There's something about Mariana...

* The first thing everyone notices is her eyelashes. They really are amazing. Not only are they very long, dark and thick but they curl at the outer edges of her eyes - just as if she's had them curled with one of those eyelash curler thingies. Everyone comments on them.

* She is a very easy going baby. There really wasn't any transition between La Casita and us. It was like she took one look at us, realised we were here family, thought "they'll do" and just got on with it.

* She is very easy to care for. Apart from the first two nights she has slept through the night. We have a routine of giving her a bath - which she LOVES - at about 7:30 - 8:00 pm, then some skin lotion, nappy and pjs and she snuggles up for her bottle. As soon as she's finished we'll put her in her cot on her back with her blanket. Dramatically she throws one arm over and falls immediately asleep on her left side. It is breathtaking how fast she falls asleep - blink and she's asleep. She then wakes at about 5:00 am for a bottle and nappy change and goes back to sleep until 7:30 am (we usually wake her by 8:00 am so we can get on with our day).

* During the day she has some little naps in the morning and usually a big sleep (3 hours or so) in the afternoon.

* She is happy just about all the time. If she starts to whinge or cry you know she's hungry.

* She loves being out and about in her stroller. Looking around at the shops and the people, sitting out by the pool or the restaurant. She makes eye contact with everyone and charms all who comes near her. She also loves driving in the car and wants to look out the window.

* We are all besotted with her. She is a beautiful, gentle baby. We are so very lucky she is ours.