Ariela is officially two. She loves the beach and sings songs all day long. Some of them she has learned and some she makes up all on her own. I’ve seriously never met a kid who sings so much. She loves her big brother and sister and always prefers having them nearby. Her favorite toys are dolls. She now has too many to count, most either hand-me-downs or gifts, but she gives them all names and tries to take as many as she can hold in her hands whenever we leave somewhere. Her favorite thing to do is swim. She can swim and float on her own now and is always begging for me to take her to the pool or ocean. She also enjoys building sandcastles, and hearing her say the word “sandcastle” is just soo adorable. She talks a lot and seems to understand everything we say. But when we ask about the baby coming, she simply says “no.” She’s still very attached to me. She nurses before bed and sleeps right next to me. The transition to big-sisterhood might be hard, but I think she’ll do just fine. It’s hard to believe that it has been two years since I felt those waves of a familiar pain letting me know my baby was coming. I remember falling asleep in the tub between contractions and dreaming of a little girl with curly blonde hair, even though none of us are blonde and the gender was a surprise. A few hours later I reached down and pulled a baby mermaid out of the water. Ever since then, she’s been begging me to put her back in and reminding me that dreams do come true.