Our baby girl is two years old!

Mariel loves pretending to be a kitty cat with her sister, complete with lots of crawling and “meow, meow!” She loves talking about gatos and sleeping with her big, stuffed animal one. She also sleeps with her Princessa and her Dolly. They all get “mooches” every evening.

She has been talking in complete sentences for awhile now, which is crazy. I think she talks with Giana so much that she had no choice but to find her voice and speak up! Mariel is always the first to remind us to pray when we sit down at the dinner table and has adds her own “thank you God for food” before shouting Amen!

She is so adventurous and a little too fearless. Mariel climbs ladders and gets into playgrounds designed for kids more than twice her age. She doesn’t think twice about going down slides that give her older sister pause. She loves rides and hasn’t met a swing or carousel she doesn’t love.

She is so affectionate! Even when she wakes up at the crack of dawn, she shuffles into our bedroom, waits to be picked up and placed on the pillow between me and Rafa, and rubs her baby hands on our faces. “I love you mama; I love you papa.” She always tells us without prompting.

Mariel loves to put on dresses and spin around. “I beautiful! I gorgeous!” Her favorite movie is Cinderella and she loves to act out portions of the movie, as long as she is the center of attention. She also knows that she is hilarious. Her favorite joke is to say “I taco you!” when she is trying to get someone’s attention. She knows how to say “talk to you,” but “taco you” makes her dissolve into a fit of giggles.

She is a good eater as long as she isn’t confined to a high chair or booster seat. She likes to have freedom in her range of motion while she eats. Her favorite foods are cottage cheese and mac and cheese. Mariel isn’t a big fan of being slowed down by utensils, but we are working on using that pesky fork and spoon.

Mariel is ready to big a big sister, even though we still call her “Baby” too often. She points to the bed and toys reserved for “New Broder” and pats my tummy when I tell her I need to rest. I can’t wait to see her be a big sister!

Happy birthday to our sweet and special Marlita!