Uma Watch Day 7175: Oh man I haven't changed this tag line in a loooooong time.
  • Friday, September 30, 2005

    Couch potatoes.

    Floor potato?
  • Thursday, September 29, 2005

    I know I'm sweet, but you go too far.

  • Thumb, finger, whatever....
  • Wednesday, September 28, 2005

    Daddy's so silly.

  • Yippeeeee!
  • Tuesday, September 27, 2005

    Helping Daddy conduct some important business.

  • She's blinking, not sleeping.
  • Monday, September 26, 2005
    baby laughs
    We discovered last night that Uma likes to dance. Well, we knew she liked to dance before, which usually involved someone swinging and bopping her rhythmically. However, last night, we discovered that she liked it when she was facing someone else who was dancing as well. Or maybe her daddy is just a terrible dancer. Regardless, she was all smiles and laughs. What took her to eleven, though, was something else. I supported her under her chest and hips, and made like I was throwing her from my left to my right. I swung her forward and back, over and over. At the apex of the arc, she came face-to-face with her mommy. I did this for several minutes until my arms complained, and she was happily laughing the whole time. I've made her laugh before, and Jessica has made her laugh even more, but neither of us had done anything like this. She was just so delighted.

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  • Sitting with my Mommy.

    Sitting up like a big girl.
  • Sunday, September 25, 2005

    Even when it's wet, her hair can be unruly.
  • Saturday, September 24, 2005

    I have decided.... I must have a throne. This is my decree. Make it happen.
  • Friday, September 23, 2005
    evil!
    Sometime since yesterday evening, a mosquito savaged poor Uma. She has one bug bit on her cheek, another on her shoulder, a third on her arm, and a fourth on her back. Poor girl can't catch a break. Luckily, she doesn't seem bothered by them.

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  • Four score and seven years ago....

    Mommy got ahold of the comb again. She may have won this battle, but I shall win the war!
  • Thursday, September 22, 2005

    Lemme out!

  • I have lots of toys now.
  • Wednesday, September 21, 2005

    It's a jungle over hair.

  • She can roll over naked, too.
  • Tuesday, September 20, 2005

    Once again, it's naked time!

  • Action Baby Force, assume star formation!
  • Monday, September 19, 2005

    Uma flashing the hand signs of the gang she joined in jail.

  • Helping Aaji cook.
  • Sunday, September 18, 2005

    A dear in the headlights.
  • Saturday, September 17, 2005

    I have a very flexible neck.

  • Someone's going to have to go to finishing school to learn out to be a lady. Hint: it's not the one in back.
    Party girl
    Last Sunday, Uma was the life of the party. It's amazing how such a small person can entertain a room full of adults, but that's what she did. Uma was totally happy. She did get a little overwhelmed at the beginning and cried just a teensy-weensy bit, but then she cheered up and was happy to play on the floor (read: feet!). She even tried out her 'singing' on everyone, which was pretty amusing and fun for everyone clustered around her. And of course, she received even more loot from her fan club, so I guess it's in her best interests to 'perform' (g). If this is how she handles adoration and partying at five months, imagine what she'll be like as a teenager!

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  • Friday, September 16, 2005

    Cobra.

  • This attention is all well and good, but what I really want are my feet.
  • Thursday, September 15, 2005
    baby crack
    It's become a little tricky trying to do something with Uma in our living room. Jessica has been doing some infant massage and baby yoga (from Itsy-Bitsy Yoga) with her. The problem is that Uma will twist and contort and struggle trying to catch sight of her play gym. Once she spots it, she'll just stare longingly in its direction. It's gotten to the point where Jessica often has to hide it in the playpen so Uma will stop staring at it. Once she's in it, she's as pleased as can be, playing 20 minutes or more by herself. Even more impressive was what she did when they visited a friend yesterday. This friend also has an infant and play gym. Uma was lying on the floor and noticed their play gym. She harnessed her newly-mastered rolling-over skills and zipped right over into it. That girl is something.

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  • This girl knows to look right into the camera.

    Indian babies get cute clothes.
  • Wednesday, September 14, 2005

    Aaji and me.

  • Having mastered sucking her thumbs, Uma has moved on to sucking her toes.
  • Tuesday, September 13, 2005

    The baby jail.
  • sad babies
    I've always liked playing with babies. Until recently, of course, that meant someone else's baby. Babies were all well and good when they were happy, but when they got unhappy, I was all too ready to give them back to Mom or Dad. I always felt guilty about that, because it seemed like we had their babies when they were happy, so they only had their babies for the unhappy times. Now, though, I realize it's not like that at all. I like it when she's happy around other people because then they can share the joy. It's also nice to have someone else be in charge, if only for a little while. When she's distressed, though, I can't stand just leaving her with someone else (besides Jessica, of course). I can't let her be unhappy when I know there's something I can do about it. It's not just that people want to give her back, it's that I must take her back, because I know that they don't know how to soothe her or calm her the way that we do.

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    Why does Mommy get to wear such a pretty skirt when I have to make do with just diaper?
  • Monday, September 12, 2005
    look out
    Little Miss is capitalizing on her new-found knowledge of rolling over and is now rolling over and over and over. She's a quick study. We're not going to be able to leave her untended anymore.

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  • Such a big chair for such a little girl.

    I am the serenest!
  • Sunday, September 11, 2005
    rolling over
    Today, for the first time, we saw Uma roll over to her left side. She rolled from her back to her stomach, and from her stomach to the back. She's got the full repertoire now: front to back and back to front on the left and the right. She's also doing a kind of circular scoot: she'll roll from her back to her side, jacknife at the waist, and then straighten out again as she twists to her back. I fear this girl will be an early mover, and then we'll be in trouble.

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  • So fresh and so clean clean.
  • Saturday, September 10, 2005

    The only way to tame that unruly hair.
  • Friday, September 09, 2005

    Uh oh... are you signing me up for a baby wrestling league?


    Eh, I'm not worried. I can take him. I'm a puma. I'm fierce.


    Just gotta do my stretches first.
  • Thursday, September 08, 2005
    three in a row
    Uma slept through the night a third time. Once was inevitable, twice was lucky, but three? This girl's got it. She woke up briefly at 6am, but it turned out she was just cold. It counts. These are happy days.

    Also, this morning, I was eating breakfast and watching her move around in her crib after waking up, and she almost rolled over from her stomach to her back. If it hadn't been for that pesky arm in the way, she would have made it. For those of you keeping score at home, Miss Uma can currently roll from her back to her stomach on her right side. She can't roll to her left, and could not previously roll from her stomach to her back. It's a good thing she's rolling to her right side in both cases, because it means she can't roll over and over and over and away.

    That's not to say she's an immobile paperweight. Little Miss has figured out how to scoot. She'll be on her back and move her legs in an apparently uncoordinated, random manner, but it'll get her across the floor. She's not super fast, but it's a sneaky move. Gotta keep an eye on that one.

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  • Feets!

    Interviewing a prospective toy.
  • Wednesday, September 07, 2005
    one more time
    Uma slept through the night again, from 7pm to 7am. I'll stop posting about this (hopefully) in a while, but right now, it still comes as a tremendous relief. I'll start taking this for granted soon enough. We've come a long way, though. Three months ago, the question was "Will she sleep before 3am tonight?" Now... well, now it's a lot better.

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  • Not right now, Daddy, I'm working.

    Hey, good-lookin'!
  • Tuesday, September 06, 2005
    again!
    Uma slept through the night again. That's three of the last five nights. It feels like Mission Control after a shuttle landing, it does.

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  • Mommy and me.

    Note the strategically placed bath toy.
  • Monday, September 05, 2005

    Never a moment's rest from that shutterbug.
  • Sunday, September 04, 2005
    two steps forward...
    Uma woke up once last night. I can't say it disturbed our sleep any more than her not waking up did, since both nights that she slept all the way through, we woke up to check on her. Oh well. She'll get there.

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  • After a long day at the office.
  • Saturday, September 03, 2005
    two for two
    Uma slept through the night again. She was asleep from 7:15pm to 6:45am. Even better, she had a regular nap schedule yesterday, as opposed to Thursday, when she was a couple of hours shy of her normal daytime sleep quota. Both nights, we were confused by her not waking up and went in to check on her at 4:00am. It was quiet... too quiet. But, no, she was just asleep.

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  • Fun in the sun.
  • Friday, September 02, 2005
    Sleeping Beauty
    Last night Uma slept through the night for the first time. She slept a solid 12 hours, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Her sleeping habits have really stabilized over the past month. First it started with a regular 7 p.m. bedtime. Once that was established, a predictable daytime nap routine emerged. I realize that just because she slept through the night once doesn't mean she will do so regularly from now on. I'm cautiously optimistic, though, that it's a sign of what's next.

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  • Can I have some personal space, please?

    Woohoo! More loot!
  • Thursday, September 01, 2005
    You'll put an eye out
    Uma recently discovered a new way to have fun with her feet--sucking on them. At one point today, though, she overshot her mark and narrowly missed poking herself in the eye with a toe.

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  • rise and shine
    Lately, I've been taking advantage of my new opportunity to greet Uma when she wakes up in the morning. That's a fun time. She'll start by making little noises that I hear over the monitor. "Aaaaa." "Mmmm." "Oooo." She can entertain herself for a while before she demands attention, but I often go in to watch her. She'll be on her stomach in the crib, usually facing away from where I sit. Sometimes, she's holding her head up and looking around. Other times, she has her head down and is sucking noisily on her thumb or staring in rapt fascination at her hand. Lately, she's been straightening her legs and pushing her bottom into the air, in anticipation of soon being able to roll over the other way. She'll go from one activity to another and back again over the course of several minutes, just happily playing there in the crib and making noises. Long before she gets tired of playing, I get tired of waiting and pick her up. She sees me, and she looks around, and she smiles. Then I take her to say "hi" to Mommy. It's a nice way to start my day.

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    That's the guy! That's the one who keeps following me with the camera!

    My bear!