8 Months Old

I know, I know. I can't believe Marissa is 8 months old either, but she is...as of the 16th. I don't have any new stats to post since she hasn't had a well check visit at the doctor, but my guess is her percentiles are still the same - super tall and plenty chubby! :)

Like my other children, I am already beginning to see personality traits in this little one. Marissa is a squealer, talker and screamer. She can often be heard with her ga ga ga's and da da da's. She found her voice long ago and LOVES it! Not sure if it's a girl thing or what, but the screams and squeals are much louder and more frequent with her. She's funny. She is very calm and mellow MOST of the time, but when she's not, she's not. She goes from calm and happy to screaming and frustrated pretty easily. I can see some of Dylan in her and some of Preston, but overall she is VERY different from the boys.

She's a pro at sitting and loves to sit in front of a bunch of toys and play for quite some time. The tub of blocks is her FAVORITE! It is during her attempts at movement that most of the frustration takes place. She gets down on her hands and knees fully looking like she is ready to take off crawling, but nope. Not yet. I watch her, seeing through her determined baby eyes what she wants and yet not being able to attain it yet. She moves. She definitely moves. I put her in one place and she is never there long, but she has yet to fully conquer this skill...or perfect her direction. On hands and knees, she has only managed to rock back and forth or take steps backwards. The toy is right in front of her and she just needs one little "baby step" forward to reach it. She uses those newly discovered motor skills and moves her leg just so, fully intending to reach her destination, only to discover she is now further away from that toy she so desperately wants to put in her mouth. Wait for it. Wait for it. Waaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.......... This is not just any cry, but a frustrated, high-pitched, very new-to-me girlie cry. Her crawling to this point is all backward, a fact that she does not appreciate one bit, but hasn't quite managed to remedy. She tries again. One more "step" in the opposite direction of her goal. Before long, she generally manages to get stuck under the couch and then is REALLY mad about it. Luckily, this princess has mommy and two older brothers around almost all the time to rescue her in her state of distress. Dylan used to be the rescuer and Preston would just come tell me what was going on. "The baby's sad" "He needs his binkie" (yes, everyone is a he to Preston) "He doesn't like his crib" (when she's fussing trying to fall asleep). Now, my 4-year-old son has decided he too can be a knight in shining armor to his precious Marissa and will pick her up and try to help her walk to me. He can't quite carry her, but he is gentle as can be. Oh the help I receive from such well-intentioned souls. :)

Marissa LOVES her bath and will splash around for as long as you let her. I take her out every day with a smile on her face and by the time we are to the changing table, she is usually crying. She wants that water! We got into some bad habits during what we call "my time on the couch" but have since remedied that and once again have a lovely little daughter who sleeps through the night.

She has also gone from not understanding or liking solids at all to LOVING them. She opens her mouth as wide as can be the moment she sees the spoon headed her direction. It is the cutest thing ever! Reminds me so much of a little baby bird waiting for a worm.

She is still pretty good about going to other people, but is definitely beginning the stage of "where's my mommy." She looks around for me and notices the second I leave the room. She may end up being my child with the most separation anxiety since I worked part-time when both of the boys were babies so they were more used to leaving me.

I have to say, I love this stage. The sitting, inspecting toys, content to play in the saucer, pre-mobile stage of babyhood is my favorite. We're at the tail end of it, I'm afraid, since she is moments away from figuring out this crawling thing so I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts. We love Marissa and truly can't imagine our lives without her. Her unique smile lights up a room, and those chubby cheeks are simply irresistible!

I got the idea to post some chubby baby bathtub pictures from my sister-in-law, Laura's, blog

Gotta love that CHUB! Her rolls are my FAVORITE!

Marissa LOVES her feet! She doesn't keep shoes or socks on for long.

Mommy and Marissa

Perfecting her crawling stance

One of her favorite toys - the tub of blocks

The Frosting Thief

This was the leftover cake from the party my mom threw for Dylan a couple weeks ago (hopefully I will have a post on that soon). I came down the stairs to find the remainder of the cake mutilated and quickly set out to find the guilty culprit. I was feeling all Sherlock Holmes-ey and ready to bust out Dylan's magnifying glass from his "dino backpack" and solve this mystery. I was a girl on a mission. I turned around to discover there was no need to open up the case. The evidence was EVERYWHERE! Mystery solved!

Preston's Birthday Bash!

We had another fabulous birthday celebration with Preston today. The Birthday Bear came to our house and decorated everything last night. Preston was thrilled when he woke up and found Diego decorations on the wall. He couldn't stop talking about it and walked around telling everyone about every sign or decoration he found. "Is this my cake?" (talking about a sign with a birthday cake on it), "Is this my balloons? My happy birthday balloons?" I told him yes and then he'd repeat it all again. "This is Preston's birthday cake. This is Preston's birthday balloons. My birthday balloons." So cute! We started with a pancake breakfast. The kid LOVES anything with syrup on it for breakfast so I went for quick and easy. We took a bath, got dressed and headed to the train museum since it was such a big hit with Preston when we last visited. He LOVED it! I just wish we had more time to linger, but our day was so packed that we had to rush a bit. We stopped at Del Taco for a quick bite and then headed to his music class. While he was there, Dylan, Marissa and I ran to the store to buy some AirHeads to give to his classmates. Being a long, non-stop day, Marissa needed a nap big time so we headed home and Preston got to watch Toy Story 2 while Marissa took a nap. Marcos got home just after Marissa woke up from her less-than-perfect nap and we headed out the door to go swimming. If you haven't seen Preston in a pool yet, you're missing out. The kid is INSANE! There is no fear in that child when it comes to anything and everything water. We choose to leave floaties on him even though he pretty much can touch in most of the pool where we were playing. He is just too fast and crazy to worry about him losing his balance or something. Crazy! He LOVES water and is excited to be able to splash without the lecture that accompanies him in the bathtub. We swam for an hour and a half or so and then ran home to shower, change clothes and head out the door for his birthday dinner. We asked him where he wanted to eat and he said "bean burrito" so we went to Garcia's where kids eat free on Tuesday. SWEET! He was so cute and excited all day. We left the restaurant, headed home to open his presents, which were all little Toy Story figures (it's the only thing that kid cares about right now. Oh, that and Thomas the Train). I didn't do a cake because we still had cupcakes left over from the party my mom had at her house for him on Sunday so we sang to him and he licked the frosting off the cupcake (which is the only way he eats cupcakes anyway). I didn't even have any candles, but found old ones from Dylan's past parties so once again, I faked it. Preston doesn't care one bit! He just likes blowing out candles. So I put a #5 candle in one cupcake and a #1 candle in another cupcake and we had a 5-1=4 candle. :) Yep, I'm a flaky mom. But the day was EXACTLY what Preston wanted and that's all that matters to me. He knows he is loved and that we feel lucky he was born. We finished off our late evening by reading "Ladybug's Birthday" and tucking him in bed with his new toy story toys and more kisses than he could have possibly wanted. :) We love you Preston! Happy 4th Birthday, big boy!!

Preston's 4th Birthday

I can't believe my little man is 4 today. It seems unreal that he was born that many years ago. But it's true. We have had a fun morning and still have plenty of birthday partying to do this afternoon. But...Marissa is taking a nap so the boys are watching a movie until she wakes up. And that gives me a second to blog. I will post more on our fun day in another post. For now, I just wanted to reflect on the little guy we've been blessed to call our own. Preston Santiago.

March 15, 2007

For the full birth story, click here

My little man in the NICU

His first "tanning" session :)

March 19, 2007 - coming home from the hospital!!

1 Year Old (eating licorice provided by a very naughty grandma)

Looking for cookie crumbs

If you missed this story, click here

Mischievous 2 year old climbing on the table

Happy 3 year old playing at the park

Ready for his big 4 year birthday bash

Sporting some upside down 3D glasses that he refused to take off

We have had more ups and downs from our little Preston than I care to remember, but he has blessed our lives tremendously. He is one of a kind....a unique child in his own right. If you haven't heard him talk in one of his "Preston" voices or had the privilege of watching him interact with others, you might not know what I mean. He has his own way of doing EVERYTHING, which has caused his mother much worry and distress, but somehow everything works out in the end. He is amazing! He's my Preston! He is also the most loving, caring being you will ever meet. He's a healer! We can't imagine our lives without our Prestatonian!

The Decorating Fairies

Last week, my friends Courtney and Kristie showed up ready and willing to help with anything I needed. Thankfully my body is doing much better so my house wasn't a COMPLETE disaster anymore. But...this wall has been empty since I rearranged the living room and I'd mentioned needing to figure out my decor to Courtney at some point. So the two of them showed up with their old and unwanted decorations to decorate my house. Talk about winning the lottery! Look how cute they made my very simple, plain-looking house...for free.

The bare wall of the living room before my "helpers" showed up

The same wall now

My bookshelf in the entryway (sorry, I don't have all the before and afters...just cute after pictures)

Above my kitchen cupboards. There was nothing up there before. Now look!

The corner of my windowsill in the kitchen

A view of the whole kitchen with the new decorations

I have said it before and will say it again. I seriously have the most amazing friends and family ever! I'm blessed with very loving and talented friends who for some strange reason care a heck of a lot about me. :) Thanks girls! You're the best!

St George and INTERVENTION

A couple weeks ago, Marcos decided to go to St. George. His brother was going to be there for a soccer tournament for Gabi and Marcos was in great need of a vacation. He decided to take the boys since there was no way my body could hold up to travel. Plus, I was still not in a good place and had no desire to go anywhere. Apparently Marcos was really worried about leaving me in my distressed state of mind so he called up my mom to make sure she would take care of me while he was gone. Yep, I had to be babysat. Oh well. It is what it is.

The boys had a great time with Marcos in St. George and I ended up being spoiled and taken care of by my family...a much needed change. My sister, Alicia, did my hair and even spoiled me with a pedicure. My mom let me stay at her house and made sure I had help with the baby and meals when I needed them. It was a good weekend for all of us.

Preston was exhausted. Marcos kept sending me pictures of him asleep in the middle of the sidewalk or on the tennis court. So funny! They had a great time hanging out with their Papi, cousins and uncle Esteban.

My cute pedicure.

Parenting Dylan

Oh the things I've learned being a parent. Oh the amount of things I have yet to learn. Yesterday my mom came to the house to watch my kids while I went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead with the young women. When I got back, my mom and I were sitting on the couch talking while Dylan and Preston played outside with Tony (their cousin). Dylan came in and tried to bring Preston in the house and tell him to stay. Lately the sibling rivalry between those two is making me crazy. Preston was not happy! He wanted to play too. I gave the little reminder, gently but firmly saying, "Dylan." Here's how the rest of the conversation went.

M: Let Preston play with you too.

D (in a western voice with his twine lasso looped over his shoulder): But ma'am. This here's a bandit and I've got to put him in prison, ya see.

M (playing along): Sir, he's your brother and cowboys are the best kind of brothers.

D: No ma'am. I'm sorry. He's a bandit. I'm the sheriff and he has to obey the law.

M: Dylan.

D: Good day ma'am (tipping his hat at me as he shuts the door).

M: Dylan (more stern voice).

D: He needs to be in prison.

M: I'm going to put you in prison up in your room if you can't play and include Preston.

D: Cowboys can't be put in prison. I'll just escape to Mexico.

M: Dylan

D: Okay, ma'am. But I would escape to Mexico. That's what cowboys do and I'm a real cowboy. I will let him out of prison now. He's done his time. (tips his hat and leaves with Preston following behind him).

He no sooner shut the door than my mom busts up laughing. "He really stays in character, doesn't he? It was all I could do not to laugh during your serious parenting moment," she said. Yeah, I know. Half the time I have to restrain myself too. They're all different and there is a major learning curve with parenting, but Dylan. Well, Dylan is Dylan. That's all there is to it.

Dylan Turns 7

Well, as much as I wanted to post a birthday post ON Dylan's birthday, we were much too busy enjoying every minute of it for that to happen. The kid had every second of the day planned out. What a nut! I had to remind him often that we were celebrating just with our family this year. The parties have gotten a little out of hand and with more than one child, I realized we could not maintain that level of party forever. Too much work and way too much money. We've gradually been downsizing the last few years and have decided on having "special days" or immediate family birthday parties except maybe on "big" birthday years. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, the Birthday Bear visited our home again this year and decorated. It was fun for Dylan to wake up to all the decorations and to see how excited he was about something so simple. He informed me weeks before that he wanted a pancake breakfast with blueberries forming a smiley face...like him. Easy enough! We ate our pancake breakfast and got ready for our day at the Living Planet Aquarium. That's where he wanted to go for his birthday and it was perfect since we're currently finishing up our ocean unit for school. Abuela talked to me about what the boys wanted for their birthdays (Preston's is on the 15th) so I ended up getting annual passes for the three of us with the money she gave the boys. They were so excited and loved every minute of it. I was not super excited with the fact that we ended up there at the same time that two school field trips arrived so I was really glad we would be able to return with our passes again in the near future. We saw everything, but didn't linger and read too many signs. It was a bit too chaotic for that.

I was close to my fun limit at the Aquarium and Marissa definitely was so we headed out to find somewhere to grab a bite of lunch. I should've thought that through and packed something since we were taking Dylan out that night, but I didn't. We ended up going to Village Inn so the kids could have more pancakes. Go figure! Pretty good food though (and cheap) and the kids were surprisingly well behaved. I had the baby half asleep in her car seat and all our stuff when Dylan said he needed to go to the bathroom. Geez! I'm the mom that almost always makes everyone go into the bathroom together and still makes my seven year old come with me in the women's bathroom. Sorry people...I'm over-protective that way. But it was horrible timing and Dylan was nervous and didn't want to go alone so when he asked to take Preston, I just let them go together. I could see the bathroom door and figured I could at least watch to make sure they were okay that way. When it took longer than expected, I decided to go check on them. Of course I couldn't leave the baby or my purse or the diaper bag or camera bag unattended. So I grabbed all my junk and hobbled over to the men's restroom. I opened the door and immediately realized the problem. There was Preston standing in front of the urinal with Dylan behind him trying to wipe his little bum. Dylan seemed relieved to see me and proceeded to tell me the story (while simultaneously adding a lecture for Preston). Apparently while Dylan had gone into the one and only stall in the bathroom, Preston had pulled his pants down and pooped in the urinal. Poor kid! I'm sure he has no idea what that thing is for anyway. Dylan, not knowing what else to do, started cleaning up after his little brother. He got a paper towel and took the poop to the toilet and flushed it and then was trying to help wipe Preston when I came in and discovered the mess, relieving Dylan of his "big brother" duties. Honestly! It's one of those stories that will probably go down in family history and be told for generations to come. I grabbed Preston shuffling across with floor with his pants still down to this feet and dragged him into the women's restroom where I could clean him up more comfortably. I have to say that as big of a pain as it was, it sure made me love my little birthday boy even more. He is such a good big brother! Yes, he fights with Preston and leaves him out and teases him ALL the time, but he is kind and loving and very responsible. I love that kid!

We eventually headed back north and I dropped Dylan off at his music class while Preston, Marissa and I went to buy a bag of bubble pops, the treat he requested to share with his classmates. He was so excited to pass them out. Once in awhile, I catch myself thinking things are pointless and being a grumpy mother and then I remember how much little things like that meant to me when I was a kid and I come back to semi-cool mom mode. So yeah, we bought a treat so he could share with everyone. And he was adorable and asked which colors everyone wanted. He even made sure siblings of his classmates received a sucker too, even though that meant there were no more to take home with us after. It was cute!

Marcos was running late and we were full from our late lunch so Dylan got to watch his favorite show Dino Dan while I cleaned up a bit. We finished off our day of adventure at Olive Garden. We had a gift card so I kind of planted the idea for Olive Garden in his head to keep the day more reasonable financially-speaking, but it is one of his all-time favorite restaurants so he didn't need much convincing. We came home and he opened his present - a kneeboard (kind of like a skateboard). He was so excited. It was a great day for a really great kid! And yeah, the cake was an afterthought. I made a basic cake mix and the next day we put some frosting on it and his dinosaur toys. It's what he wanted. I bought white frosting and he said that was dumb because it would seem like the dinosaurs were on clouds so I mixed in a little cocoa powder. It served the purpose just fine. Gotta love how relaxed I've become about birthdays! I used to stress about making the parties perfect. Now I completely space the fact that I need to make a cake and end up winging it. Yep, things have definitely changed!

The aquarium was so cool. They all had a blast! The bigger picture is of a lady feeding the octopus. I didn't see the sign that says no flash photography and took a picture. Next thing you know, the lady feeding the octopus puts a sign IN the tank that says "Please No Flash Photography." Even when I do something like that on accident, I feel horrible. It's the good student, rule follower in me. :) There also happened to be a worker nearby that then proceeded to tell me why. Apparently it can make the octopus go blind. So then I felt super guilty. Sorry cute little octopus. I won't do it again! Dylan LOVED touching the stingrays and spent a great deal of time there.

Adversity

This is a big, long story that I'm telling more for my benefit than anyone else's. You may or may not already know some or all of this. Feel free to read it or skip it. It does, however, help explain my long absence.

The past year has been a struggle. It's been one of those Murphy's Law kind of years. You know, everything that can go wrong, did. Our financial cushion that came from my babysitting Anthony and a part-time job for Marcos went away. Anthony started going to school all day. It was time, but it was still difficult, emotionally and financially. We were now solely a one income family and realized quickly that when the one income is a social work salary, it's pretty tough to make ends meet. Things have been tight since we had kids, but not like this. Of course the year that all our cushion income went away, everything we own broke or needed replacing, not to mention the fact that the medical bills were way more than we had anticipated. No matter what we did, things got worse fast. It's been stressful! This past fall, Marcos took his test - the dreaded test that's been hanging over our heads for YEARS now - and didn't pass it....AGAIN! That test is our ticket to a much-needed raise. It's not even a very big raise, but it's a guaranteed raise. It's just been one of those years when way too much happens and it's hard to cope. Right after Marissa was born, I experienced some post-partum depression. It's something I didn't experience with the boys and it caught me off guard. It frustrated me! I pride myself on being independent, on being tough. And I had a meltdown. But I got past it and felt pretty good by September. But October was a struggle and November seemed to come and go. It all got much worse this past December. I talked a little bit about our Christmas chaos. It was just crazy! So much stress over finances, Marcos' car slid off the road and it was going to be even more money, I was trying to make most of our Christmas presents, which took a ton of time and gave me a stiff neck (too much sitting with really poor posture). Christmas brought lots of ups and downs. Many things brought us to our knees and many miracles took place. But we were not completely out of the woods. For one thing, we realized one of us was going to have to work another job. One income is just not enough for our family to live on...no matter how frugal I try to be. Marcos worked it out with his boss that he could work on Saturdays. He doesn't get overtime, but at least he gets paid hourly for the extra work. He's also trying to work more at his part time job at the hospital. He'll be gone a lot, but that's okay. You do what you have to do and you make sacrifices for your family. I can do anything, right? I'm super woman. Um, yeah right. I got really sick over Christmas and right after that my grandma was in the hospital and then passed away a few weeks later. It was a lot to deal with after an already very emotional year (and particularly holiday season)! I was really close to my grandma and spent quite a bit of time with her. So it hit me hard. And yet it didn't. So much had happened that I think I was in shock. And the stupid post-partum depression (or whatever kind of depression it was) came back...so I felt numb to some extent. It's like one too many trials hit and my body and mind just shut down. I was operating, but not really living. How much of it was based on our circumstances? How much of it was chemical? How much was hormones? My hormones were a mess...but then stress tends to do that to a person! So who knows what caused it all, but it was bad. Worse that I've ever been. And then out of nowhere (right after my grandma's funeral) I messed up my back. I couldn't even bend over to put Marissa in her crib (and it's still on the highest setting). My level of pain was super high just attempting to do normal activities. It was bad! Well, come to find out I didn't mess up my back. I ended up finding a really good chiropractor who told me it was actually my pelvic bones (joints) that were out of place, most likely from child birth. What the...? But Marissa was 6 months old. I'd had some pain here and there and just ignored it. I try to be a tough chick most of the time, which is usually a good thing. May have ended up hurting me in the end on this one though. So yeah. He basically told me (in a very nice way) that I was the biggest mess he's ever seen and that I was a complete mystery for awhile because every day I would come back and it was as if he hadn't even adjusted me. I became his biggest learning experience. I was one big mess he had to put back together. All I can say is thank goodness I decided to purchase a care plan because I ended up needing to go in almost every day for close to three weeks and every other day for two weeks after that. Finally...finally my joints started to hold right before my care plan expired. I consider that a huge blessing and nothing short of a miracle! I hold the record for best value for my care plan and for most difficult patient. Hey, what can I say? I like being one of a kind! :) Anyway, I was basically put on bed rest for the first couple of weeks. I spend most of my time lying down on the couch or the floor and could only get up and walk for about 5 minutes at a time. Big fat pain! Thank goodness I have such amazing friends and family! I had meals brought in, gift cards sent, massages offered, people coming over to help with the kids and clean my house, and as my body got progressively better, I even had visits meant more for my mental health than my physical health. I cannot even begin to explain how humbling this set of trials has been for me and my family. It's amazing to realize how many people care about you, and incredible to see the good in people as they serve you. It's unreal!

I'm getting better...slowly but surely. I'm to the point I can sit for close to an hour without pain and can do most of my housework without even noticing. I went to church yesterday for the first time in 7 weeks. I sat through sacrament, went home to rest during sunday school and came back to teach the Beehives. I was sore after that, but I made it. I have to stretch a lot because my muscles still get way too tight, which causes leg and back pain. They were used to holding me in place wrong for a long time. Kind of hard to explain. I'm also hopefully on my way to normalcy with respect to hormones, chemicals or whatever else may be causing my bout of depression. It's a process, not a moment with a quick fix, but I'm willing myself through it for now. I get up (way too late and usually dragging, but I get up) and make myself start my day and before long, I'm in the middle of my day often catching glimpses of the real me...the Maria I used to know...the person I used to be. Depression is a really odd phenomenon. Hard to explain or relate if you've never experienced it. Maybe everybody has to one degree or another, but I can honestly say I couldn't completely relate or empathize with true depression until now. Why am I talking about something so personal? I don't know. I'm an open book I guess. It's therapeutic for me to be open and honest and to share real things about my life, not just the stuff that looks good on paper. If nothing else, I feel for others more now than I have in a long time. I have a desire to serve others and to live more in tune with the Spirit so I can be guided to those who need my help. I can't imagine where I would be today without the love, support and help of those who were instruments in the Lord's hands during my time of true need.

Marissa is 6, um, er, 7 months old

Once again the time has slipped away. It's been insane! More to come on that later. I had every intention of posting pictures and stats when Marissa turned 6 months, but that date came and went. As of February 16, she is now 7 months old. Oh well. Here are the old stats from her 6 month appointment. We had a bunch of 7's at 6 months.

Height: 27 inches, 95%

Weight 17 lbs 6 oz, 90%

Head: 17 inches, 75%

I had to laugh when the doctor said that although Marissa has plenty of rolls, she's actually on the long and lean side. Well okay then. :)

Marissa has had a lot of firsts the last couple of months. Here are some I remember.

• In December, she officially started sitting up on her own (around 5 1/2 months).
• Started babbling da a da a da
• Started rolling over and over to get around
• Got her first tooth (February 3 - at 6 1/2 months)
• First solids (tried rice cereal right around 6 months)
• Caught her first cold the end of January
• First fever the beginning of February...
• Diagnosed with her first double ear infection (February 6)
• First diaper rash (a nasty side effect from her first antibiotic)
• Caught another cold just as she was getting over the ear infection
• Was back into the doctor with another ear infection (Feb 20)
• Got on all fours and started rocking back and forth the middle of February (I'm dreading the next part...you know, the crawling)

Here are a few more 6-7 month facts that I don't want to forget about this little cutie.

• I love Marissa's smile! It comes easily, but she gets shy and turns away at times.
• She giggles for no reason, especially when I tease her.
• She loves to reach her hand up and touch your face when she's tired, and really loves to reach for your mouth.
• She is a spitter. She blows bubbles for no reason at all, making solid feedings a complete disaster.
• She is horrible at taking medicine. I've never dealt with that before, but this one HATES taking medicine. Getting her to keep it in her mouth and swallow it has become an art form.
• She is so ticklish! You can barely rub her back without her tensing up and holding her breath to try not to laugh.
• She LOVES her feet. She grabs them and loves putting them in her mouth.
• Because she loves her feet, keeping socks on her is impossible! She always pulls her socks off to get to her little toes.
• She grabs her ear while she eats or while trying to fall asleep. It seems to be her own self-soothing ritual.
• She puts anything and everything in her mouth and is still very content to sit on the ground with a toy or two to play with (my favorite baby phase ever!)
• She loves her binkie, but uses it as a chew toy unless she is fussy or going to sleep.
• She waves her arms and flails them around in excitement (yes, I know this is a common thing for this age, but I still want to remember)
• When she gets excited (especially if you walk towards her and she thinks you're going to pick her up) she moves her feet around and around in circles (Preston used to do that with his hands and feet so it reminds me so much of Preston when he was a baby)

Maria & Marissa - January 2, 2011

My best friend, Lisa, with her baby, Tommy (Thomas Winslow) on his blessing day

Marissa loves chewing on a piece of apple in this little net contraption - an incredible invention, I might add!

About a month and a half ago, I strapped Marissa in the backpack to get some cleaning done while she was fussy. She was asleep in no time!

Isn't she cute? She looks so much like Dylan when she's sleeping.

Cowgirl. With two older brothers, Marissa is often sporting some form of dress-ups.

First time trying rice cereal. She looks happy here, but isn't really loving solids yet. She has a super sensitive gag reflex and isn't very fond of the texture.

Look at that smile!

We dogsat for my sister, Alicia. Marissa LOVED touching Belle.

Reaching for Marcos' mouth as she was trying to fall asleep

Being "loved" way too much by her older brothers

The three musketeers

Up on all fours

Rolling over and over on the ground