Uma Watch Day 7175: Oh man I haven't changed this tag line in a loooooong time.
  • Tuesday, April 13, 2010
    Five alive!!!!!
    Our Uma is 5 years old today.

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  • Wednesday, March 17, 2010
    Technical problems
    Your Uma Puma update will sadly have to wait.

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  • Thursday, March 04, 2010
    Pictures delayed
    The camera went off to school with Uma this morning, so pictures will have to wait until the evening. I won't break my record, though.

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  • Friday, February 05, 2010
    Green Thumb in the Red Room
    I signed Uma up for an afterschool garden club at her preschool. It meets every Friday, and today was the first meeting. The meetings begin with a lesson on gardening and then the kids go outside and get to work in the school's butterfly and hummingbird garden. This is the second year her school has sponsored the club, so this spring the children should see plants bloom that last years' students planted. They will plant some new plants and learn how to tend to the established ones. Today they planted seeds in cups and set them on a sunny window sill to germinate and then went outside and raked. They were still at work when Kieran and I arrived to pick up Uma. I have never seen three- and four-year-olds so intent on a task. Uma seemed to enjoy herself. She really likes poking around in Grandma's and Aaji's respective gardens, so I hope she will have just as much fun working in her school's garden.

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  • ...and it's going in your permanent record!
    Uma has started issuing written citations to Kieran when he does something to annoy her. She writes the words "No Kieran" next to a picture of Kieran frowing while tears pour down his cheeks. Nearby is a drawing of Uma with a big smile on her face. Uma then hands the picture over to Kieran, who is happy to take it and quite clueless about its meaning. Then Uma says something like, "Kieran you really hurt my feelings. Tell me you're sorry and give me a hug." Kieran usually complies, and then Uma goes off to draw a new picture. This one shows Uma and Kieran both smiling next to the words "Yes Kieran." I wish I could say all their disputes ended so amicably, but I'm glad it works at least some of the time.

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  • Sunday, January 31, 2010
    A sartorial observation
    Last night, Uma noticed that her shirt and my shirt had their buttons on opposite sides. That's pretty observant.

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  • Saturday, January 30, 2010
    Missed milestone
    Back in mid-January, this site hit 3500 posts (with Uma's dentist appointment). That's a lot. It works out to 2.017 posts/day on average. the last time I counted, it was 1.98, with the last 500 posts coming at a blistering 2.27/day. I hope you can keep up.

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  • Saturday, January 23, 2010
    Uma's first ear infection
    Uma got her first ear infection ear-lier this week. She had to stay home from preschool for 3 days, as she had a cold as well. We got her diagnosed early on Wednesday, but the first course of antibiotics was unsuccessful. When I returned from work yesterday, her fever was nearing 104. We got a different kind of antibiotic, so we'll see how that goes. She's definitely feeling better, and ibuprofen has more or less erased her fever. It's been a bummer, but she's in good spirits, and we've been pretty lucky that this is her first ear infection in almost 5 years.

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  • Tuesday, January 12, 2010
    Uma's First Dental Appointment
    Yesterday Uma visited the dentist for the first time. The dentist took a complete set of x-rays of her teeth and examined and cleaned her teeth. Uma was cooperative and relaxed throughout the whole appointment. I was proud of her. The dentist said Uma's teeth were in great shape. She also commented on Uma's small jaw and the crowding of Uma's front teeth and suggested orthodontia might be in Uma's future. I was not particularly surprised. Braces are practically a tradition in my family.

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  • Wednesday, January 06, 2010
    Back to school
    Uma's been telling Kieran every minute or two, "Guess what? Today is the day I go back to school!" In spite of the repetition, he's never guessed it. She's been asking for over a week how many days until she gets to go back. I'll take that to mean she likes her preschool, not that she dislikes us.

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  • Wednesday, November 11, 2009
    Awww girl
    Uma has taken to saying "Awww man" a lot whenever something doesn't go her way. It's not something I would have expected at her age.

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  • Like socks in the dryer
    The formation and dissolution of Uma's preschool friendships happens at a bewildering rate. To her, playing with another child that day means they are friends. If a friend plays with someone else and doesn't invite her to play, or in some cases does not play exclusively with her, they are not friends anymore. She doesn't seem to get the idea of initiating play with other kids; she waits to be invited. It's only 2 months in, so hopefully she'll get more self-assured.

    Overall, she's settled in well to preschool. She had her first sick day yesterday with a brief cold-like illness (not a cold though, since she had definite fever). She missed one other day because the morning routine was off. That was when I brought her to school instead of Mommy. It was too much of a change for her to handle. She almost needed to come home one other day when the class was already outside on the playground instead of in the room like she'd gotten used to. Uma definitely likes consistency.

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  • Sunday, November 08, 2009
    A case of the uh-ohs
    Kieran has just learned "uh oh." I remember one time when Uma was about the same age, or a little bit older. I'd been fiddling with the car seat before we left. I went around a sharp turn, and her seat tipped partway over. She sat there, unworried, and just repeated in a calm voice "uh oh.... uh oh... uh oh..." Maybe you had to be there.

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  • Monday, October 19, 2009
    I'm glad we got this straightened out
    In response to one of her many nicknames, Uma told me this weekend, "I'm a person, not a puma bear."

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  • Monday, September 28, 2009
    Taking the puma thing too far
    Uma had a washcloth at the table that she had used to mop up some spilled milk. I told her to get a different one to wipe her face. She said, "I'll just use my tongue," so she licked around her mouth to get it clean. Then I asked, "what about your hands?" So she started licking those, too.

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  • Sunday, September 27, 2009
    Just for kids
    Me: That makes more work for Mommy, and then she won't have time to relax and have some fun.
    Uma: Mommy is a grownup so she doesn't have fun.

    Sad but true.

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  • Friday, September 25, 2009
    Fun & Games
    The other day I was working in the kitchen while Uma and Kieran were playing together in the living room. I could hear them laughing, so I stuck my head around the corner to see what they were doing. I saw Uma pick up Kieran from behind and fling him at the sofa. He landed against the cushions with a thud, and then he and Uma laughed uproariously. Kieran stood up and said, "Again!" I felt bad putting a stop to their fun, but then it was almost dinner time and we didn't have time for a trip to the emergency room.

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  • Thursday, September 10, 2009
    Preschool buddy
    After I picked Uma up from her first day of preschool*, we were talking about what she did. At one point, Uma said, "I think I made a friend." It wasn't someone in her class, but in another class that was on the playscape at the same time. Something about this boy was appealing to Uma, so she said she just went up to him and started talking to him (apparently about her non-school friends). The cutest part? She doesn't know his name.

    This is especially noteworthy because a long time ago, Uma complained that the only boys she knew were Kieran and Dominic. All the other kids she saw were girls. Now she's got No Name to add to that list.

    * which was a completely unemotional experience

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  • Wednesday, September 09, 2009
    Schoolgirl!
    Today was Uma's first day of preschool. She was really excited about it. The whole drive there, she talked about how happy she was to be starting school. I thought she might be a little nervous when we arrived, but as soon as we hung up her bag and put her lunch box away, she ditched Kieran and me and darted off into her classroom. I peeked in, and she gave me a smile and started washing her hands. (It's a class rule that kids wash their hands when they arrive in the morning.) She seemed just as enthusiastic when Ketan dropped her off at home in the afternoon. She asked me if she would go to school every day and expressed dismay when I told her no.

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  • Saturday, August 01, 2009
    ThaR she... crows? Sure, crows, that's like talking. Sort of...
    Uma has learned to say the "th" sound where before it was always came out "f." More impressively, she's also learned her "r" sound. Of course, now she likes to say she has "thingers" on her hands.

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  • Saturday, July 18, 2009
    H-A-P-P-Y
    Uma's favorite song is one in which a little girl spells out the word "happy" (currently on repeat). Uma doesn't really know how to spell yet, and I guess the singing is indistinct. She thought/thinks it is "H A pinky why." She calls it "pinky why" for short. I think I like that better too.

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  • Saturday, July 11, 2009
    Uma-isms
    From the Fourth of July weekend:

    Aaji: Uma, you have to eat two pieces of idli and then you can have your special treat.
    Uma: Special treats are not free.

    And when asked why she was up and crying at 3 am in the morning, Uma answered, "Morning doesn't come fast in this house."

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  • Monday, June 08, 2009
    3000 posts
    I forgot to mention that Friday saw umapuma.com's three thousandth post. That's 1.98 per day for the 4 years, 1 month, and 22 days to Friday. That's 53 quote posts (got a later start), 144 videos, 240 stories and other non-quote text-only posts, and 2558 posts of pictures pictures pictures (they don't add up, I know).

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  • Sunday, May 24, 2009
    A smart question
    Uma asked me how one got sick with the chicken pox. I explained how it was transmitted from sick children, how being around or in contact with a child infected with chicken pox could cause you to get chicken pox. She asked again, so I repeated my answer in a slightly different form. She got annoyed and said (approximately), "I know you get it from sick kids, but how did the first kid get it?" She reasoned about it and inferred that it had to have started somewhere. I thought that was pretty remarkable. My ability to explain microbial evolution in four-year-old terms was not nearly as remarkable.

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  • Saturday, May 23, 2009
    Big bulgy belly
    Uma has the idea that when she's full, her stomach bulges out and is hard. When she feels full, but it isn't, she'll be a little confused. "I'm full but my tummy isn't hard." She's very attached to the idea of the connection. For a while she would also say after dinner that her stomach was as big as mine. I need to teach her how to use a measuring tape.

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  • Sunday, May 17, 2009
    Doesn't rhyme with Puma
    Uma has changed her name to "James." Also, her husband is named Jill (female), whose mother is Alan and whose father is Mr. Lantana. Uma James has two girl babies named Izzy and Baloma. We'll keep you informed as the situation evolves.

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  • Wednesday, May 13, 2009
    Uma puma
    Uma has discovered rhyming. And now puma is again her favorite stuffed animal.

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  • Sunday, May 10, 2009
    Big Sigh Country
    Uma will now often reply to requests with a sigh, and a world-weary "All right." I don't know how she got so jaded, but in a 4-year old, it's hilarious. Of course, this probably means her cynicism at 14 will be a real doozy.

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  • Annual Review
    Uma had her yearly checkup this week. Everything was fine with her, at least until she got five (5) shots (DTaP, Polio, MMR, Hep A, and Chicken Pox) in a row. She did her best, and only fell apart after it was all over, which was completely justified, and all we wanted. A few stickers and a lollipop did a lot to lift her spirits, though one leg was sore for a couple of days. Uma also got her first vision test and second hearing test, which were fine. Number-wise, she's up to 41" tall (75th percentile) and 34 lbs (45th percentile), which gives her a very slim BMI of 14.2 (15th percentile). They don't measure head circumference anymore, but maybe I can.

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  • Tuesday, May 05, 2009
    A fine falsetto
    Mommy couldn't read Uma her stories tonight, so Uma asked me to read them to her in "a lady voice."

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  • Sunday, May 03, 2009
    Send out the clowns
    Uma has been against, for, and then indifferent to clowns. As we learned yesterday, she's now back to against. Very, very against. We attended some family fun thing yesterday. There was a petting zoo, inflatable bouncey things, rock climbing, and all manner of other activities. And clowns. There were clowns. Any time Uma caught sight of a clown, we had to turn around or make a wide detour. She'd be happy and relaxed, but would lock up in a panic and yank my hand to go the other way. Oh, and no Clifford the Big Red Dog, either.

    Uncle Graham: "Look, Uma, there's Clifford the Big Red Dog."
    Uma: "That's not Clifford. That's a person wearing a costume."

    Even so, Clifford provoked almost as strong a reaction. She didn't want to go anywhere near him. I'll have to remember for her birthday next year. No clowns. No Clifford.

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  • Wednesday, April 15, 2009
    Dental hygiene milestone
    Last night Uma asked me to floss her teeth. I was a bit wary, but I did it. I was amazed how good she was. It was even easier than flossing my own teeth (partly because she only has 20, I'm sure).

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  • Wednesday, March 25, 2009
    Re: Grown-up toothpaste
    Crest makes Uma cry. I guess we can't count on a lucrative endorsement deal paying her way through college.

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  • Thursday, February 12, 2009
    Migraines to Uma
    I've had some bad luck with migraines in the last week. I've begged off a lot of the things I normally do with Uma because of the discomfort. Uma's intuition hasn't quite zeroed in on what is trouble and what is fine: "Does it hurt your head to eat spinach?"

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  • Monday, January 26, 2009
    Where did you go to medical school again?
    I'm home sick today. Dr. Uma has been treating me. So far, she's checked my blood pressure, listened to my heart, looked inside my mouth, given me several shots in my forearm, trimmed some arm hair, poured medicine inside each ear, and rubbed some kind of "special medicine" on my arm. If she had eye of newt, I'm sure she'd find a use for that, too.

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  • Thursday, January 08, 2009
    Unsafe sleeping
    Uma has been sleeping without a bed rail for the last three nights and days. No accidents, knock on wood.

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  • Saturday, December 27, 2008
    Puma tall
    Uma's been looking tall lately, so I busted out ye olde tape measure. Uma is now 39.5" tall. She was 37" at her 3-year checkup back in April, so that's a noticeable gain.

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  • Monday, November 17, 2008
    Monsters and dragons to bite her
    Ok, so it's at 3 years and 7 months that little kids become afraid of monsters in the night, if Uma is anything to go on.

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  • Wednesday, October 22, 2008
    The L Words
    On Monday, I taught Uma how to say 'L' sounds. She's been saying them "yuh," like Pancho Veeya. She picked it up pretty quickly. Now it's just a question of practice, because she's just used to saying "yama" and "yemonade" and "yitta" (little). The word that motivated her most? Caroline.

    Teaching her 'J' sounds is going to be a lot harder, I think.

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  • Tuesday, October 14, 2008
    I hate sharing
    Uma has discovered my Ben & Jerry's :-(

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  • Saturday, October 11, 2008
    A major milestone
    I forgot to make note of it, but on Wednesday, this weblog passed the 2500 post mark (this makes 2510). That's a rate of 1.966 posts a day over the last 3½ years. And boy are my arms tired.

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  • Saturday, September 13, 2008
    Her own two feet
    I don't remember the last time Uma asked me to carry her.

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  • Saturday, September 06, 2008
    Tags, mixes, and flies
    At some point in the last two months, Uma's stuffed toys with tags became bestiae non gratae to her. She refused to have anything to do with animals with tags. We've been incrementally clipping them to get them back in her good graces.

    Her latest food obsession is snack mixes. It can be pretzels, some kind of trail mix, or whatever, as long as it's a "mix." Maybe we should try a veggie mix.

    Somehow I've gotten myself into the situation where I have to give Uma 5 "flies" when I come home from work. That involves throwing her up into the air (without completely letting go). She's not as small as she was last time I got stuck doing this. 5 times is about as many as I can manage. It's actually more than 5, because each cycle has a few half flies before she goes all the way, and the last one is actually 3. I'm just saying. I might be getting stronger.

    We were a little concerned that she'd be unhappy about Kieran getting the crib, but we have yet to hear a word. It's been 2 months now since she moved into the big girl bed, and I think she's finally adapted (fingers crossed).

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  • Monday, August 04, 2008
    Kwanko
    "I have a kwanko. Kwanko is a word for very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very happy."

    We hear this or some variation pretty much every night.

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  • Sunday, July 20, 2008
    The big girl bed
    Uma hasn't completely adapted to the big girl bed. Or, maybe she has, and our transitional tactics have become permanent. There are two main things. One is that we can't close the door to her room all the way. We have to leave it a few inches ajar.

    The other, more oppressive change is that one of us has to be in the office until she falls asleep. Every few minutes she calls out, "is Daddy in the office still?" It's rather confining. It also makes it take a lot longer for her to fall asleep. It's not enough to have a monitor and come when she needs us.

    There may be a silver lining. Uma loves TV, to which we naturally limit her access. If we have a show we want to watch, she's willing to let us go into the living room. I'll just have to find us a lot of TV to watch. September isn't that long from now, plus we'll have the Olympics.

    Update: I got in big trouble last night because I was in the living room, but I wasn't watching a show. I had to promise that I would watch something. I had no idea Tivo would be so useful when I got my first one 8 years ago.

    Also, she fell out of her bed in the middle of the night, which was quite a trick, considering we have a guard rail in place.

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  • Saturday, July 05, 2008
    Uma slept all night in the big girl bed (again)
    And this time, she didn't wake up in the middle of the night and need me to keep her company for 45 minutes. Also, yesterday she took a nap at Aaji's house for the first time, something she suggested herself. Freedom beckons. Well, as soon as we figure out how to ditch The Boy.

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  • Monday, June 30, 2008
    Stretching out a day's worth?
    It may appear by Uma's clothes that I took lots of pictures on a single day and have been stretching them out for days. I assure you my integrity is unimpeachable. Instead, what we have here is, shall we say, a rather strong attachment to a small subset of Uma's wardrobe, for days on end.

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  • Monday, June 09, 2008
    Confession time
    I don't like Uma's imaginary friend. She's a bad girl and a bad influence.

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  • Tuesday, May 06, 2008
    Why does this post have a subject?
    Uma has hit the "Why?" stage. I thought it came at a much later stage, but it turns out, at least for Uma, it comes right at 3. I thought I'd be better at it, too, since I like explaining things, but the constants "whys" pretty quickly get into areas where either there is no answer, the answer is beyond her, or the question doesn't make sense. I can explain why the sky is blue. I can't explain why touching something dirty will make her hand dirty. I can't really explain why one bathroom was closer than another other.

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  • Friday, April 25, 2008
    What does it mean? Anything she wants
    Uma has become fixated on the alphabet, and the alphabet song in particular. Just now she yelled "A-B-C-D!" at a box that was giving her trouble. More often, she sings the song to celebrate, well, anything good that happens. It's also a lullaby she sings to herself, and a stalling tactic to delay dinner.

    Also, "8-9-10" apparently translates to "Daddy, come here." I was talking to my neighbor yesterday, and she was yelling it from down to sidewalk to get me to go over to her.

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  • Friday, April 18, 2008
    Checked up
    Boy, Uma sure freaked out about going to the doctor yesterday. She didn't even get any shots. I don't know why she was so scared; she goes to that building a lot because she comes with me for my allergy shots, and it's been too long since her last visit for her to remember anything. Oh well. She's fine, as we figured. She's up to 37" and 29 lbs., which is the same weight as one of our dogs.

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  • Thursday, April 17, 2008
    Just a child?
    Sources say that toddlerhood ends at 3 years. "Uma Puma Early Childhood Blog" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

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  • Wednesday, April 16, 2008
    Singer/Songwriter
    I just heard Uma singing to herself, "I don't want to take a nap; I'm not sleepy." Not a novel sentiment to speak, but it was sung very prettily.

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  • Thursday, April 03, 2008
    That like the blue car!
    Uma has been very good at recognizing Honda Accords of the same generation as ours. I figure many (if not most) kids her age would be able to recognize the number of doors and rough plan of a sedan, but this is different. Whether blue, black, green, or silver, she can always tell a 6th generation Honda Accord. She doesn't get fooled by anything else, even cars like the Hyundai Elantra that have more than a passing resemblance. Many adults can't even do that. She's also getting good at recognizing Honda CR-Vs like Grandma drives. Maybe she's a future auto journalist.

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  • Monday, January 07, 2008
    Cannibal child strikes again!
    During dinner....

    Uma: And for my special treat I want a Mexican.
    Me: I think you mean a Mexican Tea Cake.
    Uma: No Mexican Tea Cake. I want a Mexican.

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  • Wednesday, January 02, 2008
    Alpha beta gamma...
    Uma now knows the whole alphabet song and can sing it by herself. Except when you want her to.

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  • Sunday, December 23, 2007
    How Uma starts the day
    Usually she announces the end of her "nap" by calling something out. Yesterday, it was "Maybe I'm awake!" This morning it was the more usual "Uh oh! I'm awake!"

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  • Monday, November 26, 2007
    Weakest excuse ever
    Uma called me into her room yesterday while she was supposed to be taking a nap. Her problem? "I can't find the flower on my shirt." "It's on the collar." "There's it!"

    In other news, I have been informed that there are 3 types of apples: regular apples, applesauce, and pineapple.

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  • Thursday, October 18, 2007
    Football according to Uma
    "All dem running. . One fall down."

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  • Tuesday, October 16, 2007
    Uma wanted a sister
    Yesterday, we found out she was going to have a brother. She'll have to get over her disappointment.

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  • Saturday, October 13, 2007
    3 before 3
    On this, Uma's two-and-a-halfth birthday, she is almost exactly 3 feet tall. The last time I posted about it was 11 months ago, when she was 2'8", but over the summer she was around 2'10" tall. Now her feet really stick out the end of the changing table. That girl needs to get on the potty.

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  • Thursday, October 11, 2007
    Reincarnation?
    Uma has told us about all kinds of things she did as a baby. Last night, she told us about something she did in a previous life: "When Uma was doggy, Uma eat dog food." I didn't say it was an interesting thing.

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  • Tuesday, October 09, 2007
    Where does she get this stuff?
    Heard several times over the last few days: "Uma has homework to do." I don't think we've ever said the word "homework" to her.

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  • Thursday, September 27, 2007
    Uma's-Old-Things-R-Us
    Uma believes that the baby sections in stores are repositories for her old hand-me-downs. Every time we pass the baby clothes and toys in Target, Uma thinks it's a trip down memory lane. She will point out different items and say, "Uma wear dat shirt when Uma baby. Dat Uma's pink dress when Uma baby. Uma play with dat bear when Uma baby."

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  • Thursday, August 23, 2007
    a literally-minded child
    We told Uma not to wear her shoes while sitting on the furniture. She took them off and then placed them neatly next to her. On the sofa.

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  • Monday, August 20, 2007
    I Tried to Change the Station, and She Said, "No, No, No."
    Today I discovered that Uma is a big fan of the Amy Winehouse song "Rehab." We were listening to the radio in the car when the song came on. I didn't feel like listening to it, so I changed the radio station. A howl of indignation arose from the backseat and Uma started yelling, "No dis song! No dis song! Other song!" Thinking that Uma didn't like the song I had switched to, I changed to a third station. Uma shouted even louder, "Other song! Other song!" I tried a few more stations before finally realizing that Uma wanted to listen to "Rehab." Sure enough, when I switched back to the first radio station, Uma quieted down. "This is the song you want?" I said to her. She replied with an affirmative grunt.

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  • Sunday, August 19, 2007
    Two is an interesting age...
    We saw a plane flying far overhead from Uma's room. She said it was going to the airport. I corrected her; it was going away from the airport. Then I asked her where she thought it was going. Her response: "Airplane going Aaji airport." Apparently American now has direct AUS-AAJ service.

    It is hard for me to convey how awesome Uma's sleeping has been. After lunch today, she said, "Uma all done. Ready for nap now." If I linger too long in her room after she lies down in her crib, she says, "Daddy go out now." It's fantastic. It makes it ok that I've had to come over several times in the last week to fix her Elmo slippers, especially since she lies right back down afterward and falls asleep, often saying, "Uma sleep now."

    Uma is getting the idea that there's a word for everything. She'll do some random action or pose and then ask what it's called: "What's this Uma doing?" Sometimes we have an answer, like when she spontaneously got into the Yoga pose Cobra, or when she had her arms crossed. Sometimes even she knows the answer and is just, apparently, making conversation: "you're lying down." Other times, like when she bent over with her hands on the edge of the bath tub and was alternately raising her legs... Let's just say I have a limited vocabulary.

    I scolded Uma for chasing the dogs with her stroller (holding Elmo). I explained to her that I put Elmo into timeout because she was bothering Molly. Then Uma said, "and Sadie." She's an honest girl.

    Uma has an inexplicable reluctance to go in the potty. She definitely has control, though; we've been giving her lots of naked time, and she's barely had any accidents (knock wood). I don't know what's scary about it; her baby dolls manage it just fine (according to Uma).

    Every time we go to the hardware store, Uma has to have paint samples. That's the rule. Another rule is that Mommy isn't allowed to give Uma her oatmeal when I'm around.

    Uma is getting good at the compound sentences. One morning just after waking: "Molly come into Uma's room and say 'hi Uma.'" She's started to use first person pronouns as well, so she doesn't sound so much like Bob Dole anymore. "I knocked over the tower." Or, "I need this block," as she removes a piece from the tower and destroys Daddy's vision in another way. "Uma read this book by myself."

    Upon discovering that Mommy, Daddy, and Uma all have spines, she inferred that Grandma and Great-Grandma do as well.

    At least once every few days, I have to sing "Happy Birthday" to Uma, blow out some imaginary candles, and then remove said imaginary candles from an imaginary cake. Uma and Elmo have the same birthday, you know.

    Food that stands unsupported is the best kind. Fig Newtons and certain kinds of toast are best in that regard. Cottage cheese is, to put it mildly, disappointing.

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  • Tuesday, July 31, 2007
    the blame game
    Sometimes while cleaning Uma's teeth, my fat fingers accidentally gag her. After choking and coughing this morning after a washcloth slip, Uma said, "that was Daddy's fault."

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  • Sunday, July 29, 2007
    so sweet
    At the grocery store, we saw a woman and her three children, one of whom was a crying infant. Uma said, "baby need Daddy." Awww...

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  • Thursday, July 26, 2007
    nutrition and fitness
    Uma held a piece of banana to her mouth and pantomimed eating it, then said, "Uma pretend eat banana." I didn't even know she knew that word, but she knew exactly what it meant. It's a pretty tricky concept, if you think about it.

    While walking to the playground, Uma jogged ahead, and then stopped, saying, "Running make Uma tired. Walking make Uma OK."

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  • Tuesday, July 24, 2007
    Twenteeth
    The matching topside two-year molars are coming out together, bringing Uma's complement of teeth to a full and complete 20.

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  • Monday, July 23, 2007
    essential minerals and nutrients
    This morning, Uma was getting impatient with the slow cooking of happy toast. She said, "Uma not happy." To buy some time, I gave her a vitamin. She then said, "vitamin make Uma OK."

    Apparently, today is Elmo's birthday. He's eating lots of birthday cake. He also likes pasta; his pasta has olives in it. Molly and Sadie sang "Happy Birthday."

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  • Thursday, July 12, 2007
    Uma likes the samples at Costco
    And when they're just there to get gas, well, she ain't so happy. "Mommy say Uma no go Costco. No buy stuff. Uma cry."

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  • Sunday, July 01, 2007
    Those kids be sad
    There's a playground that Aaji and Ajoba sometimes take Uma. As we were coming home today, we drove by it and saw that it had been torn down. I pointed that out to Uma and told her we'd have to find her another one. She sat and thought for a little while, and then she said, "those kids be sad," meaning the kids who used to go to the playground. Then she thought a little more and said, "different kids OK." That girl's thinking.

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  • Saturday, June 30, 2007
    ordinary things in strange places
    Having a two-year old means your possessions will inexplicably disappear, only to be found weeks later in unlikely places. For instance, in the last week, I found her "Happy Birthday" balloon in my dirty laundry hamper, and Mommy found her comb in a brown paper bag in the car. One of these days, I just know I'm going to find the lawnmower in the bathtub wearing a toy camel for a hat.

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  • Tuesday, June 26, 2007
    A day in the life
    It's been a while since I mentioned what Uma's daily schedule is like. It's a lot different from the last time I described it, when she was 8 months old.

    These days, she wakes up between 7:30 and 8:00 in the morning (my lazy bones hope for the latter). I go and get her when her murmuring of "Daddy" becomes yelling of "Daddy;" Mommy's usually out walking the dogs then. Uma and I play for a little while, she "helps" me start breakfast, and I post those lovely pictures and sometimes some pithy words. We have breakfast between 8:30 and 9. After that, Uma gets to entertain herself while we get ready for the day. Most mornings, Uma and Mommy go off to do various things. Tuesday is play group, Wednesday is the day to visit Grandma, and Thursday is music class. On Saturdays, Uma and I go to the grocery store while Mommy takes a well-deserved break. Uma usually starts her lunch between 11:30 and noon, and then has her nap shortly thereafter. She sleeps about 1½ - 2 hours.

    After Uma wakes up, she gets a little snack, often a mixture of goldfish crackers (whole wheat!) and Pirate's Booty. On Tuesdays, Uma and Mommy go to the grocery store; on Wednesdays, they go visit Great-Grandma, Grandma's garden, or just hang around Grandma's house. Sunday afternoons are reserved for visiting Aaji and Ajoba.

    On weekdays, I usually get home around 6:30pm, and we have a family dinner together. We adjusted our schedule a few months ago to eat with Uma instead of after she goes to bed, except on Sundays, when Uma eats dinner at Aaji and Ajoba's house. After dinner comes her bath, lately featuring lots and lots of bubbles. After Uma has splashed water out of the tub one too many times, we whisk her out, dry her off, and dress her in her jammies. Then it's time for three stories ("One more!" "No, Uma, that was the last one."), wiping Uma's dry nose repeatedly (a stalling tactic), and then it's lights out. That's usually between 8pm and 8:30pm. After that, it's blissful tranquility for 11½ hours until the next morning, when we do it all again. It's been a long time since Uma has woken up in the night, thankfully (knock wood).

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  • Tuesday, June 19, 2007
    18
    Uma's pushing out a matching molar on her lower right. That makes 18 teeth. Does that mean she can vote now?

    It's been over a week since Uma last nursed. Looks like she's weaned herself.

    The nice thing about Uma's obsession with her videos is that it's really easy to clip her nails; she's almost sedated.

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  • Thursday, June 14, 2007
    To each her own
    In the bath last week, the child said, "Uma drink soapy water special treat."

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  • Tuesday, May 29, 2007
    Hooray!
    I was able to recover the lost pictures. Disaster averted. You can bet I'm going to be on the ball with backups from now on.

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  • Monday, May 28, 2007
    hiatus until further notice
    I had a hard drive failure. It's hard to say what's recoverable, but it's possible that the last 11 months are gone gone gone.

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  • Wednesday, May 23, 2007
    Close Encounters of the Bird Kind
    Today Uma, my mom, and I ate lunch on the roof of the Whole Foods downtown. Actually, to be more accurate, my mom and I ate lunch, and Uma people-watched while mindlessly waving around a fork with a bite of pizza on the end. Apparently a bird took this as a cue that Uma was offering up her pizza to any takers. It swooped in, pried the pizza off of Uma's fork, and flew off. Uma was remarkably nonchalant about the whole event; you would have thought that kind of thing happened to her every day.

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  • Saturday, May 19, 2007
    travelling in comfort
    Now that it's getting hot, when we get into the warm car, Uma asks for the "air dishin on."

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  • Saturday, May 12, 2007
    the light at the end of the tunnel is bright indeed
    Last night, shortly after Uma went to sleep, she yelled out loudly. Rather than pretend nothing happened, like we did in the scary days, we (nervously) investigated. Uma asked for water, and her room felt warm. We got her water and put her into a T-shirt instead of the long sleeves she had been wearing. Then she said, "Uma go back nap. Uma no sad. Uma OK." Things are much, much, much better now than when she was younger.

    ... Then there's that she's (apparently) perceptive enough to know that we were concerned she might freak out about her sleep being disturbed, and sought to reassure us.

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  • Thursday, May 03, 2007
    Two-Year Stats
    Yesterday we took Uma to the doctor for her well-child checkup. It was pretty uneventful. There were no shots, and developmentally Uma is right on target. Here are Uma's stats:

    Height: 35 in. (75th percentile)
    Weight: 24 lbs. (25th percentile)
    Head circumference: 47 cm (25th-50th percentile)

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  • Friday, April 13, 2007
    Uma Puma Twoma!
    It was two years ago today that Uma joined us and brightened our world. I had a list of the Best of Uma Puma Year Two, but I left it at work. Feel free to suggest your favorite pictures since Uma's last birthday in the comments.

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  • Friday, April 06, 2007
    Feeding an Almost-Two-Year-Old
    Uma loves yogurt. Her favorite is Stonyfield Farm's Yo Baby yogurt, which she's been eating happily for about a year now. Lately she's been paying a lot of attention to the packaging. Each flavor has a picture of a different baby or toddler on the carton, and Uma has developed strong preferences for some of the children. For example, she takes great delight in looking at Bridget, the baby on the blueberry yogurt carton, and will happily gobble up the yogurt inside. If I whip out the apple yogurt, however, she won't eat it because she just does not like Izabella, the little girl featured on that carton. So, to get Uma to eat the apple yogurt, I save the empty Bridget cups and spoon the apple yogurt in them. It works every time.

    Another thing I've learned: food tastes better to Uma on a blue fork.

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  • Tuesday, April 03, 2007
    49 to go
    Uma can say "Mississippi."

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  • Friday, March 30, 2007
    Sick Again
    Only two weeks after Uma got over the flu, another virus has struck. Uma has had a slight fever, cough, and stuffy nose for the past couple of days, which we attributed to teething and allergies. She was really warm this morning, so I took her to the doctor, who said it looks like Uma has a virus that has been going around. The doctor prescribed a cough suppressant/antihistimanine/decongestant and said to bring Uma back if her fever isn't gone by Monday.

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  • Wednesday, March 28, 2007
    see uma!
    It's getting harder to take pictures of Uma. She's learned that you can see pictures in the viewfinder. As soon as she sees the camera, she yells "see Uma" and runs over so she can look at pictures of herself. Usually I can snap off a shot in time, but I do end up with a lot of pictures of Uma running gleefully towards me.

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  • mo' toof
    Uma's pushing a new molar. She likes the idea, but is none too keen on the reality; it kind of hurts. Ibuprofen helps, though, to the point that I can tell nearly to the second when it starts working.

    She's up to 4-term sentences, and she's starting to learn more abstract words like "over" and "too."

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  • Thursday, March 22, 2007
    hi, my name is...
    No more "Ngeh." Uma learned to say her name today. Very loudly.

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  • Monday, March 19, 2007
    Nummy 'Cama
    Earlier today I was pondering what to do with some leftover jicama. Now I know: feed it to Uma. Uma devoured about a cup of raw jicama this afternoon. At first I fed her cubes of it, but soon I couldn't keep up with her demands for "mo' nummy 'cama," so I lopped off big slices for her to nibble on. I hope this wasn't just a passing fancy. Jicama makes a good snack. It's nutritious, travels well, and isn't sticky or drippy.

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  • Sunday, March 18, 2007
    Sleeping Beauty
    The other night Ketan and I were commenting on how far Uma's sleeping habits have come. When she was a baby, we struggled to get Uma to sleep. There was the hellish period when she was between about five and ten weeks old when she screamed inconsolably from about 1 a.m. to about 3 a.m. almost every single night. Nothing would calm her--not nursing, not rocking, not bouncing, not swaddling, not being walked around, not even the magical swing. We just had to wait out her fury. As she got older, it was still a lot of work to get her to sleep--lots of patting and rocking were required and then we had to sneak out of the room without waking her lest we have to start the whole process over again. For a long time, we didn't do much in the evenings besides put Uma to bed. Gradually less work was required, but still many nights she just did not want to go bed. Sometime in the last few months, though, something just clicked for her. Her crib has, of all things, become a happy place for her. She chatters away and sings to her stuffed animals as she falls asleep. She has even begun reminding me that she has a nap coming up or that it's almost bedtime. I knew she'd really gotten it, though, a couple nights ago. She was sleeping restlessly, and I thought it was probably because she was cold. So, Ketan and I went into her room and woke her up to put another layer on her. She opened her eyes, looked at me, and she said in an exacerbated tone, "Mommy bye-bye! Ing-uh seep!" (Umese for "Mommy go away! Uma's sleeping!")

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  • Thursday, March 15, 2007
    fluma
    Uma is feeling a lot better today. The last two days were miserable, but she's coming out of it now. She's happy and running around again, even though she has a mild fever still and a runny nose (which she calls her "wunny nose").

    Word frequency count for yesterday:

    1. 10,000: "no"

    2. 5,000: "wipey"

    3. 100: everything else put together



    Uma had the flu proper; she got the nasal swab test at the pediatrician's and everything. The Tamiflu seemed to upset her stomach, so we didn't give it to her. She wants you to remind us to get her vaccinated next year.

    The flu didn't affect her learning. She's started to put 4 words together. Yesterday, in one of her few non-"no" non-"wipey" utterances she said, "go see mail truck." That and the garbage truck were among the only high points of the day. She's learned lots of other words and phrases along the way. Right now she's wobbling from one leg to the other saying "boom boom boom." I have no idea where she picked that one up.

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  • Tuesday, March 13, 2007
    yikes
    The flu that felled me this weekend has struck Jessica as well, and appears to be claiming its third victim. Uma threw up shortly after waking and has a 99.8° temperature.

    As I was bringing her over from her room this morning, I told her to be nice to Mommy because Mommy was sick. Uma said, "Ungah yike Mommy."

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  • Sunday, March 11, 2007
    Summer Fun
    Summers in Texas are long and brutally hot. In the pre-Uma era, I just avoided the outdoors from June to September. However, that just doesn't fly with Uma. She loves playing outside, no matter what the temperature. So, over the past couple of months, I've been preparing for summer. To protect us from the sun and the mosquitoes, I bought a 10 foot by 10 foot screened-in canopy. To keep Uma entertained inside the canopy, I have an inflatible wading pool and a really cool sand and water table. For times when we venture outside our canopy, I got an 88-inch beach ball sprinkler for us to chase. I'd still prefer to spend our summer inside in the air conditioning, but I don't think it will be that bad from the shade of the canopy.

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  • Friday, March 09, 2007
    words words words
    Uma is picking up so many words so fast now that there's no point in listing them. It seems like she says new ones every day when I come home from work.

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  • Monday, February 26, 2007
    Out to Lunch
    Today my mom and I took Uma to eat in a restaurant for the first time. We decided on the Ikea restaurant because the food is served cafeteria-style, so Uma wouldn't have to wait. Uma seemed rather pleased by the whole experience. As she ate her macaroni and cheese, she kept looking around at the other diners and grinning, as if to say, "Look at me! I'm sitting at a table eating like everyone else!"

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  • Saturday, February 24, 2007
    here comes trouble
    Uma has learned to say "no." She says it very clearly and knows exactly what it means.

    This evening, Uma had a good time running in circles around my office chair, holding my hand so I spun around. I'm feeling pretty dizzy, but I don't think she'll let me stop.

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  • Friday, February 23, 2007
    the beeb
    Uma heard the word "BBC" on the radio the other day and now says it over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

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