Alexia Marie

We had a fabulous Christmas vacation in Miami with Ricardo's family, but today we decided we wanted to write a post dedicated to Alexia, a wonderful sunshine. A Christmas post will be along in the next couple of days, but today is all about our 1 year old princess:

Alexia has always been a source of immense joy for Ricardo and I, but she is blossoming so much right now that we often find ourselves in pure amazement. I used to often fear that our second-born wouldn't bring us as much wonder as Diego, but it's amazing how God has designed our hearts to grow in love instead of dividing it and to love them each in their own unique way.

Alexia has a contagious smile and is incredibly social. She notices every person around her and makes each person feel special and loved with her glances, smiles and kisses. Yes, kisses...she is a kissing machine! She blows endless kisses with her hands and gives kisses on cheeks on cue and sometimes on her own if she is feeling especially affectionate.

Her vocabulary consists of the following words: Up, Ball, Wow, Uh-oh, Papa, Mama, De-De (Diego) and a ton of other sounds which I'm sure mean something, but we just haven't figured them out yet.

She has a great appetite, as long as she is eating foods of her choice. She actually eats better than Diego does on most occasions. Her favorites are: cheese, black beans, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, cucumber, chicken and pasta. She likes drinking from her sippy cup, but much prefers sucking her liquids through a straw (see below and Ricardo asked that you excuse his face):

Her favorite activities are: playing with Diego, flipping pages in books, dancing, taking things out of containers, boxes, bags, etc and putting them back in again, eating and her latest discovery, coloring:

I've always heard that girls are attached to their daddy's, hence the phrase "Daddy's girl." Ok, this girl is Papi's girl beyond belief. Unless she wants to nurse (which is less often these days), she prefers to be with her Papi. She says "Papa" at least 25 times a day and is always on the lookout for him. I am afraid she will go through withdrawal this week now that he has to go back to work. She showers him with kisses and is so expressive and funny with him. Her love for him also carries over to her sensitivity around him. When Ricardo disciplines her, she immediately melts down with tears. We've always known she would be tough to discipline (because of her independence and strong will), but now we're really seeing it in action. It warms my heart in an incredible way to see the bond that Alexia and Ricardo share and I pray that they continue to grow closer together as the years go on. Here they are lounging at dinner on Friday:

We call her our lil' firecracker -- she blows kisses when she's in trouble and she tells Diego neh-neh (no). She loves to play peek-a-boo and barks at all animals that she sees. She pounds her chest like a gorilla, moos like a cow, smacks her lips like a fish and can point to the following body parts: head, mouth, ears, nose, feet and hands.

Here are a couple of cute shots from the week. We thank the Lord for blessing us with Alexia Marie.

Looking at presents at Mima's house.

Enjoying her time at the beach, seated on Tio Robi's belly.

Splashin' around with mom in the pool

And here are some moments of joy that she brought to family members during our time in Miami: (Tia Majo, Opa and Alfredo, I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures of you with Alexia)

Mima (Ricardo's mom)

Tio Robi (Ricardo's brother)

Tia Orli (Ricardo's cousin)

Tia Dany (Our sister-in-law)

And of course her dear brother, Diego. I have to mention how sweet their relationship is. In this picture you see they are both chewing on toys. That is because Diego does everything she does and imitates her every move. They play so well together and Diego is always watching out for her. On Christmas Eve we went to church service and we left them in the nursery at a church we had never been to before. When I went to pick them up at the end of the hour, the ladies told me that they had played right by each other's side the whole time and that they were happy and smiley the whole time.