"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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posted by Ketan @ 8/04/2008 08:14:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 7/20/2008 09:16:00 PM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 7/05/2008 07:20:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 6/30/2008 07:14:00 AM   0 comments

I don't like Uma's imaginary friend. She's a bad girl and a bad influence.

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posted by Ketan @ 6/09/2008 11:39:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 4/25/2008 08:02:00 AM   0 comments

"You have a butt."

Uma would not be a very useful witness at a crime scene.

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posted by Ketan @ 4/22/2008 10:12:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 4/18/2008 09:19:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 4/17/2008 07:43:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 4/16/2008 01:15:00 PM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 4/03/2008 09:33:00 PM   1 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 1/07/2008 07:36:00 PM   0 comments

Uma now knows the whole alphabet song and can sing it by herself. Except when you want her to.

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posted by Ketan @ 1/02/2008 08:30:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 12/23/2007 08:01:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 11/26/2007 07:54:00 AM   0 comments

"All dem running. . One fall down."

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posted by Ketan @ 10/18/2007 07:39:00 AM   0 comments

Yesterday, we found out she was going to have a brother. She'll have to get over her disappointment.

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posted by Ketan @ 10/16/2007 07:50:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 10/13/2007 03:29:00 PM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 10/11/2007 08:15:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 10/09/2007 08:25:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Jessica @ 9/27/2007 02:25:00 PM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 8/23/2007 11:12:00 AM   0 comments

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.

Labels: words

posted by Jessica @ 8/20/2007 10:42:00 PM   2 comments

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.

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 8/19/2007 08:55:00 AM   1 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 7/31/2007 09:10:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 7/29/2007 08:37:00 AM   0 comments

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."

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 7/26/2007 04:31:00 PM   1 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 7/24/2007 08:54:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 7/23/2007 09:53:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 7/12/2007 08:31:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 7/01/2007 09:35:00 PM   1 comments

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.

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 6/30/2007 08:07:00 AM   0 comments

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).

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 6/26/2007 08:23:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 6/19/2007 08:31:00 AM   0 comments

In the bath last week, the child said, "Uma drink soapy water special treat."

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posted by Ketan @ 6/14/2007 08:10:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 5/29/2007 09:54:00 AM   2 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 5/28/2007 09:44:00 PM   2 comments

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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posted by Jessica @ 5/23/2007 03:06:00 PM   0 comments

Now that it's getting hot, when we get into the warm car, Uma asks for the "air dishin on."

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posted by Ketan @ 5/19/2007 11:49:00 AM   0 comments

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 hte 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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posted by Ketan @ 5/12/2007 08:20:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Jessica @ 5/03/2007 08:49:00 PM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 4/13/2007 02:11:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Jessica @ 4/06/2007 09:54:00 PM   1 comments

Uma can say "Mississippi."

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posted by Ketan @ 4/03/2007 08:53:00 AM   1 comments

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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posted by Jessica @ 3/30/2007 11:53:00 AM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 3/28/2007 10:01:00 AM   0 comments

No more "Ngeh." Uma learned to say her name today. Very loudly.

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posted by Ketan @ 3/22/2007 08:31:00 PM   1 comments

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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posted by Jessica @ 3/19/2007 08:25:00 PM   2 comments

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!")

Labels: words

posted by Jessica @ 3/18/2007 09:23:00 PM   1 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 3/15/2007 09:50:00 AM   0 comments

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."

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 3/13/2007 10:45:00 AM   1 comments

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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posted by Jessica @ 3/11/2007 03:56:00 PM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 3/09/2007 07:33:00 PM   0 comments

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!"

Labels: words

posted by Jessica @ 2/26/2007 09:43:00 PM   0 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 2/24/2007 07:58:00 PM   1 comments

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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posted by Ketan @ 2/23/2007 07:48:00 PM   0 comments

Uma's made another jump in her ability to communicate over the last month or so. She's a lot better at emulating sounds, so I've taught her to say "Daddy" instead of "Dada" and "Mommy" instead of "Mama." I emphasised the second syllable so she'd know I was saying something different, but that means she says "DadDEE" and "MomMEE." She also said "Aaji" and "Atya," though "Ajoba" still gives her trouble. She can also put three words together, like "lie down bed."

She's also started saying her own name. Somehow a bare "oo" gives her trouble, so she ends up saying it "ngeh," but it's definitely her name. She'll point at my water glass and say "dada wawa" and then at her own and say "ngeh wawa." I'm not sure why she can't say "oo," as she can say "poo." On the other hand, she can't put "poo" with "ma" to say "puma;" instead, it comes out "pi-yo." I guess there need be no reason beyond that she is not even 2 yet.

A long time ago, I would see little kids speaking incomprehensibly and marvel at their parents' ability to understand them. That's us now, though. I mean, if you heard "ngeh yie die," would you have a clue that it meant "Uma lie down?" That doesn't even get into the 15 definitions of "nganga."

I think Uma's learned "no." Here comes trouble... At least she's learning "yes," too, which she says the way she heard Mommy do it once: "YAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSS."

I taught her how to goose step. She only does it with one leg, which I guess makes it pretty similar to her stomp dance from last fall. She also marches quite happily. Uma can almost jump. I think I saw her toes leave the floor a couple times this morning. She likes the idea a lot. Another idea she likes is pee pee on the potty. She hasn't actually done it, but she enjoys sitting on the potty and saying "pee pee."

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posted by Ketan @ 2/13/2007 10:12:00 AM   0 comments

I haven't been putting Uma's safety belt on in the booster seat she eats in because she's perfectly capable of keeping herself balanced, and I think it's valuable for her to do that herself. In spite of my good intentions, an important party disagrees. I was trying to get her out of her seat after breakfast only to discover that Uma had put her belt on herself. That's not easy, by the way.

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 2/02/2007 09:08:00 AM   2 comments

Uma says "sigh" and then will sigh.

Uma hosted her first group playdate yesterday. She survived, but was apparently initially stunned by the people in the house. She recovered by eating massive amounts of snacks.

Uma's been having some allergies lately. After her bath, I gave her a liquid antihistamine with a syringe, which I then set aside so I could comb her hair. Uma rather likes the taste of her "mayo" (medicine), and the half teaspoon I gave her wasn't enough, so she picked that syringe up and sucked out the last few drops.

Last night, the TV was apparently too loud, and it woke Uma up. There was no trouble, though; we heard her singing to herself for a while, then apparently engaging in a conference with her advisors, and then she fell back asleep.

Uma's puma and Snowflake are learning how to use the phone. They do it just like Uma does: phone to the ear, blank expression, staring straight ahead, and saying absolutely nothing.

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 1/31/2007 08:36:00 AM   1 comments

Over the last month, Uma has gotten really attached to her stuffed animals. Not all of them, of course; some are clearly more worthy than others. You've seen her puma before, which at present is her number one. Last week, we spent 15 minutes looking for her puma just before bed time (someone had put her in an empty oatmeal box; I wonder who'd do that...). I'd tell you her name, but I can't write it in English; it's Uma's version of a meow.

Her current number two is Snowflake, a.k.a., "so way," the dog featured in two of today's pictures. Snowflake is one of the few stuffed animals we purchased for Uma, grabbed in a pinch from a Wal-Mart in Kerrville, TX, when we foolishly forgot to bring any toys for Uma on a trip.

Finishing out Uma's top rankings of the moment are Sayo and Dayo, Starbear and this bizarre anthropomorphic duck with duck's heads for feet. Those two don't get carried around everywhere; usually they just stay in Uma's crib. They do have to be there at bed time, though, as seen in this picture from November.

I mention that these are the current rankings because they change frequently. Puma's on top right now, but a few weeks ago, Sayo and Dayo were tops. Snowflake has been rising in favor over the last week or so, and may challenge Puma for the top spot. I can't claim to understand the internal politics of Uma's clique; I can only report on the developments I observe. The top four seem pretty stable, although every now and then one of the bears makes an attempt to grab a place; just last week, one bear managed to secure a coveted position in the crib overnight, though he must have committed some egregious faux pas in the night, as he wasn't welcomed back. Or, more ominously, perhaps Puma, Sofay, Sayo, and Dayo all ganged up to force out the pretender. It's a woof-woof eat woof-woof world out there.

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 1/29/2007 07:16:00 AM   0 comments

I don't have the heart to tell Uma that penguins don't quack and giraffes don't roar.

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 1/26/2007 08:09:00 PM   0 comments

I've been trying to teach Uma the names of colors off and on. Sometimes it seems she gets it, other times not so much. She has somehow fastened on to blue as the color of everything. She'll get a yellow ball and say "bvvvv bah," and I'll correct her, so she'll say "yeyo bah." Then she'll forget it and call it "bvvvv bah." Same for the red shirt she was wearing today. It was "bvvvv," I told her it was red, she called it a "wye" shirt briefly, and then it was "bvvvv" again. At least her pants today were blue, as was her diaper (also, all diapers are wet diapers, or "wye dayo," even poopy or clean ones). The best was when I told her the ball was red, and she told me it was a "wye bvvvv bah" (red blue ball). I'll keep working on it.

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 1/25/2007 10:32:00 AM   0 comments

Uma favorite game is something that Ketan and I call "Go." Basically what happens is Uma will come up to you, thrust the string from a wheeled pull toy in your hand, and issue the command, "Go!" Then you have to walk in endless circles from the living room to the dining room into the kitchen and then back into the living room again while Uma follows closely behind you. She's kind of a control freak throughout the game. She gets mad if you don't keep up your pace, and if you are pulling her little toy wagon behind you, don't even think about putting anything on it. She will yell "uh-oh" and snatch it off. Once, feeling a little punchy after a long session of "Go," I ran off in the opposite direction with contraband on board the wagon just to mess with her. Let me just say, the ensuing temper tantrum ensured I would not try that again anytime soon.

Labels: words

posted by Jessica @ 1/24/2007 09:09:00 PM   5 comments

Uma likes to call herself a good girl. Often her reasons for doing so are a little confusing to us. For example, when she's upset with something (usually some torture or indignity we're inflicting on her), as she's crying, she'll sob out a "Goo ger. Nay," ("nay" = "yay").

She'll also say it for things in which lesser individuals would be unable to find celebration or validation, such as selecting a diaper cover (this morning), convincing us to turn on the music, or putting a book in her stroller. What's especially funny (to me) is that she usually says it in a completely stoic monotone, like she's channeling her sullen teenaged self from 11 years in the future. "Go ger. Nay."

Yesterday, as I was changing her diaper, she told me she was a good girl. Then she said Molly was a good girl. Then she said Sadie was a good girl. Finally, in what will surely rank as one of the most touching moments of my life, something that brought a quiver to my lip and tears to my eyes, she said, "Goo ger. Dada."

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 1/21/2007 08:38:00 AM   0 comments

Uma stumbled and fell off a stool this morning, earning her First Bloody Nose. She was kind of upset, understandably, but now she's happily chasing around her alligator, which had been in retirement until coming back for the special occasion of Bloody Nose After Three Days Stuck At Home. She also bit her lips a bit.

Speaking of biting lips, Uma's upper two canines are finally coming in. The left one is sticking out pretty far, while the right one is just barely peeking out. Next up: two year molars. Those will be fun.

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 1/17/2007 10:45:00 AM   2 comments

Uma is seeing her first snow right now. She calls it "so."

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posted by Ketan @ 1/16/2007 11:26:00 AM   0 comments

Uma has a cold. She seems to have a fever, and her nose has been running since yesterday. The runny nose has been annoying her. In a first, Uma has been asking to have her nose wiped. Previous times she has been sick, wiping her nose has been a battle. This morning, however, she pointed at the box of tissues and vocalized insistently. We've since taught her to say "wipe nose." We'd have made it "wipe nose please," but Uma's not yet putting three words together.

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 1/12/2007 09:10:00 AM   1 comments

Over the past couple of weeks, Uma has started to engage in pretend play. Sometimes she will sit one of her stuffed animals next to her when she's eating and pretend to feed it by holding a bite of food up to its mouth and saying, "num num" before popping the food in her mouth. She also pretends to talk Grandma on a toy telephone. She holds the phone up to her ear and say, "Gow [her current word for Grandma], uh-huh, uh-huh..." followed by a stream of babble.

Uma has also taken an interest in fashion. Most mornings she insists on picking out her own clothes. Usually if I give her two options to choose from, she's satisfied. This morning, however, she rejected four pairs of pants before she found ones that she liked. Later we narrowly missed a show down over which jacket she would wear on our walk. Since it was cold out, I wanted her to wear her heavy jacket. A light corduroy jacket, however, was more to her liking. Finally we reached a compromise: she would wear her corduroy jacket underneath the heavier jacket.

Labels: words

posted by Jessica @ 1/01/2007 01:06:00 PM   0 comments

Synonyms for "nganga" (an incomplete listing):

• Cheek


• Chin


• Christmas lights


• Hat


• Kiss


• Knife


• Music


• Oatmeal


• Uma

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 12/26/2006 08:30:00 AM   0 comments

Uma has started saying two word phrases. I have been fetching her in the morning, when I often hear "fa (find) mama." She likes to tell us of the dogs' doings with "ma-ee guh-ger (Molly good girl)" and "say ba-arr (Sadie backyard)." One of her general purpose words is "nganga," which she uses for words she knows but can't say, like "hat." The other day she asked for her "fa nganga (fish hat)," which she likes to wear in the bath. She's also asked to "fa vvvvvv (truck)," and this morning she said "vvvvvv bah-bah" after the recycling truck went by. Apparently, these two-word phrases represent an important developmental milestone, so yeah, Uma's developing.

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 12/21/2006 07:51:00 AM   0 comments

Today Uma got her first professional haircut at Cool Cuts 4 Kids near Lakeline Mall. I wasn't sure how it would go, but she was very cooperative. Part of the reason was she got to watch TV during the haircut. We don't let Uma watch TV at home, so when she sees it somewhere else she's mesmerized. I was pleased with the hair cut. The hair stylist trimmed her bangs and evened up the back and sides. (Bye-bye cutest mullet ever!) Her hair doesn't look that different, just neater. As part of the Baby's First Haircut package, Uma got a little hair bow, which she loves. She cried when we wouldn't let her wear it to bed tonight.

Labels: words

posted by Jessica @ 12/11/2006 10:38:00 PM   0 comments