We went to a great birthday party, yesterday.  Marisa loves birthdays!!!  One - she knows birthday parties mean CAKE!!!  And, oh how she loves cake.  And, two there is getting to sing her favorite song!  As I was saying, we were on our way to the party and I was belting away at Norah Jones' Come Away With Me cd.  After singing two songs, of which I thought I was doing a great job, Marisa says, "Momma, loud...turn down."  "It's not loud, Baby!", I said...and kept singing.  By the fifth song, she started MEOWING! Yep, you read, right...she was MEOWING at my singing!  She was doing it as loud and as often as she could.  Subtle, isn't she?  Well, she got me to stop.  Crazy girl!  

For the last few 2 months I've been working on a scrapbook calendar of some of Marisa's greatest moments of the last year for our family.  It started as a Christmas present for Josh's parents but it has peaked my interest in the art of scrap booking.  I've wanted to have a working scrapbook of Marisa since the day she was born, but never got around to starting one since I convinced myself that I didn't have a creative bone in my body being an engineer.  After working on the calendar, I've learned to use the right side of my brain more and it also helps that I can get ideas for scrapbook pages from sites like Scrapbooking.com and Two Peas in a Bucket.  Journaling is a major part of scrapbooking that I know I will have lots of trouble doing for the 2 years that have passed,  which leads me to why I've decided to start a blog about our life with Marisa.  

My friend, Sharon, introduced me to the world of blogging when she told me to check out her blog about her 2 boys, Marshall and Braden.  I have been fascinated by Marshall and Braden's world!  I've also been keeping up with Leigh's family and love reading about the goings on of Shayne and Gracie.  Reading aboutboth of these families always puts a smile on my face.  Watching Marisa grow and change on an almost daily basis has made me realize that I need to be writing about her, that I need to be sharing with our families what wonderful things she is doing since they aren't here to witness it.  I don't want to forget about these moments in a few years and I feel that writing in this blog will not only keep me from forgetting, but also will help the rest of the family stay connected to our little miracle.

So, here goes…

Marisa just turned 2 in early January.  I never knew how much expendable energy a 2 year old possessed until now.  She really does keep going and going and going, much like the energizer bunny.   I'm amazed at the things that she does and says and especially of how much she actually understands. 

Here are a few of her most recent favorite things:

• Play Hide and Go Seek - she doesn't get the hiding part.  She stands in plain view and waves at you when you go to seek her.  She kind of understands the counting part.  She knows how to count to 10, yet she chooses to only count to 3, which doesn't give one much time to hide.  She says, "I'm coming" for "Ready or Not, Here I Come."  Marisa does have a bit of an unfair advantage when she plays since she lets Bradie do the tracking and she follows Bradie around the house.  As you can see she's learned to use Bradie to her advantage.


• She LOVES all things art.  This includes finger painting, coloring, drawing especially on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk, & playing with play doh.  One of her favorite things is building things with her Dadda using her mega blocks or legos.  Dadda has helped her build castles, skyscrapers, garages and race tracks.  Sometimes I wonder if her Dadda is getting more enjoyment out of that playtime together.


• She loves to help her Dadda when he's working with his tools.  He taught her how to actually use the screwdriver.  It's so cute to see them working together.  Her most recent fun activity with Dadda was using the hand pump to pump up the aerobic ball that we have. The next day, after he went to work she begged me to bring the pump in.  She walked around the house pushing the ball around saying "Pomp, pomp, pomp, pomp…"  while doing the pumping hand motions.  He's created a monster, I tell you.


• She LOVES to be outside whether it be playing at the park, playing in the backyard with Bradie, or just going out to check them mail.  She's quite familiar with the soccer ball and is always shouting at the top of her lungs with her hand way up in the air, "THOCCER BALL!!!"  I told everyone that I would be a soccer mom, one day!


• Most common things heard from Marisa - "No, Momma", "Oh, thanks, Momma", "Cheewios", "Brayie Sit Down", "Get Ou o Here", "What you doin' here", "What happen Momma/Dadda", "This way? No, that way.  No, this way…(she says this while I'm driving, trying to tell me which direction to go)", "Video, Momma" - yeah, I confess, I let her watch tv.  It's the only way I can get her to sit still and have some downtime.  Her favorite shows are Dora the Explorer and Little Bear.  She even turns on the tuner and tv and then brings me the remote.  That's more than my brother can do when he wants to watch tv at our house.


• Her favorite songs - Old Macdonald - the strangest animal that lives on Old MacDonald's farm would be the snake.; Happy Birthday - this must be her all time favorite.  She started singing it on a daily basis since Josh's birthday on Dec. 20th. When she starts to sing it, it means that she will sing it for everyone she knows.  We usually don't get away with singing the song less than 5 times.; The Itsy Bitsy Spider & If you're happy and you know it


• Marisa loves to read.  Her favorite book is Ten Apples Up on Top.  It's surprising that I don't have that book memorized.  She usually picks out the book that she wants read before her nap and bedtime, but lately we've been picking them out for her so that she gets more variety.  A few months ago she was hooked on Dumbo.


• One of her favorite past times is tormenting Bradie.  She bumps into Bradie with her belly and acts like she didn't touch her.  It drives Bradie crazy.  For those who aren't familiar, Bradie is our 6 year old Dalmatian.  She's still not too hip about being replaced as the center of attention.  Marisa also loves to follow Bradie around like a lost puppy.  She will even weave under the chairs of the dinner table to follow Bradie.  Her ultimate Bradie annoyance is rolling the exercise ball into her and making her growl. The more Bradie growls, the more hysterical Marisa gets.
  

Well, these are a few interesting facts about Marisa.  I hope that reading this blog will help you to feel like you're right here with us enjoying everything through the eyes of our two year old.  I will try to write at least two or three times a week, but I will make no promises.  I'm notorious for having a million different little projects going on and I'm not the most organized person in the world.  Like right now, my projects include: Alison's baby blanket, curtains for the office, the crochet poncho for Marisa and Natasha (Marisa's weekly playmate), & fixing the wreath I made for Amy 2 years ago.   I've still got to find time for the scrapbook that I'm 2 years delinquent on.  Hopefully, I can get moving  on that so that eventually I'll only be maintaining and not trying to catch up.  I'll let you know how that goes.