobias.  I am 11 years old.  I live with my family in Lafayette, Lousiana (GEAUX, LSU-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns!!).  I am going into the sixth grade on Tuesday; school starts back up on Tuesday.  It would start up tomorrow, but tomorrow's Labor Day, so that means a long weekend.  

Anyway, I love my parents, but I am especially close to Peter.  He may have special needs, but I see him as perfect.  He is a lot of fun, and I love helping him learn new things.  He will probably never be president or a race car driver, but that's okay: at least little Peter William is still able to learn!

Right now I am helping him learn his letters and his numbers.  He does pretty good some days, but on others it's a struggle.  It's like his last hospital stay has set his progress back a little and it's like we're back to square one.  So I have to work extra hard with him to make sure he gets back on track.  (His last hospitalization was for two weeks; he had some complications after his last heart surgery, which was two months ago [July 4th], but he eventually recovered.)

And Mama and Daddy are working with Peter to get him toilet trained.  At the age of four, he is still in diapers.  He would have started kindergarten this year, but he still hasn't really mastered toilet-training just yet, so he has to wait a year.  The school Mama and Daddy are planning on sending Peter too want him to be completely toilet trained before they'll even think of accepting him.  So Mama and Daddy both have their work cut out for them.

Peter is my little personal alarm clock.  I don't need an alarm clock as long as Peter is around.  He starts my day every day promptly at 6:00 sharp by patting my face and saying: "Peetah.  Peetah.  Ge' up.  It a new day, Peetah.  Time for pway and Jesus-Talk!" (his way of saying "time to pray!").  I also have my dog, Chomps, to get me up, but Peter is usually up before the sun (and the dog and our parents).

I am so glad I have little "Peetah" as my little brother.  He is my best friend and I think I am a better person by having him IN my life!