Penelope Cruz Is A Happy Hands-On Mom

For Penelope Cruz, the birth of baby Leo earlier this year was a dream come true. So says her longtime friend Pedro Almodovar, who has directed the beautiful actress in several films.

Saying that Penelope is "the most happy" she's ever been, Pedro tells US, "She's with a man who she loves. She's a really avocational mother. In all my movies she plays a mother. She always said, 'I want to be a mother.'"

The Volver director reveals that Penelope, who is married to Leo's dad Javier Bardem, is a very hands-on mom to her son.

"She wanted to really experience being a mother in a complete way," he says, adding that he gets regular updates on her baby boy. "She sends me photos of the baby every 15 days. I see how he's growing. He has an incredibly big smile, you cannot imagine. He's beautiful, gorgeous and he's big."