Catching Up With Mariella

Now that Jacob's birthday has come and gone, it's time to catch up with little miss Mariella. She has been one busy girl. We're not sure if it's innate or learned behavior, but she is starting to become quite the little stinker. She has a mission to find every piece of paper that finds its way onto the floor. Her preferred mode of transportation is skilled rolling. She has scooted a few times and sometimes tries to get up on her hands and knees, but finds that rolling is much faster for getting from point A to point B. It's important to be able to get away from all the baby toys quickly and find the nearest Jacob toy with tiny parts that pose a choking hazard.

Mariella is also becoming very opinionated. She knows what she wants, and no longer asks politely for things with a sweet, soft little voice. She is LOUD. I think that is in part due to needing to be heard over her chatterbox brother, but we might need to work with her on using her inside voice. We do like to hear her talk, though. She likes to tell long, elaborate stories that usually end with drool everywhere. She's experimenting with different sounds, like "la, ma, and ba." And, of course, she is a smile factory. We love our smiley little girl, and she is also very good at eliciting them from anyone else who crosses her path. No one can resist that dimply, tiny-toothed grin. Speaking of teeth, those top ones are threatening to poke through any day now. She's been pretty fussy, but we're muddling through. And now for pictures:

This was one of the first times she rolled to follow me. I saw her peek around the couch and she was so proud of herself.

Checking out the slide. It's fun to slap your hand on it and make sounds!

A common sight: chewing on fingers

Toothy, dimply grin

She did this all by herself, rolling herself perfectly into the parking space next to the ancient computer.

Jacob brought her some toys to keep her company.

Motivation: big brother's puzzle piece just a few feet away, even though baby chew toy is right there

Getting ready to roll again

Oh, hi! I didn't know you were there!

Jacob let her play with his brand new cars on his birthday! What a nice brother!



A cute little furrowed brow. She makes faces like this a lot, and it makes me wonder what she really thinks of us.

Swinging at the park on Jacob's birthday

WEEEEEEEEEE!