Marques Houston Says Being a Dad Is One of His 'Biggest Accomplishments': 'Family Is First'
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Marques Houston is fully embracing his new role as a father.
The 40-year-old singer and actor recently welcomed his first child, 2-month-old daughter Zara, and spoke to PEOPLE about how seriously he takes his duties as a dad.
"I'm very instrumental in my daughter's life. I'm not one of those absent fathers that's just always working and never paying attention to his family because I feel like family is first," Houston tells PEOPLE.
"I always say being a husband and father are two of my biggest accomplishments in life so I take that very seriously. I'm really, really happy about being a dad," he continues.
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miya houston/ instagram
Houston attributes his ability to stay "balanced" while adjusting to fatherhood to his wife Miya, whom he married in August 2020 and shares Zara with.
Raving about his "daddy-daughter time" in the mornings with his first child, the You Got Served star admitted that he's already looking forward to Zara getting a little older so they can create memories together as a family of three.
"I can't wait until she gets old enough to where she starts talking and, you know, I can have her on set with me and just kind of take her around," he says. "She's like our little road dog, she goes everywhere with us."
Baby Zara may be too young to talk, but Houston says she's got a lot of personality and already shares his love for music, noting that she "grooves" to his new album. Last week, Houston made his music comeback after a nearly 10-year hiatus, releasing an album titled Me, which he says was inspired by his wife and daughter.
"Zara listens to my album and I put it on for her. She'll even try to sing along. You know, she can't really sing or anything like that yet but she tries to make little noises and kind of groove to the music," he continues. "And so that's why I say the inspiration is just life, just really me knowing who I am as a person and as a husband and father."
Despite the adorable approval of the album from his little girl, the singer admits he's not too sure if he would want Zara to follow his footsteps in the industry.
"I want Zara to be able to carve out an interest in life early and whatever that may be, I want to be able to support her if it's the right thing to support," he tells PEOPLE. "I just want to be sure that I'm a great father, that I raise her well with all the spiritual values that I was raised with."
"If she does decide to sing, hey, I think that's great. Maybe she wants to be a swimmer or an athlete or whatever. I just wanna make sure that I'm a supportive dad," Houston says.
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Marques Houston Instagram
The former Sister, Sister star first announced on social media in December that he welcomed his baby, sharing a series of his new family photos as the three dressed in matching Gucci outfits.
The sweet snaps featured the actor giving his newborn baby girl a kiss on the cheek as well as other snaps of Zara holding his finger and the proud parents cuddling her.
"Welcome to the world baby Zara. Daddy loves you 😘 And to my baby mama @iammiyahouston I love you 😘 ❤️," he wrote.
"My heart ❤️," Miya commented on the photos.
Marques shared another snap on his Instagram Story at the time of his smiling baby girl, writing, "When daddy sings to her she smiles."
