Odds & Ends for Friday

A quick update for this Friday:

Our very nice neighbor and my new friend, Elizabeth, is letting us use her daughter's play horse. Her daughter does not like it at all, and Paprika, of course, loves it! She wants to climb on it herself and bounce away. She loves it! We're having a lot of fun with it and we're so glad we get to use it for the time being.

Our heater is out- kaput, not working! I have a space heater going in Paprika's room, but otherwise it's downright chilly in our house. Our thermostat says it's 60 degrees, so we've been bundled up and keeping warm. I am going to break down and call the heating repairman this afternoon, since it's become obvious that the heater won't fix itself and winter has just begun.

Today is the first day of rain we've had in I don't remember how long. Paprika ran to the window and started exclaiming "water! water!" as if it was the most amazing thing that water was falling from the sky. I told her that when it comes from the sky it's called "rain" and then she started saying "Ain! Ain!" I wonder if it is confusing to her that water, while so important, has so many different names and uses. Ocean, Lake, river, rain, waterfall, ice, snow, bathtub water, drinking water, toilet water, etc. It's a lot to sort out!


Paprika Looking at the Rain for the First Time:

We have a busy weekend ahead of us planned. We are going to Lauren and Don's Christmas Party tomorrow- and I'm so excited about it. Paprika is spending the evening at our local Mother's Day Out center, and I know she'll love being around other kids. We had a tour and she wanted to play with all the other kids while we were there. It's a fantastic place. It'll be my first time dropping her off, and I'm nervous as heck about it. But, I know that she'll be in great hands, and we'll be back to get her before she knows it. Can you tell I'm a little nervous? I'm sure she'll do better than I will!

I am hard at work marketing my book, UnInked! The Complete Guide to Tattoo Removal. It's selling very well on Amazon.com and Borders.com. I am working on finding other channels to sell it. I am in talks with a distributor, which would put the book into brick and mortar stores like Barnes & Noble and Borders. I have started a few websites: http://tattooremovalsupport.com/, http://tattooremovalbook.com/, http://erikafinn.com/, and http://zibibooks.com/. I still need to work out the kinks on the websites, add to them, and the "Buy It Now" option needs to be easier and more user friendly. It's baby steps right now, literally!

I am also working on two more books in my spare time. I am co-authoring a book with my good friend Jessica, and we have an agent from ICM who wants to rep the book for us. That's great news. We hope to go with a large publisher for the book, like Random House. We are about half-way finished writing the book- it's fun writing with a partner!

I ordered our Christmas cards a few days ago and just got a notification that they're in route! They are majorly cute this year. I can't wait to send them out!

Mr. Mustard is busy, busy with work. So far this year he's done more shows than I can remember, and all of them were major. In his next break between shows, he may do some work at home- which I would love!

Full Sentences!

Paprika now regularly speaks in full sentences. She's been doing it for a few weeks now, off and on, but over the past week it has become much more regular. Now, she often puts words together like "that is baby" and "let's go outside" or "go down." She is picking up words at a very rapid pace. She learns at least one new word per day, sometimes many more. For example, last weekend she learned choo-choo train, jump, purple, turtle, pig, goat, fish, sheep, star, banana, puppy, woof, cow, moo, and a bunch of other words I can't recall off the top of my head. We estimate that she says between 50-100 words now. It's the funniest thing because sometimes I will be sitting there reading her a book, and she'll just point to something and say what it is- even if I've never pointed it out before. She follows the words along in her book and "reads" to herself when I'm not reading to her. It's quite remarkable.

Thanksgiving 2007

We're back from our long, four day weekend in Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving. We had a great Thanksgiving! Mr. Mustard's mom prepared a wonderful meal. Mr. Mustard's sister, Andrea, was there, along with her friends Jill, Mike, their baby, and Mike's mom. It was a full house on Thursday, and everyone had a nice time. One of Mr. Mustard's best friends, Tom, came over on Thursday night and met Paprika officially (last time he saw her she was asleep).

Andrea and her friends left Thanksgiving evening, so the rest of the weekend, it was just me, Mr. Mustard, Paprika, and Mr. Mustard's mom. We had a very full weekend. We went to the beach, went out to eat a few times, and met up with lots of Mr. Mustard's old friends from highschool. Mr. Mustard's mom babysat for us Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings. Mr. Mustard and I got to go to dinner by ourselves, we went to two movies, and we went to a little holiday get-together one of his highschool buddies had at his house! Mr. Mustard said he had fun playing "twenty-something" for a few days! Paprika greatly enjoyed spending time with Grandma Urth.

Mr. Mustard and I saw "American Gangster" and "Enchanted" in the movie theater. "American Gangster" was his pick, "Enchanted" was mine! My next door neighbor from when I first moved to Los Angeles and lived in West Hollywood, Amy Adams, stars in "Enchanted." It's wild to think that we shared a wall for so many years, and now she is a major movie star. She is absolutely wonderful in the movie- a real talent. She is such a nice person, so I'm glad she's having so much success. It couldn't happen to anyone sweeter or more deserving. How cool.

An Autumn Day at the Park!

We had a wonderful weekend. On Sunday, we went to the park and played on the swings, blew bubbles, and watched a baseball game. Paprika was fascinated with the baseball game and wanted to watch it from start to finish. She had a great time climbing on the jungle gym and keeping up with the big kids.

Paprika's vocabulary continues to increase daily. She says kitty, kitty, kitty all the time now and wants to love on our cat, Meg, whenever she has a chance. She also makes little sentences, and I can really understand what she is saying. Today, for example, she was sitting in her stroller for all of two seconds when she started saying "down, walk, down, walk" because she wanted to be FREE! She is not one for sitting in her stroller - she wants to be a busy body, out and about!

We are getting excited for Thanksgiving tomorrow. This past week I have been reflecting on how truly blessed we are and how thankful we are for our full and rich lives. We are lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people- family and friends alike. And we are fortunate to live in a time when we can achieve whatever we desire, our dreams are only limited by our imaginations. This time of year always makes me reflect on where I am going in my life and what I want to accomplish in the next year. So far, things are really just perfect. We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

The Four Deuces

Mr. Mustard and I went to a very fun murder mystery birthday party on Saturday night. Mr. Mustard's friend, Eric, rented out a club in Hollywood and invited about 50 people to his party. The theme was 1920s, and everyone had to dress up. Mr. Mustard wore a sharp Zoot Suit and I was in flapper regalia. We had a GREAT time. Everyone was assigned a character and had to play their part in solving a fictional murder mystery. My character was an assasin who would kill anyone for a price. Mr. Mustard's character had amnesia and had to make up wild stories to confuse everyone else. It was a riot!

Paprika stayed home and played with Mr. Mustard's mom, who was down for the weekend. The funniest part was that the red dress I wore to the party was my prom dress from my senior year of highschool! I never thought I'd get to wear it again- but never say never!

15 Months Today!

Wow! Paprika is 15 months young today. She is so active, smart, and fun. We have cleared out much of the furniture in our living room because she loves to climb on it so much! Yesterday I found her standing on top of the coffee table, bouncing up and down, and swinging our giant Tiffany lamp. She climbs on top of the air purifier, and on just about anything else in sight. So, yesterday I took the coffee table and the lamp down to the garage, where they will live for the next year or two. The air purifier is going high up on top of a bookshelf. Our kitchen cabinets are empty. We have too many to baby-proof, so I have just cleared them out. Paprika can open them up and put her toys inside. It's much easier this way than constantly telling her "no" to every single thing. I want her to embrace exploration, not fear every little thing. So, I say "no" when it's a big issue and the rest of the time give her the freedom she craves.

These pictures were taken on a recent hiking trip. We have a great Canyon near our house- about a 10 minute drive- and it has a wonderful Nature Center. Paprika was fascinated by all the wildlife and especially enjoyed looking at the snakes in the terrariums at the Nature Center.

My Book- Update!

My book officially came out last Friday and so far is selling GREAT! We had a snag-up with Amazon for a few days, but that's all worked out now and the first customers should be receiving their books.

We are busy working on our website, and that should be coming up in a week or two. If all goes as planned, we'll be able to take orders directly off our website, which will cut out the middle-man. It's all very exciting and fulfilling to see something that I've worked so hard on come to fruition.

The process of writing, publishing, and marketing this book has definitely been a learning experience for me. It's great to see it finally out there and meeting with such great success!

Get Elfed!

Pretty cute! Click on the link to see the Urths as your holiday elves!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9508690469

Such A Joy!

Paprika is such a joyful baby, and is so much fun to be around. She has such a fun, warm personality, and is always laughing and trying to make other people laugh.

She says so many words now, it's just incredible! I forget how verbally advanced she is until I hear other people marvel at her verbal abilities, and then I remember- oh yes, she is only 14 months old. I don't think I can even count how many words she says now. She regularly says "daddy, mama, bath, book, bubbles, ball, cat, dog, duck, up, bagel, apple, gold, outside, moon, hot, shoe, night-night, pee-pee, poop, baby, silly, car, truck, go, outside, water, walk, and woof." She repeats everything and says little sentences like "let's go out!" or "baby go bye-bye" or "daddy, bagel" or "baby wakawakawaka (walk, walk, walk)."

She has the softest, sweetest, most quiet voice. It sounds like "ahhh-boo-doo-boo-doo-boo-doo-boo" when she gets to babbling. She loves to sing to herself, too, and lots of times I catch her singing little tunes as she's walking around the house.

She understands pretty much everything we say now, and we have to spell things if we're trying to get something past her. She can follow simple commands like "Paprika, go get your shoes" or "Paprika, time for bath." She also knows the difference between yes and no and will answer by shaking her head yes or no when you ask her if she wants to do something, or if she wants a certain thing to eat.

Paprika is absolutely fearless and will take off walking confidently in her own direction if you set her down in public. She has no fear for anything or anyone! We were at Chipotle recently, and she wanted to go up to every single table and smile and wave to each person. She is not shy in the slightest and is so genuinely curious and interested in the world around her.

Paprika loves books and wants to read anything and everything in sight. If she sees something with words on it, she'll point at the words and then hand it to me to read to her. She likes to be read the same stories over and over again, but when she's done with a book, she'll toss it aside and will not let you read it to her. Her favorite thing to do is to grab a book and then plop herself down into Mr. Mustard or my lap when we're sitting cross-legged on the floor. She wants to be read to all the time and will follow the words with her fingers.

She is a great sleeper and loves her Pooh bear. She knows how to give kisses and hugs, and is just such an amazing, beautiful, and perfect child. I know I'm gushing, but sometimes I just can't believe that this perfect being is my daughter. She is just a joy to everyone around her and such a wonderful person to have in our world.

7 Years!

Yesterday was Mr. Mustard and my 7 year anniversary of dating! We went on our very first date on November 12, 2000! On our first date, we went to Canter's Deli in Los Angeles and out to see the movie "Meet the Parents" afterwards. Seven happy years later, here we are!

Last night, my wonderful friend and neighbor, Elizabeth, came over with her 19 month old daughter, Isabella, and babysat for us so Mr. Mustard and I could go out for a romantic dinner. It was heavenly! We went to the Parkway Grill in Pasadena, where we had the most quiet, peaceful, and delicious dining experience. Paprika hardly knew we were gone, and even waved "bye-bye" to us as we headed out the door. She had a blast playing with Isabella, and we were back before she even realized she missed us! It was GREAT!

Busy Bee

We've been keeping very busy! On Sunday, we took Paprika to Kidspace, a great Children's Museum with lots of fun stuff for kids to do. I have been wanting to check it out for awhile, and it was worth the trip. The activities were geared towards kids a few years older than Paprika. They have a toddler room, and she enjoyed playing in there with the other babies- but it was so crowded! I think it will be perfect to bring her back in a year or two when she can really enjoy all the outdoor activities. Right now she's just still a little too young for it all. But, we had fun nonetheless.

On Saturday, we went to our favorite Go-Kart and Mini Golf place- for the second time in two weeks! Paprika loves the lights and sounds of the arcade there. She wants to run around and play with everything. This time we played Mini Golf, and Paprika wanted to run through the whole course. It was pretty exhausting keeping up with her. We also got to have dinner at TGI Friday's, which was great. Paprika was so well-behaved during dinner and just wanted to read her books and play with the salt and pepper shakers on the table. Overall, she is a very well mannered little diner!

Paprika also got to have a nice visit with Mr. Mustard's mom and Mr. Mustard's sister, Andrea, this past weekend. Mr. Mustard's mom flew in from Maine and stayed at our house overnight before going back up to Santa Barbara. It was so nice for Paprika to see them- and for them to see her!

I took Paprika for her 15 month well-baby doctor's check-up earlier today. She passed with flying colors! She is as healthy as can be, and is growing and developing just perfectly. All of the nurses on staff were just blown away by Paprika's vocabulary and how much she is talking now.

Fall Festival Fun!

Last weekend, we went to a big Fall Festival in celebration of Halloween. There was a petting zoo, and Paprika got to pet lots of animals: a donkey, sheep, goats, a pig, and a rooster.

She had lots of fun playing in the bouncy at the carnival:

A very cool kid's band called "The Hollow Trees" played songs for us. We picked up their CD to play in the car.

Paprika even picked out our pumpkin to take home with us. This one looks good!: