This weekend, Uma had a couple special events. On Sunday, Uma had her very first play date with her new friend Evie. To my surprise, they actually (sort of) played together and interacted, rather than just playing near each other. Uma's much more tolerant of another child taking her things away than she is of her mean parents doing the same. Evie is three months older and moving all over the place, which was pretty interesting to Uma. She got along well with Evie's parents as well. On Monday, Uma got an extra special extended play time with Aaji while Mommy and Daddy painted the living room. I'd look in on her every 15 minutes or so, and she would look over at me, screw up her face in a smile, and let out a happy sigh. She likes her Daddy (*blush*).

Uma's graduated to even more foods. She's learning about Cheerios. They were confusing at first. She's very good at putting non-food items in her mouth, but had to be taught what Cheerios were for. In the 5 or so days that we've been giving them to her, she's gotten increasingly good at picking them up, putting them in her mouth, and chewing them up. It also keeps her patient and stimulated while we get her and our meals together, which reduces the stress level considerably. We've also started giving her fruit-flavored yogurt, which she much prefers to the plain style. A recent addition of prunes mixed with her oatmeal has been helping with Uma's digestion. She's definitely a happier baby as a result.

The last day or so, she's had a bit of a sniffle. Hopefully, that's just a mild bug; the stuffy nose makes her wake up frequently at night. For example, last night, she never really fell asleep from 1:30am until a little after 3:30am, which was less than ideal. Her morning nap was also abbreviated for the same reason. It's not a big deal, but she doesn't know how to cope. She screams bloody murder when we try a saline spray in her nose (to loosen stuff) or the bulb syringe (to suck stuff out). If only we could teach her how to blow her nose...

In spite of Evie's example, Uma is apparently nowhere near to moving on her own, not counting her rolling over, which can be surprisingly quick. That's just fine by us; we've seen enough mobile babies to know that's an extra order of difficulty. Instead of developing that skill, she has been focusing on her fine motor control. Her sitting continues to be very stable, as is her back strength; we haven't had to support her or carry her with both hands for months. She's working on her babbling as well, but hasn't added any new sounds. She also has a pretty remarkable attention span when it comes to playing. We don't generally have to do much beyond being present, but as long as someone is there with her, she can often play happily for a half hour or even more. We figure that's part of the reason she hasn't gotten moving, as she can be pretty content remaining in one place. I'm pretty sure, however, that once she does start moving, she'll be unstoppable.

Labels: words

posted by Ketan @ 1/18/2006 05:01:00 PM