scrumschkin 

cutie patootie 

meshi and his twin sister 

Uma's first publicity 

8 weeks and cooing

It's been 8 amazing weeks hanging out with Miss Uma and we're loving every minute of it. She's weighing in now at 13 pounds- a chunky monkey!

She has at least five chins.

Her naturopath said that she was so strong she could be a power-lifter!

She can do a full cobra pose now- her neck and back are so developed.
Just a couple of days ago she started to make new sounds- a bit more variety than her usual repertoire of grunts and moans.

Some of the noises actually sound happy(!!)

This is fitting as now Uma is now super smiley and will even make eye contact and smile right at you! I just melt when she pulls out those dimples.

For a while it seemed that instead of making eye contact,

she would check out people's auras :)

But now, especially in the morning, she is quite engaging.

I have to peel my eyes open at dawn to catch her ebullience.

I catch her throwing big smiles to strangers, the bathroom wall, you name it-

she's quite the flirt.
We have days of the all-day all*you*can*eat*buffet,

fulls days of pure napland, and other days that seem to have a rhythm of the two

(the nip and nap or the bed and breakfast).

So far, all I have figured out is that any time I seem

to have figured out a schedule or habits- it shifts.
Being a mother has been wonderful.

I feel so many of the cliched hallmark sentiments.

The one I feel most often is a strong humbling

that she chose me to raise her and she trusts me with her life. It's such an honor.
I continue viewing the world with "mommy-goggles".

I've decided that the world can be divided into two camps of people-

those who stop to let a mother/baby cross the street and those who don't.

It seems that people are either hyper-aware of us or totally unaware.

Perhaps this seems judgmental but there it is.
Motherhood also seems to be the only natural activity that develops the triceps.

I'm using muscles I never knew I had!

My ambi-dexterity is also developing at record speeds.

I can do almost everything one-handed now, tweaking my body is very strange angles to accomplish basic tasks with baby in arms.

Our life together has been so sweet and simple.

We get to see new flowers bloom everyday here in Portland.

We have blossoming euphorbias, plum blossoms, daphne, tulips, magnolias, trilliums...and the trees are all starting to get their lime green baby leaves.

So precious to watch it all unfold.

umas 

7 weeks going on 3 years old 

in the eyes of babes 

afternoon delight 

i had a deep thought the other night as i was drifting off to sleep...

boob = poop

it's quite profound, really.

It's like in those roll-up astrology monthlies

where you read your fortune upside-down and in the mirror....

we just had our 6week midwife appt and Uma is

12 pounds!!!!

she's basically gained a pound a week

the midwives say she's really coordinated and super strong

you go girl!

what color will my eyes be? 

eye color poll

Apparently, eye color can take a full year to ripen. My eyes are blue on both sides of my familly and her father's eyes are brown on both sides.

here's a photo shoot...moment by moment

scroll below

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bring me your tired, your poor.. 

I've decided that I could write a whole book on Uma's cheeks.

A chapter could be written on their squishy yumminess,

another on their warmth, another on their kissability.

My friend Marv made a comment that all of the world's negativity

could be swallowed in the black hole of her dimple.

Love that idea.

What if it were true?

Her superhero quality was that ability?

Uma "the super-dimple" Kucera...

She has the ability to swallow all darkness

and poopiness in one swift smile-

the villains all tremble when they see her crack a toothless grin,

knowing that they might be sucked

into the vacuum of her mass dimpledom.

Life has been sweet these last few weeks.

I'm starting to see how the time flies by-

everyone says how quick it goes when they're babies.

I've been watching her eyelashes grow daily

(on my favorite show- UmaTV)

but then just today I realized her belly-button had turned into an innie without my noticing...

My only touchstone of time passing is

Tuesday- Tidee Diapee pick-up day.

Silly but true.

Otherwise, it's just a stream of days filled with

breastfeeding and long walks.

I have seemed to have finally lived up to my potential-

I am now embodying the essence of the holy cow.

I am Mother- hear me moo!!

Sometimes I just feel like I'm a walking boob.

Not a bad full-time job, in fact I could imagine

being a wetnurse in times past....

If it was a paying job these days I would definitely consider it.

I'm on Uma-time.

Our days are a rhythm of feeding and pooping, and on days when we are trying to coordinate with the Portland weather- it can be hilarious. There are numerous possible combinations here but an average day could go like this..

wake up, (BIG SUN) boob, change, hiccups,

boob, sleep, wake, change, boob, sleep-

then comes my opportunity to step outside to take a walk

or run an errand

and it's pouring RAIN....

So she'll sleep and I'll read or something

and then the BIG SUN will come out

and I'll get all antsy to go out

but I know that she'll wake in a bit and want the boob...

So we chill and then she wakes and gets the boob- perhaps a change or the hiccups and then I think we're ready to rock and roll

and the pouring rain comes once again.

Repeat repeat repeat and that's our day.

Yet, somehow it's wonderful.

It's totally zen.

Lots of rainbows and cheeks and NOW- little smiles!

She just started playing with her smile muscles.

It's so exciting! She is such a little munchkin.

She also loves to stand tall on her legs. She'll lock her knees and stand upright if I hold her hands. She is definitely a powerhouse.

She also seems to know that her hands and arms belong to her now.

For a while, it was kind of like "attack of the arms"

but now she can hold on while she nurses

and she doesn't whack herself in the face nearly as much

(or pull her own hair by mistake).

I must say that our little life is eased by the fact that,

in essence, I have two wives.

Both Meshi and Shannon have been cooking

and caring so well for me and Uma.

Such a great thing to have a baby

and have (two) wives instead of a husband-

and I'm not even a lesbian! What a bargain!

Uma and I went to our dance class last week for the first time

outside of the uterus.

She danced with me throughout the nine months of her gestation

and we were anxious to get back to "sweat our prayers".

It was lovely.

Everyone was so excited to see Uma and to dance with her

on the outside.

For me, dancing with her was a duet that took all of my attention

and when others tried to join our dance,

it was a bit difficult to be attentive to any other.

As always, the metaphors that I find in dance

are really profound (for me) to apply outside of the dancefloor.

I was thinking how our little duet has been so lovely to dance

with so few distractions...

so much gratitude for this time

and the grace that has been carrying us.

NEWSFLASH- I can SMILE!