The Tin Man

The past few times we've gone to the park, Paprika has run over to the War Memorial to spend some time with the statue of the soldier. She thinks he's a real person, just like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz. He has a tear on his face, and everytime Paprika sees that, she says to me, "So sad! So sad!" and tries to wipe the tear off his face. She hugs and kisses him over and over again to try to make him feel better. She would stand there all day comforting him if I would let her.

Usually after about twenty minutes, I tell her it's time to go, and then she gets really upset, so I let her stay a few more minutes. She never wants to leave. She is truly concerned for him, and wants so desperately to make him feel better, even though she never can. Paprika's humanity and compassion is so beautiful. She teaches me how to grow and become a better person each day I'm with her. I'm so grateful to be her mom.

Chasing Bubbles!

Paprika and I had a fantastic day at the park today. I brought our new bubble blowing machine with us, and she had a wonderful time chasing bubbles! Paprika goes crazy for bubbles. When we were at the park on Wednesday, we met a baby there who had a bubble blowing machine. Paprika wanted to play for hours, and has been talking about it ever since. So, last night we went by Target and got Paprika her very own bubble blower. She's so excited about it!

Here's a short video. The sound you hear in the background is the bubble machine making noise. If it looks like she's having a lot of fun, that's because she is!

Paprika On Easter Morning!

Here is a video of Paprika coming downstairs to find her basket on Easter morning!

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter, capping off our wonderful week with Mr. Mustard at home. On Wednesday, we had Paprika's 19 month check-up. She was 33.5 inches tall (90%), and weighed 25.5 pounds (60%). The doctor was in awe of Paprika's vocabulary and how advanced she is. She asked how many words Paprika is saying- and then Paprika just started talking, which answered her question. Paprika said, "Time to go bye-bye now!" "Where's socks?" (We had taken her socks off for the appointment). The doctor just about fell over at everything Paprika was saying, and went around and told all the nurses in the office how amazing Paprika is. They were all just raving about her. It was a little bit like being with a celebrity.

Paprika continues to want to use the potty and went #1 yesterday on her own. It's more of a novelty for her than anything else. She likes the sound the potty makes (it's called a "Royal Potty"- so it makes music when you go), so that gives her an incentive.

We had a wonderful Easter Weekend. Yesterday, our neighbors had a huge Easter Egg Hunt at their house. Paprika went last year, too. This year, she was ready to hunt eggs and got quite a few in her little basket.

Today we had a family day and just spent time together the three of us at a botanical garden. Paprika was dressed in her Easter dress, and she got LOTS of attention. People were asking if they could take her picture, and one photographer just started snapping pictures of her. Again, it was a little bit like being with a celebrity. Am I noticing a pattern here?

I have lots of pictures to post from this week, and possibly a video, too!

A Birthday Party!

Today was Isabella's birthday- she turned two years old! We went to her birthday party and had great fun. Isabella received the "Rose Petal Cottage" for her birthday, and Paprika LOVED it! She spent over an hour playing house inside of it with Isabella.

So Many Exciting New Happenings!

The first exciting announcement is that Paprika got her first tricycle yesterday! Whenever we go to the park, she always wants to ride everyone else's trike. Yesterday I got scolded by another mom at the park when Paprika took off with her son's trike. So, after the park, I took Paprika to the store and we got Paprika her very own tricycle. She LOVES it and constantly asks to "Go Bike!" which, of course, means that she wants to ride it. Her feet don't quite reach the pedals yet, but she really enjoys being pushed and letting her feet drag. We are going to decorate it with lots of streamers and stickers to personalize it for Paprika. Fun!

Here's the back view of the bike. Notice Paprika's babydoll, "Lola" (as she's named her) in the back bucket. Mr. Mustard has named this photo: FUTURE WISEGUY...

Yesterday, Paprika went to the bathroom in the potty for the first time. She was pretty pleased with herself. She did it all on her own, with no prompting from us. We are definitely not pushing potty training, but she is very interested in everything having to do with the potty.

We have been going to the park usually two times/day. Paprika loves being outside, in her car, on her bike, and running around outside. We're only indoors to eat and sleep. That's the nice thing about the weather here in Southern California.

Today, we took Paprika to the zoo. She loved seeing the animals and petting the goats at the Children's Petting Zoo. Paprika remembered the roaring lion from our last trip to the zoo. When we got close to the lion exhibit, she got really excited and started to exclaim, "Lion! Lion! Lion!" even though we couldn't yet see the lions. She remembered the exhibit very vividly, which was interesting to me. Mr. Mustard commented that of course she remembered the lions- it's hard to forget a lion roaring at top volume for five minutes.

Here is Paprika checking out the animals at the zoo:

Fun Times!

We have been having the BEST time since Mr. Mustard came home on Friday. He's working from home all next week, and we are loving having him here. Being apart so much really makes us appreciate our time together. It's so wonderful having him home.

I had a nice break yesterday. I took a sewing class, which was great fun! While I was there, Mr. Mustard and Paprika had some father/daughter bonding time. They went to the park and Mr. Mustard took Paprika for a drive in her little red car. She had a wonderful time and barely even noticed that I was gone. I made a tote bag in the class, and then last night when Paprika was napping, I hemmed a pair of Paprika's pants. Today during her naptime, I made a nursing cover. I'm having a lot of fun with sewing and I am so proud of my little projects!

We have SO many things planned for this week while Mr. Mustard is home. Luckily, working from home, he can be pretty flexible about when he works. Paprika's 18 month check-up is on Thursday! I'm excited for Mr. Mustard to see the pediatrician's office, since he hasn't been yet. Today Paprika turned 19 months, so I guess we are a little behind on our 18th month check-up! I'm curious to see what the pediatrician says about her massive vocabulary. She gets more talkative by the day, and some of the things she says blow my mind! She speaks in full sentences, and oftentimes I'll hear her on the baby monitor talking to her dolls and stuffed animals. I'm actually a little glad that we never got very far with baby sign language. She has been talking for so long, and says so much that I really don't know what we would be signing. She can tell me exactly what she wants with her words. She even has a very keen sense of humor. I am just loving everything about being Paprika's mom. It is pure joy.


On a different note, it looks like it may be time for us to say goodbye to the Saturn. She has served us VERY well. She is thirteen (maybe fourteen) years old, and I have had her for ten years! She was a graduation gift from my dad, and I have a strong sentimental attachment to her because of that. My first car was a Cadillac from my grandparents, and I still miss that car so much! I have been a very blessed girl over the years. The Saturn is not doing well. Mr. Mustard has been driving the Saturn because Paprika's carseat won't fit inside of it (it's a 2 door). Anyway, a few weeks ago, it wouldn't start, and that has been a pretty persistent problem. He'll go somewhere and then get stranded. No fun! So, we're going to go car shopping this week and see what we find. We're hoping to get a station wagon, since that will give us more room for things like Paprika's tricycle!

Sign...What Sign?

Click on the picture to see what the sign says! :-)

A Nice Weekend

The weekend came and went too quickly! Mr. Mustard's family was in Los Angeles this weekend, and we got to spend some quality time with them while they were here. Mr. Mustard's mom spent the whole weekend with us, and on Sunday we caught up with Mr. Mustard's family from the East Coast: Michael, Diane, Chelsea and her fiance Matt.

On Sunday, we went to Descanso Gardens in La Canada, a beautiful botanical garden with a nice cafe. The weather was splendid and the gardens were so lush and green. We had a wonderful lunch at the cafe, and it was great catching up with the East Coast Urths.

Mr. Mustard and I were able to sneak away on Saturday night for a nice dinner at the Yard House. I got the six beer sampler- which was way more than I could handle, so Mr. Mustard was a gentleman and drank half. It was nice to get out just the two of us and have some quality alone time. Sunday night we snuck out to Jamba Juice while Mr. Mustard's mom watched Paprika. While sipping our Jambas, we took a nice walk along Colorado Blvd. and stopped in at Barnes & Noble to thumb through some books. It was great fun. When we got home, Mr. Mustard's mom told us that Paprika had counted to ten! Pretty impressive!

A Little Sniffly

It looks like Paprika picked up some sort of cold on one of our many social outings this week. Last night she was miserable- very congested and stuffy- and had a hard time sleeping. We stayed close to home today- walked up to our neighborhood park, drove her car around the neighborhood, and spent some time cruising in the jogging stroller- all in the hopes that Paprika would feel better sooner rather than later. Already she's feeling much better, I think.

We have a big weekend planned. Mr. Mustard is coming down with his mom, and we are meeting up with Mr. Mustard's aunt, uncle, and cousin from the East Coast. I really hope Paprika is back to her healthy, smiley self by then!

Sing A-Long

Today we went to a toddler sing-along! It was at our local indoor playground, and was great fun. We've been going to the park every day- the weather is just gorgeous. I also brought out the jogging stroller, and we've been jogging around the neighborhood. Paprika seems to like it and even asks "go stroller?" when we go down to the garage.

I'm hard at work getting Paprika on a more reasonable schedule. She is very committed to her 3am bedtime, and her 3pm wake-up time. This morning I got her up early (9:30am), but she wouldn't nap- so now it's 7:30pm and I'm about to put her down to sleep. But, she'll probably wake up in three hours and want to party til 5 a.m. Phew! I hope she sleeps all night. She definitely needs it. :-)

The Next Dimension Is Vertical

Paprika has discovered the power of climbing. She wants to climb on everything and has discovered that she can bring a chair over to her desired peak and use it as a stepping stool to get where she wants to go. She wants to stand on the dining room table, ontop of the kitchen and bathroom counters, and climb the railing on the stairs. Nothing is insurmountable with a little ingenuity!