Valentina Pinault Plays Peekaboo!

Bauer Griffin

Valentina Paloma Pinault grabs ahold during a game of peekaboo with a bodyguard and Salma Hayek on Monday. Salma, 42, was standing outside the car and popped up and down, entertaining her 16-month-old daughter, who looked to see where mom went!

While appearing on Letterman recently, Salma shared a bit about her little sleepwalker — Valentina is a “force of nature,” mom explains. “I don’t know what she’s going to say next. I don’t try to force her into words…although I do wish she could say ‘thank you’ instead of ‘WATER!’ [Valentina]’s like a dictator in the house. She’s bossy.”

Valentina is Salma’s daughter with former fiancé François-Henri Pinault.

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Comments

Aww Valentina is a cutie

- Rashida on January 22nd, 2009

How cute! Valentina has one of the cutest little faces ever.

- Fergette on January 22nd, 2009

She is too cute!
I had problems with my childrens manners as well. Just had to stay consistent with them. It will come in time.
Valentina is still so young. plenty of time!!

- Jae on January 22nd, 2009

Aww how cute, it’s hard to believe she’s only 16 months old! She looks like she has a firey personality.

All little toddlers have some form of “bad” behavior. I’m sure if Valentina knew how to use “thank you” she would but for now “WATER” is getting her what she wants! You can only get away with this for so long. Run with it Valentina!

- Ashley on January 22nd, 2009

Ok she is officially the cutest celebrity baby girl EVER. Violet is a close second, but Valentina is just beautiful!

- Sarah on January 22nd, 2009

The wider angle of this picture is a little less cute since Salma is standing outside the limo with a cigarette in her hand.

- Suzanne on January 22nd, 2009

Suzanne, that was my thought when I read that Salma was outside. The second time she has been pictured smoking close to her child. Cute baby, irresponsible mother. It is never okay to smoke in front of your children, for health reasons amongst others. Sorry, but that’s just how I feel.

- Alex on January 22nd, 2009

I do not condone smoking at all and I do not smoke myself. However, at least she is not IN the car. And honestly, my father has smoked since before I was born (I will be 34 next month) and I turned out just fine (ok, so I have a lil bit of the type 1 diabetes but I will not blame that on my Dad and his terrible habit) and so did my brother. On that note. My father is always respectful when he comes over to my home and always goes outside to smoke. Plus he rarely smokes while me or my son is around him. Sometimes I think people need to understand that there are worse things out there than some of these little items that are harped upon on this site. I am sure that my comment will be picked apart and dissected but personally I choose to focus on other things in my life than stress out about certain things. Sometimes it is hard to avoid being around people that smoke when you are out in public…………now I am just rambling so I think I will stop LOL.

- Carie on January 22nd, 2009

Can someone please link me to the pictures of Salma smoking?

T.I.A.!

- Lucy on January 22nd, 2009

Valentina is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!! JUST BEAUTIFUL!!! Just a quick comment about her smoking…..she is OUT of her car OUTSIDE IN OPEN AIR!!! She isn’t blowing smoke in her daughter’s face. Gosh she’s a single mom trying to raise her daughter. Give her a break!!! Secondhand smoke is bad but I seriously doubt Valentina is inhaling secondhand smoke. All they have to do is roll up the window! Get over yourselves.

- Crystal on January 22nd, 2009

People are so touchy on this site!!! Atleast she didnt smoke when she was pregnant!! Being irresponsible is leaving your child alone in a car!!! There are worse things you can do. It really shocks me when people on this site continuously put parents down and judge their parenting skills.

- Laydacris on January 22nd, 2009

Crystal, unless Salma doesn’t intend to touch Valentina for the rest of the day, that little girl will pick up the smoke from the clothes. This IS a big deal, and deservedly so. Salma should get support for singlemotherhood, that is entirely correct, but nothing excuses this. I know many single parents and they do not use their relationship status as an excuse for this kind of thing. I’m not saying that Salma is saying this, but this seems to be the implication being made here. I stand by my comment that this is irresponsible. Yes it’s good that Salma is not in the car, but that doesn’t make the situation great. Honestly, I’m actually shocked people are defending this. Sure, there are worse things that could happen, but that doesn’t make smoking in front of or near your children okay.

- Alex on January 22nd, 2009

Looks like little Valentina has her beautiful mother’s spunk.

- Something About Baby on January 22nd, 2009

Love that smile of hers! And her hairs gotten longer since I last saw her, which hasn’t been that long ago.

- FC on January 22nd, 2009

Alex, ITA. Maybe Salma is trying to give up though, I don’t know. I’m not trying to judge anyone’s parenting skills but to smoke within the vicinity of a little one is not really okay. This isn’t about parenting skills, Laydacris, it’s about making a conscious decision about your child’s health, which is why I gave up before I got my pregnant with my daughter. I’m sure Salma is a fantastic mother, she certainly seems very hands on which is great, but the smoking is a bit of a no go area for me. I don’t think it can really be condoned around children and like Alex said, if Salma will be touching her daughter after smoking, she will pick it up from the clothes.

- phoebe on January 22nd, 2009

I agree with Phoebe.I don’t think Salma is a bad mother because she smokes, we all have less than ideal habits or attitudes that affect our kids and might affect them in the future.However, smoking near the child is no small cookie.

- eva on January 22nd, 2009

I don’t condone smoking around your kids, but we don’t know the whole story. I mean, smoking is an addiction and Salma could be trying really hard to quit. Phoebe, I think it’s great you were able to stop before getting pregnant! That’s really commendable. I wish quitting was simple for everyone (not saying it was simple for you, just that some people try for years and years and years and still have a difficult time).

- MZ on January 22nd, 2009

Valentina is such a pretty baby. I don’t smoke and don’t like it, but my husband does (though he has tried to quit several times). It is a terrible addiction to struggle with, but it Salma’s own problem- not anyone else’s. The baby will not smell like smoke if Salma picks her up. That’s ridiculous. My husband holds all of the kids and they never smell like smoke. Maybe if she smoked in the car, but she’s not. I’m sure she wants to quit again, but sometimes stress is a trigger. I don’t think any less of her as a parent. Sometimes life is hard and we make bad choices.

- melania on January 22nd, 2009

Alex-I actually understand your point and I didn’t think about it like that. Thanks for sharing your point of view with me.

- Crystal on January 22nd, 2009

I’m not a smoker at all, tried it once at 17yrs old and hated it. And I don’t like anyone to smoke in my house, but I don’t think women who smoke are bad mothers. If they are pregnant than yea I think it’s wrong to not put your baby first while you are carrying them inside of you. But salma is not smoking in her daughter’s face and she is outside. If salma is a bad mom because of that, than so are most celebrities because so many of them you see smoking on sites. I’m thinking salma is no longer breastfeeding though, if she is smoking. I think salma seems like a good mom and one of the nicest celebrities. Her daughter is gorgeous, great mix of salma and the dad. I love the name Valentina too.

- Gianna on January 23rd, 2009

MZ- Very well said! Ever since I heard the story of my aunt literally bursting into tears at the sight of cigarettes (obviously because she despertaly wanted to smoke some, but knew she couldn’t if she was going to be succesful with quitting) while she was trying to quit smoking (which she succesfully did), I have tried to be a little more understanding of smokers.

I in no way condone smoking, but I also understand that it is an addiction, and like most addicitions, is usually EXTREMELY hard for people to give up.

- CelebBabyLover on January 23rd, 2009

Crystal, no problem at all, it’s nice to be able to share differing views sometimes! I’ve just seen so many parents smoke over their children and it disturbs me.

Melania – the children pick up the toxins from the clothes as they linger. It’s not about the smell (which is not nice, but that’s not the point). But on that subject, Valentina probably would smell like smoke if Salma picked her up.

Just to be clear here, I’m not saying she is a bad mother because of this, in fact, I’ve always quite admired the way she has dealt with single parenting, like Phoebe says, she’s a hands on mother, but I do find the smoking indefensible. There is nothing good about smoking, there are no benefits for the child.

- Alex on January 23rd, 2009

MZ: thank you. It was really important to me that I stopped before if possible. It wasn’t easy, but it was an achievement lol. I think it made me more conscious about other people’s smoke because it was at the forefront of my mind. In many cases, children of smokers turn out to be smokers themselves because of the learned behaviour, and I didn’t want that for my daughter.

- phoebe on January 23rd, 2009