Paprika's Halloween Costume

I ordered Paprika's Halloween costume online from Babystyle- and it came in the mail yesterday. The picture of the happy baby is from the catalog. Doesn't it look like it would be comfy? Well- Paprika sure didn't seem to think so! She cried the whole time she wore it. I'll try it one more time, but if she still doesn't like it, we're going to have to figure something else out for Halloween!

Smiles!

Paprika has such a beautiful smile! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to catch it on camera much because when she sees the camera, she starts looking at it really inquisitively- and then the moment is gone. Here is a rare picture of her half smiling and half laughing and another one of her smiling!

Six Weeks Old!

Today Paprika turned 6 weeks old. It's amazing to think about how much she's grown and changed these past 6 weeks. When we first took her home from the hospital in her carseat she was so little that the seat pretty much engulfed her- now she's filling out that same carseat quite nicely, holding up her head, and even smiling at us! When she came home from the hospital, she was 8 pounds. Now she's over 12 pounds (according to our bathroom scale). So, in 6 weeks, she's put on 50% of her weight all over again. It's incredible!

Paprika is sleeping a little longer at night now- last night, for example, she slept from 11:30pm until 2:30am, and then from 3:30-6:30, and then from 7:00-8:00. That's 7 hours total- although not right in a row yet!

We are starting to venture out a little bit more. Paprika and I went to the mall today to buy a birthday gift for a friend. She was perfect at the mall- although I did make sure to keep it brief. Then we came home, I gave her a bath, and now she is resting sunggly against my chest asleep as I type this. She smells so fresh and clean!

Paprika has started smiling back at us, which is so fulfilling! She usually does it during her diaper changes- it's so gratifying to see that little face smiling back up at us.

Tomorrow I have scheduled lunch with a friend- one of Mr. Mustard's co-workers. So, Paprika and I are going to see where Mr. Mustard works tomorrow! Then on Friday we are having dinner with Jessica and Matt- I am excited to see their new apartment and hear about their trip to Thailand. Jessica just started working at her big downtown LA law firm, so it will be interesting to hear her take on it. I think she'll really like it.

My start date for work was supposed to be September 5th, but life had other plans for me, I guess! I am enjoying being home with Paprika and seeing her grow and change. I can't imagine getting bored with this- taking care of her is pretty challenging and fulfilling.

Then, Saturday we are going to Santa Barbara because one of Mr. Mustard's mom's friends is having a post-baby baby shower for us! So, that will be nice. On Sunday, we are going to the wedding of two of Mr. Mustard's friends from film school, Matt and Julianne. Whew! What a busy couple of days we have ahead of us!

Paprika and Erika Comparison Pics!

My mom just emailed me a photo of me looking strikingly like Paprika- how cool is that? :-)

Paprika at One Month:

















Erika at One Month!

Paprika Meets Her Great-Grandparents!

What a great weekend we had! Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Spinks were in town with their best friends, Barbara and Duane. They had just come back from a cruise and planned a stay in Los Angeles over the weekend.

On Friday, we had a low-key time around the apartment getting acquainted and visiting. Paprika really liked hearing everyone talk and listening to the conversations around her. Since birth, she has enjoyed being in the "sitting up" position, and feels most comfortable when you hold her as if she's sitting up properly. So, she sat up and looked around at everyone- taking it all in! Then for dinner, we went out for an awesome dinner at Chin-Chin, a Chinese restaurant in Beverly Hills. It was Paprika's first restaurant experience, and she did great. She slept through pretty much the whole meal while Mr. Mustard held her in the Baby Bjorn.

On Saturday, Mr. Mustard had the day off work, so we all went to the Getty Museum in Bel-Air, and then we went to the Santa Monica Pier. Paprika was a real trooper and only started to get a little fussy at the end of the day. The Getty was very manageable- it was cool and not crowded at all. She really seemed to like it. The Pier was a little warmer, so Paprika let us know that she wanted to go home after an hour or so. So, we did- and she was fine after that. She took a LONG nap when she got home, which was great- we really tuckered her out! After that, we visited a little more at the apartment- It was so great having Grandma and Grandpa, Barbara and Duane visit! We love spending time with them- they are like a vitamin shot of positivity and fun. We were so sad to see them go!

Today Mr. Mustard and I have been catching up on household duties- grocery shopping, laundry, and other exciting tasks! ;-) We also had lunch at Quizno's (my favorite), and again Paprika was really great. I think she likes being out and about and is curious to learn all about the world around her.

At the Beach in Santa Monica:
















The Santa Monica Pier:
















Grandma, Grandpa, Barbara and Duane at the Getty:

Paprika with Mom, Dad, Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandpa at the Getty Museum:
















Hanging out in the Apartment:

















Sleeping on Daddy's Lap:

Major Strides

Today Paprika is 5 weeks old- and last night we had a major breakthrough. Paprika slept in her bassinet (gasp!) last night for 4 hours straight- from 1:30am to 5:30am. I'm not going to hold my breath that it happens again, but this was the first time that she's slept that long when she hasn't been held. It's very exciting, but also bittersweet because I love holding her so much. It was nice to sleep horizontal for a few hours, though. Usually I feed her and she falls asleep while I'm holding her and then we'll both doze for awhile. But, last night Mr. Mustard got her to fall asleep while he was carrying her in the Bjorn, and then he put her down in her bassinet and she slept straight until 5:30am. Then she woke up- and of course hasn't allowed me to put her back in the bassinet since then. I am currently wearing her in the Bjorn, hoping she'll fall asleep enough to let me lay her back down. :-)

I took my mom to the airport yesterday- I was sad to see her go. We had a lot of good mother/daughter/granddaughter bonding time. This weekend my grandparents are coming into town, so Paprika will get to meet her Greatgrandparents! That will be exciting! My grandparents are coming back from a cruise with their best friends Barbara and Duane and will be spending some time in Los Angeles. The six of us went to Las Vegas earlier this year and had such a great time. We love seeing Barb and Duane- and of course love spending time with my grandparents, so this will really be a treat!

I scheduled my 6 week check-up with the doctor for October 7th, which is really more like 7 weeks but that was the earliest opening I could get first thing in the morning. That way Mr. Mustard can go with me and watch Paprika while I'm in with the doctor and then can go on to work. I can't believe September is going by so quickly.

Mr. Mustard and I went and looked at a few houses this past weekend- something I don't want to do again for awhile. It's too depressing to look at houses that are 1) very very tiny and 2) in need of major repair, and then be told that the house is a "steal" for $650K. We're going to look into renting a bigger apartment soon. This place is good for now, but soon enough Mr. Mustard and I will need some privacy and it would be great for Paprika to have her own room.

I'm going to look into taking the Real Estate Broker exam once I get my Bar results. As a law school grad, I can take the Real Estate Salesperson license- but in order to be a Broker I would have to have passed the Bar. A Salesperson must work under a Broker- so I might as well see if I passed the Bar first and become a full-fledged Broker.

Mr. Mustard suggested that I look into taking the exam and becoming licensed, because if I do, then I could be our buying agent if we buy a house- and we would get the commission back when we buy the house. Of course, I said, why not just offer less money and not be represented by a real estate agent at all? I'm not sure if we did that if the seller's agent would get double commission for representing both us and the seller. My suspicion is that they probably would. So, it might be worth it for me to become licensed and then represent us in the event that we buy a house.

Of course, that entails us waiting to see if I passed the Bar (which I won't know until Thanksgiving), and then taking the exam, and then waiting for the licensing to happen- which would take about 6 weeks, I guess. So, that means I would probably not become licensed until February. Assuming we can stay in this apartment that long, it could work out perfectly. But staying in this apartment much longer may drive both Mr. Mustard and I insane! We are bursting at the seams- I guess we'll see how it goes day by day. One definite positive thing about living here is that we get LOTS of together-time and there's no room to get lonely. As I like to say, there is a lot of love in this house!

One month comparison!

One month ago:





















Today:

One Month Birthday!

One month old officially- today we took it easy- had a bath and hung out around the house. We did a "photo shoot" to mark the one month birthday, which was a lot of fun. My mom is here- so she spent the day with us. She is leaving on Monday and I'm going to be so sad to see her go. We had some great times this visit- and she is so good with Paprika. I'm getting nostalgic and she hasn't even left yet!

Paprika is changing so quickly. Already she doesn't need to be held quite as much as she did when we brought her home from the hospital- although I love holding her, so I'm not ready for that stage to pass. She is sleeping a little more often in her bassinet. She is tolerating her bouncy seat. Otherwise, she really just falls asleep when she's being held and then wakes up when she realizes no one is holding her.

Paprika really enjoys music- we've been playing the Ipod for her- just like I did when I was pregnant- and she really likes it. My mom gave me a CD for my birthday of yoga music, and Paprika especially likes that. I was a little skeptical at first, but Paprika really calms down when we play it- she loves it!

Last week my friend Lindsey came by to see Paprika- that was great to catch up with her. She was down from the Bay Area for Jacey's engagement party. Paprika stayed home with my mom while Mr. Mustard and I went to the party. I didn't think it would be so hard to leave her, but it really was! I guess you could say I'm attached to my little one! It's nice being able to leave Paprika with my mom or Mr. Mustard's mom because you can really trust grandma! Leaving her with anyone else is going to be really really hard.

Having Paprika makes me want to have about 5 more little ones- although I can't imagine taking time away from her...so I guess I'm conflicted. I love her so much that I don't want her to have to share my attention with anyone else, and I love her so much that I want to have a million more kids so she can have lots of brothers and sisters. She is so much fun- this is really what life is all about. :-)

One Month Old!

My Birthday!

In all the excitement, I realize that I forgot to post about my birthday! Of course, I got the best birthday present this year- Paprika! Mr. Mustard and I went to Sushi Roku for my birthday and had a nice dinner out while my mom babysat. It was a lot of fun, and good for Mr. Mustard and I to get a few minutes alone.

The next night (Friday night), we had Jacey and Dan over for dinner- well, actually they came over and brought US dinner, which was really really wonderful of them. They even brought a very yummy birthday cake! It was awesome.

Paprika has been living in her Baby Bjorn which was a present from my Aunts Jane and Peg. Wow- what a lifesaver it has been! Paprika loves being carted around in it- she's also loving the sling carrier that my aunt Laura sent. If it weren't for those carriers, I would never get out of bed!

Four Weeks Old!

This Wednesday marks Paprika's 4 week birthday- this time four weeks ago, I was in labor at Cedars! Time is flying so quickly! Her one month birthday is this Saturday (Sept. 16th)- I can't believe it. I will post more pictures soon- we have taken so many more and have lots of really cute ones. She is getting bigger by the second, I swear!

On Friday, Paprika had her three week pediatrician check-up visit. She measured 23 inches long and weighed 10 pounds 7 oz., which is two pounds over her birth weight of 8 pounds 7 oz. and three inches longer! I think they MUST have mismeasured at the hospital because 3 inches in 3 weeks is unreal.

My mom is visiting right now, and that is going great. Paprika is really loving spending time with her grandma Becker and I'm loving it, too. Paprika is a very good baby and loves to be held all the time. She's starting to become more aware of her surroundings and is staying awake for longer stretches. She continues to be beautiful, perfect, and the highlight of our lives.

I'm still not getting much sleep, but I hear that the sleep issue will resolve itself soon enough once she starts being able to go longer in between feedings. Right now we're up together every two to three hours. I'm not complaining, though- I really cherish our bonding time together at night!

I will update more soon with pictures- I'm on Mr. Mustard's computer right now, which doesn't have the photos on it.

2 Weeks 4 Days

3 Weeks Old!

Wow, I can't believe that Paprika is Three Weeks old today! Time is going by too quickly! We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. We had not planned on doing anything, but decided to go up to Santa Barbara at the last minute. We visited Mr. Mustard's mom and had a really wonderful, relaxing time. Paprika was a real trooper. She did great in the car- the traffic up to SB was insane and ended up taking a really long time to get up there. Paprika slept the whole car ride up and back down- she was perfect. We also brought Hauser and he had a great time, as well. We took him and Paprika to our favorite walking spot- Elwood Shores. Paprika loves being outdoors and she got her first glimpse of the ocean at 2 weeks 4 days old!

My mom is coming into town today- I am very excited! She will finally get to meet her grandbaby! Tomorrow is my birthday and then on Friday, Paprika has her 3 week appointment at the Pediatrician's office. I am curious to see how she's growing. :-) Will write more later- Paprika is calling me!

2 Weeks, 3 Days Old:

First Bath
Paprika and Hauser