New Milestones!

Paprika turns 1 NEXT THURSDAY! I can hardly believe it! She changes so much on a daily basis and is growing up so fast. She's a fast cruiser now and can stand holding onto furniture and move around easily on her feet. Yesterday she stood by herself (without holding onto anything) for a second or two. Pretty soon she'll be standing on her own, and then walking!

She is into everything and our house is slowly, by necessity, becoming very baby-proofed. As she becomes more mobile, she also wants to be held more and I find that every time I try to put her down, she climbs on me to be picked back up.

Paprika has a word for everything now- even if I don't always understand what she's saying. She says "dog" by saying "dee!" and "duck" is "daa!" "Daddy" is "dadadada" and "tree" is "teeee!" "Bath" is "baaa," "tubstopper" is "ttstaa, " and "kitty" is "keee!" She says everything with great enthusiasm. ;-) I don't think I could count how many words she understands. She seems to understand more than I can imagine. For example, if I say, "Paprika, it's bathtime!"- she will go over to the bath and start to climb into the tub (fully dressed, of course!). She's a super-smart baby, and I'm not just saying that because she's mine!

Mr. Mustard just got back last night after three days in Chicago for work. He got some type of food poisoning while he was there and has been sick as a dog since yesterday. Yesterday he told Paprika on the phone that he would see her later that night- and then she would NOT go to bed until he got home. She waited up for him until almost 10:30- nothing I did would get her to go to sleep. Finally she zonked out, thank goodness, because Mr. Mustard's flight got in late and he didn't get home until after midnight.

Tomorrow is Mr. Mustard and my fourth wedding anniversary! Time goes by so fast. The past four years have been incredibly good to us- we have so much to be thankful for and I feel so lucky to be able to live such an amazing life! I don't know what I have done to deserve so much goodness in my life- but I am not taking it for granted. I am exquisitely happy and can't wait to see what great new adventures life has in store for us!