Sunny Summery Days

The weather has been phenomenal- high 70s, low 80s- and very sunny! Perfect outdoor weather and now that Paprika is better, we can finally enjoy it!

We went to the park today and it was packed! There were lots of kids and babies running around. Paprika mostly wanted to explore the park and play with other kids' toys. I am working on explaining to her that not everything is hers. It's a new concept for her. It's very frustrating to her that she can't just take some other baby's toy stroller out for a walk, or drink another child's sippy cup, or take another baby's ball out to play. I try to reason with her, but it is sort of difficult to reason with a 17 month old!

I don't want to have to tell her that she can't play with this or that, especially when it's not something dangerous. I don't want her to think of things in terms of "her toys" and "other people's toys" because then she will get more possessive about her things. Right now she will share anything with anyone. But most people don't like it when your baby takes off at the park with their child's toys, so I have to do what I have to do.

Paprika has been asking every day to see Isabella, who we haven't seen in over a week because of the girls being sick. Today she said over and over again "Bella, Bella, Bella, Bella, Bella, Bella, Bella." She really knows how to play the broken record card very well! Hopefully we will see them soon. It's amazing to me how Paprika remembers people and wants to see them. She's still talking about Robbie, and we haven't seen him since Christmas!

Finally Better!

Whew! Well, after 8 full days of being sick, Paprika finally seems to be feeling better! I was wondering when she'd ever start feeling better. It was truly the most miserable she's ever been, and I'm so glad it's done! She still has a lingering cough, but no fever and she's finally eating solid food. All last week, she barely ate anything and was just miserable. She was sick of being sick, and I was sick of her being sick!

This morning was the first morning in a week that she woke up without crying. Every other morning, she woke up screaming. She was laying in bed this morning talking to her stuffed animals when I heard her on the baby monitor. She was so happy to get up and ate half a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. That made me so happy.

It was really hard last week being alone with her while Mr. Mustard was in Santa Barbara working. It's hard enough to take care of a well baby, but a sick baby is just a lot to handle alone. I am so grateful that she's back to her old self and is back to being Miss Chatterbox Busybody again. I have my old Paprika back, thankfully!

Paprika Walking In Mommy's Shoes

Paprika decided to put on my high heels to walk around the house today. Here are two videos of her in action. Cute!

A Hat On Her Head!

Paprika puts anything and everything on her head and calls it a hat. Her favorite is this green bag that she calls both "purse" and "hat"- very multipurpose! When Paprika is done wearing her hat, she'll give it to me or Mr. Mustard and we have to wear it. It's pretty funny.

Paprika is still under the weather. She's feeling better than she was over the weekend, but still is not well enough to do any of our usual fun outings, like going to the park or the indoor playground. Today we "drove" her convertible car around the neighborhood twice just because she had to get out of the house. We were quite a sight- she had her blanket tucked around her in the car, her sippy cup of water in one hand, and her little purse in the other hand. It was good to get outdoors with her and hopefully she'll be well enough in the next few days to go on a real adventure back to the park!

Poor Sick Baby

Paprika is not feeling well at all. She came down with this nasty flu on Friday evening, and has just not been her self these past few days. I'm hoping it passes quickly. Her fever is down to low-grade (it was pretty high on Saturday and Sunday), but she still lacks energy and has a terrible cough. It's no fun being sick!

I have been letting her watch movies- it seems to be the only thing that calms her down right now. First thing in the morning, I put on The Wizard of Oz for her (Wizard! as she calls it). We've been watching it on repeat and I've been skipping past all the scary parts, of course. In our version of The Wizard of Oz, it's all songs and no conflict! Someday she'll watch the scary parts, but not at age 17 months.

Watching The Wizard of Oz:

I've also been letting Paprika watch all the classic Disney songs on YouTube. She loves watching the songs from Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, etc. We watch them over and over again, and she can't get enough.

Watching Videos on YouTube:

She loves watching movies of herself the best, though! She gets such a kick out of it. Since she's sick, I give in everytime she walks over to the computer and says "Picture...Picture...Picture...Picture." That's my signal to fire up the home movies and the YouTube videos for her to watch. I am indulging her a bit since she's sick. Of course, once she's well, we'll just go outside and have fun at the park again, so I'm not too worried about her becoming a couch potato.

My eye is feeling a lot better now. I'm done patching it, and my vision is restored. So, that's great news, at least!