Cori

Cori mia. As Daddy and I always say you are THE BEST.
You and Lola are the best daughters to us; you are the best Big Sister to Lola and so on the list can just keep on going. I am sure all parents feel like that about their kids but I just want to make sure I say it in case I ever forget.
You have grown so much, and every day you wow us with a new thing you have learned. You also have the best Nana ever; and Nana Melida makes sure to keep teaching you wonderful things; like how to say Hippopotamus which we love to hear it over and over.
You have done really well with Lola; I understand it might have been hard for you to share all that is yours with your new sister but you have done just great; even moving you out of your crib to the big bed so that Lola can use the crib was not a big issue; and although you now think that your old baby toys are cooler than your new toddler toys you still share them with your sister and let her lay on the play-mat to play. You are not going to school yet but hopefully you will get in next fall. Mommy didn't knew that kids have to be signed up before birth on the preschools close to our house, so we are on the waiting list of both schools; but I think you will get in no problem. You have been asking about going to school, so I think you are ready. Some days you will pack your little toy bag with your favorite toys (which happen to be little cars) and come to say bye to daddy and me and tell us you are going to Antonia's school; and you have asked several times about wanting to go. Antonia is one of your friends from the park and a neighbor.
You spend your mornings @ the park, the community center's jungle gym or the library; then you come home for lunch and nap (some days at least) and the afternoon you basically play at home. On Fridays you an I go to Music Class, which you love and are quite the dancer of the class; Ms. Ashley loves seeing you move around. After class we usually grab a bite to eat at the taco place across the street from the class and you always tell me after class that you want a TACO for lunch. It is a lot of fun and it is our weekly date; I love spending that time with you and I hope to keep the tradition as long as we live in the same town.
I tried to keep you from watching TV for as long as possible but after we had to spend time in the hospital and the TV was practically all we had for entertainment you started to ask for it. We have limited as much as we can; sometimes it is hard but you are pretty good about turning it off when we say you can't watch more. You are growing up on a world where media exposure is everywhere and it amazes me how you can use your daddy's IPOD and Abuelo Gringo's IPAD better than many adults; it seems sometimes your are wired to deal with this digital world. Your first favorite show used to be Mickey Mouse Playhouse and Dora, then you moved to Diego who I personally think is a lot cooler than Dora; now you love to watch a documentary about the ocean called The Deep Blue and a Swedish show about a Penguin called Pingu. Sometimes you still ask for Mickey and Special agent Oso but the Ocean stuff and Pingu are on your list of favorites for now. On the weekends we usually get one movie for you to watch and we eat pizza while we watch it. You love it!!!
You are obsessed with the ocean and marine life and whales and dolphins are definitely your favorite animals. We have taken you to the Miami Seaquarium a few times and you love it. You want to go every time we drive by. You love the Lolita and Flipper shows and you enjoy looking at the fish tank and seeing the manatees, sea lions and sharks. Some day maybe you will get to swim with the Dolphins. You call all your dolls and plush toys "Friends" and you like to go to bed with every single one of them and more. I don't mind that and I usually clean your bed up before going to bed to make sure you sleep comfortably. Your favorite "Friends" are Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Loui (a green parrot from a tongue twisters book Dede gave you), and lately Bulls eye and Captain Pork chop from Toy Story. You also like your toy Lolita and baby Lolita (the whales), Mickey and Minnie and of course all your cars and your Thomas train set. You have a lot of toys but you pretty much play with all of them. One of your favorite games is to play Ariel & Loui with Mommy; this game pretty much consists of me sitting on the floor with Ariel and Loui and I watch you play with the other Toys, usually with Thomas or Play Dough. If I suggest something else you will remind me that Ariel and Loui want to watch you play.
I have learned so much from playing with you. I have learned how valuable it is for me to play with you when you ask and how I have to give you all my attention during those precious moments we play together; I am sorry if sometimes I forget but I have realized that in a few years I won't be as fun of a playmate as I am now and you will rather play with your friends more. I have also learned to be creative, which I never thought I was. I have to invent games and songs in a wink of an eye to keep the fun. I love it and sometimes I laugh about myself and the silly things we invent. It is so much fun.
As I said on a previous post you slept with us for quite sometime. Well first I couldn't bear with the idea of having you on your own room so I kept you on the co sleeper until you were almost able to come out of it by yourself. Then we moved you to your crib on your own room but since you nursed for 21months you kept waking up in the middle of the night asking for some warm milk; at the beginning I will just go to your room and nurse you on the chair but ended up falling asleep and waking up the next day with my neck killing me and not very rested; so I decided to just bring you to our bed every time you woke up and let you sleep with us for the rest of the night. This worked out pretty good and both daddy and I loved snuggling with you. After you were weaned you kept coming to our bed and we loved it but when we found out a baby sister was coming we realized we needed to get you used to sleep through the night on your own room. It was a process and you were doing good with it but every time you were finally sleeping all night in your room something will happen. First I had to go out of town so that threw everything off and you ended up sleeping with Daddy; then Lola was born and you were sharing a room with your grandparents you ended up sleeping on their bed or out in the balcony with Toto who will rock you back to sleep. After all the visitors were gone I thought it was going to be impossible to get you sleep on your own but it just worked. I guess you were just ready because from day 1 you slept through the night. Then we moved you to your Big Girl Bed and thought we will have to deal with you coming out of your bed every so often but you didn't. Again you surprised us with your maturity and didn't have any problem with the idea of sleeping on a Big Bed. You do come out of the bed sometimes but it is usually because you need to go to the bathroom.
You have become quite a talker and now when we ride together to go somewhere we will talk all the way. I once said I needed to slow down because I was going too fast and the police might stop me; since that day you will always remind me to slow down if I don't want to go to jail. It is amazing how you absorb everything you hear. You also happen to remember things I will rather you forget; like when I ACCIDENTALLY locked you in the car; you will still ask me when we go out if I am going to lock you in. As I have said I promise that will never happen again; I will glue that car key to my arm if needed to prevent that from happening again.
I can say you are pretty much bilingual by now. You know to speak Spanish to Nana and Mommy and English to Daddy; you favor English a bit over Spanish but I think it is just because most of your books and the little TV you watch is in English.
You have WOW us with your ability to remember things; the other day we heard you playing and saying " Too Tall throw to the middle" while you were running sideways like quite a seasoned Football player (American football not real football); that night we watched a Bernstein Bear's episode in which the cubs played Football just like that. You love to play Football and American Football but are a bit more into American Football lately.
You are pretty good about going to bed and know exactly how to get mommy and daddy to do what you want. Usually we put you to bed between 8:30 and 9:00; you go to the bathroom, brush your teeth and Daddy reads you two books; then you get in bed and stay there (usually playing with friends) until you get tired. After I am done with Lola I usually come into your room and for the most part you are still awake; you will say Hi and ask me if I want to sleep with you for a little bit; and then you will show me that you have made space in the bed for me as well. After I hear that I will automatically get in your bed with you and your friends, we will say your nightly prayers, sing Rudolph the Red nose Reindeer (in English and Spanish), A Whole New World and Prince Ali; and for the most part you will then let me get up and go to sleep. Some nights you will snuggle me in a way I can't let go or ask me to tell Daddy to come see you and do the same to him. I don't know if you are taking advantage of us; or manipulating us, and maybe a parenting expert will tell me not to fall for your tricks; but I love so much every time you tell me you had made space in your bed for me to be able to sleep (un piquitito) with you!!

I can't believe you are almost 3 years old and will be going to school soon. That day always seemed so far away and now it is around the corner. Sometimes I want to keep time still, I am enjoying you so much that I don't want anything to change but I know next year and the following ones will be just as fun. Maybe I won't be the top choice when it comes to playmates but I hope I remain fun for you for quite some time.
I am going back to work after maternity leave soon and I am going to miss playing with you so much. I had so much fun running around in the park and going down the slides; I also had fun sitting on the floor of your room playing "Ariel & Loui". We will still play and I promise to make time on my day for uninterrupted Cori playtime!!!
I am looking forward for what lays ahead of us but this past 2.5 years have been amazing. Daddy and I love you so much and we feel so blessed to have you in our lives.
We love you Loca Mia.