3 Years, 4 Months

As this blog is Paprika's sole baby book (Ginger's, too)- I feel the need to update with the milestones and "what's happening now" with regards to how they are growing up...even if it is only of interest to her grandparents, her great grandparents, me, and her 25 years from now!

At three years, four months, Paprika is doing a lot of things that I don't want to forget.

When we were at Ginger's 6 month check-up last week, Mr. Mustard started writing a few words on the DoodlePro they had there in the office. He would say to her, "Paprika- what's this word?" And of course he didn't think she would know, but she did. She got them all right. The words were: Paprika, Mommy, Daddy, Ginger.

He asked her, "How do you spell Mom?" And she said, "M-O-M." Same for the others. I did make up a song about all of our names, which is probably how she knows. She can also spell words like "D-I-S-N-E-Y-L-A-N-D" and "P-L-A-Y-G-R-O-U-N-D"...you know, the words we spell out when we are still deciding whether or not we want to take Paprika somewhere. Now we are finding new "code" words for places...but I am sure she'll figure those words out soon enough.

The other thing is that she can identify all the letters of the alphabet and knows all the sounds associated with each letter (A spells "Ahhh", B spells "Baaaa", and so forth).

She is now understanding mathematical concepts a bit more. So, if I say to her, "We have five apples and we take away two, how many do we have now?" She can answer "Three!"

She is immensely fun to be around, and is gaining a whole new sort of maturity. She can be reasoned with mostly...if given the options between two choices, she can make up her mind and she knows what she wants.

She still is super-headstrong and wants her way. If we are out in public and she doesn't want to leave, she will run away as fast as she can and hide. This happened recently at the Children's Museum and The Farmer's Market. She will wait until you turn your head for a split-second and then bolt. When I ran after her and found her at The Children's Museum, she folded her arms and said, "I will stay here, Mommy. You go home!" Despite getting down on her level and talking things out, those situations still usually end in me carrying her out kicking and screaming.

Usually that kind of stuff can be avoided as long as she is getting enough sleep...but since she cut out all napping over a year ago and can't be persuaded to nap for anything, sometimes she is more tired than others. So now I try not to overschedule ourselves or be out past her bedtime...because as long as Paprika is well-rested, she is really the sweetest, easiest little girl to be around.

Paprika really relishes her role as a big sister, and is immensely generous to all those around her. Yesterday when I took her to Trader Joe's she asked me unprompted, "Mom, can I get a Christmas present for Baby Ginger?" I said, "What kind of Christmas present do you want to get Ginger?" And she said..."A BIG present!" That's how she is. Everything that is Paprika's is Ginger's, and I think she would sleep next to her in the same bed if I'd let her (I don't). It's been great these past six months watching Paprika fawn over someone we love so much- I was never super worried we'd have jealousy issues, but it's nice not having them, if you know what I mean.

Paprika is super imaginative. She loves playing with her stuffed animals, her dolls, her dollhouse...creating new worlds. Her world is magical and fun. Everyone is a prince or a princess...or a queen or a king in Paprika's world. Yesterday, Mr. Mustard took Paprika to see The Princess And The Frog (second time) - and when she came home, she was dancing and singing, and spent the whole night playing Princess Tiana. Even just a simple little trip to the movies gets her excited, and she can create hours of fun based around that one little experience.

So, overall- it's just a fun time of life. I am really enjoying Paprika's Threes. I know it's all pretty normal stuff that a person could take for granted. But just like Paprika, I think it's all pretty magical, and I don't want to miss a second of it and I don't want to forget a moment of it. I wish I could bottle it, really.