Eric now has six teeth, and he is finally crawling. It's still a painstaking effort, but he scoots along. It's uncanny how similar he and Anneli are; Eric is reaching his milestones almost at exactly the same times that Anneli did. Eric just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I'm sure he's at least 25 lbs. now, if not more. He hasn't started saying words yet, but this week he has been saying, "Uh-oh. Uh-oh." We say that a lot around him, and he seems to have picked it up. He even says it with the same inflections we use.

Anneli got her Christmas presents from us (i.e. parents and grandparents) early, and she's excited about getting more from other family members. She got an InnoTab tablet, which she enjoys, and she got a camera from a cousin. Eric got... nothing. :( My little boy just keeps getting the short end of the stick. He'll get some gifts from other family, so I don't worry.

Anneli is working on learning her address. She remembers individual parts of it, but she needs help on stringing it all together. She's been practicing with my mom, so naturally her pronunciation of it is a little "fobby."

(Late) Updates

Eric now has four teeth, with another one coming in. Still waiting on his to learn to crawl, although he has mastered sliding backwards on his belly. He finds it really frustrating--he attempts to crawl forward toward something just out of reach, only to find himself going backward and farther away. Cue whining.

He's now pooping regularly. I had been concerned since he was only going once every 4-5 days. I increased the amount of cereal he eats, and now he poops daily.

We have discovered that furry stuff animals scare Eric. Anneli has a fuzzy penguin, and Eric does not like it. It made him cry the first time he saw it. He backs away from it if you put the penguin in front of him, and he swats at it if you get it too close.

Anneli watched "Happy Feet Two" yesterday, so now she loves this penguin. (It has been sitting in her bedroom for the past year, untouched.) She also cried several times during the movie. She is too empathetic and sensitive. She got worried that Eric (the penguin in the movie) was being left behind by his dad, and that Eric would not reunite with his mom. Even at the end, she was still sad.

Anneli is now very much into princesses and dressing up. She still enjoys her cars and other "boy" toys, but she now works in the girly stuff, too. She's been asking (rather persistently) for a princess scooter; it's on her Christmas list, but her continued bratty and whiny behavior may not be helping her.

Milestone: First Teeth!

Eric now has two teeth! They appeared over the weekend, and he's been chewing on everything in sight. He's been a bit cranky, but he's not crying all day like some other babies I know. His teeth have come in a little later than Anneli's did. Anneli is very excited about his teeth; she likes to remind us that he has two teeth now. :)

Anneli's tantrums have mostly gone away, although there are some flare-ups here and there. She had one on Sunday because she did not want to take a nap. (She eventually fell asleep.) I do blame her behavior on my parents, who coddle her and basically undermine me. I've talked to them about enforcing the rules when I'm not at home (and also not bending the rules because she cries), but that will take some time.

Eric is still growing... big, fat roly-poly baby. I squeeze him into one of Anneli's old fleeze footie pajamas (size 12 mons) and had a hard time zipping him up. I had to take him out and put him in one of own pajamas that actually fit properly. He is the size of a one-year-old; imagine having to carry a one-year-old everywhere. He no longer wants to lie back in the tub; he kicks angrily and wants to sit up. I end up with water all down the front of my clothes. We've been showing him how to take steps, and he can swing his legs when we hold him up. I think we get more of a workout than he does.

We've not really solved the poop issue. He still doesn't poop every day. It happens every 4-5 days, which I guess is regular...? Enormous, adult-size poop. Gross. He had one yesterday, so we'll see when it happens again.

Milestone: Eric 6 months & other stuff...

Weight: 20 lbs. 4 oz. (90th percentile)

Height: 26 in.

Head: 17.5 in.

Chest: 18.25 in.

I'm not surprised that he gained weight, but geez... 20 pounds?! The doctor was not concerned with his weight, as he is on breastmilk. He did ask me if anyone in the family has a big head (I don't know what constitutes "big"), as he measured Eric's head twice to confirm the measurement.

Anneli has not been eating for the last two days. She starts to cry and gags when I try to get her to eat. Today, she did eat a little at lunch--about half of what she normally eats--but I was thankful for that and didn't push it. She came home and had a half cup of milk and some Doritos, so I hope this means she's getting her appetite back. We've had a tough go of her behavior this past week, but I think she's just acting out for two reasons: (1) she is jealous of the time and attention I give to Eric, and (2) she misses her grandparents (my parents). As to reason 1, I've been trying to give her more individual attention when Eric is asleep, but Eric is not a heavy sleeper, so that gives me at most 30-45 minutes I can spend with her, if I don't have to pump. It's difficult to work in time with her when I have so many things I need to do (laundry, cleaning, cooking...). (I'm on the computer right now because she said she would rather watch an episode of Backyardigans than read with me. And if you know how much she hates Backyardigans, you know how surprising this decision is.) As for reason 2, she has been telling my parents that she's been "waiting too much" for them to return. My mom will be back in two and a half weeks, my dad another week after, so the planets will realign in her universe in short order.

But she has been well-behaved today, so I caved and bought her a My Little Pony book. (We had some time to kill before the doctor's appointment, so we stopped at Barnes & Noble.) She's taken a liking to My Little Pony (the strange reincarnation of the '80s show), and it's pretty harmless so I let her indulge.

Anneli likes to play with "stuffes." We are trying to figure out at what point she decided the word "stuff" requires an "-es" ending.

Some funny things:

Anneli recognizes the Aquabats now, ha! Except she can't really pronounce it very well, calling them "acrobats."

Anneli has this obsession with smelling her hands after she touches something. o_O So this morning, I was lying in bed with her, when she sniffed her hand. I said, "You need to see a psychotherapist." She responded, "What, shopping?" She must have thought I said "retail therapy." :)

Last night, while playing with her dad, Anneli called him "Max." She immediately realized her mistake and bashfully covered her mouth as she giggled.

A little bit of a change here... I've decided to add Eric to this blog, so I don't have to update one for each of them. Not only is it easier with just one blog, but it makes more sense since their lives are so intertwined.

So today Anneli and I had another knock-down-drag-out screaming match. She got angry when I wouldn't change the channel on the TV; she started stomping her feet and threw herself on the floor. I told her to go to her room, and she got up and smacked my stomach. She continued screaming as she ran away from me, but I eventually dragged her to her room. She kept screaming, so I told her I wouldn't talk to her until she had calmed down. At that point, she claimed she was hungry; she repeated that several times until she realized I wasn't buying it. I left her in her room for five minutes. When I went up, she had calmed down considerably and was just lying on her bed. We talked about what happened and why I had gotten angry. I took away her pig and blanket for the night. She wanted to cry in response, but I told her I would keep them an extra day if she started crying again. A little harsh I admit, but those two things are the only things I can use against her. The threat of losing them keeps her in check. At bedtime, she looked like she was going to cry again, so I lay in bed with her until she fell asleep. She was out in 15 minutes, a record for her. Hopefully she'll be better tomorrow...

Eric must be going through a growth spurt because he's a bottomless pit; he is constantly hungry! Today, he had 5 oz. at 6:00 pm, but he was crying for more by 7:30 pm. I fed him some cereal (probably 3 tbsp.) and 4 oz. of milk; it must have been barely enough because he wanted more. I'm still producing more milk than he can keep up with, so I don't worry about having enough. (I think two freezers entirely filled with milk should give you an idea of why I don't worry.) If only selling breastmilk weren't illegal... I could be rich!

The last few days have been especially trying. Anneli has been unusually weepy--she cries at the drop of a hat. I'm not sure why she's crying, and I don't really know how to handle it. I wonder if she is now feeling jealous of the attention I give Eric.

This morning, I had reprimanded Anneli for her early morning crying fit. Later, as I was getting Eric into the car seat, Anneli walked up and said, "Umma, you are being nice to Eric." I nodded. Then she said, "Umma, you should be nice to Anneli, too." She almost seemed embarrassed by her statement, but she repeated it when I asked her what she meant.

I need to spend some time with just Anneli, but it's difficult to get away from Eric...

Milestone: Eric 5 months

Eric is now able to roll himself over (but only in one direction). He has been working really hard on accomplishing this, and it's been funny to watch him. He survived a trip to NY (and gave me lots of poop, to boot).

His weight gain seems to have plateaued for now, but he must be close to 20lbs. now! He's just all sorts of fat, especially his legs. My mom asked if he was able to roll over yet (before he was able to do it), and when I said no, my dad chimed in, "Because he's fat!" :)

Compared to Anneli, Eric is very vocal, and very loud. Anneli's vocalizations were soft and feminine, but Eric tends to screech, blabber, and gurgle. He blows raspberries when he's angry, he yells when he's tired, he giggles hysterically when Anneli talks to him. It's fun to see the differences between the two kids, and I wonder if Eric is more vocal because he has another baby talking to him.

I've also been having a little fun with Eric. I put Anneli's Hello Kitty hairband on him. He's so cute! One day, I will show that picture to his fiancee, and he will hate me for it.

[returning from Costco, after eating some frozen yogurt]
Anneli: Omma, my tongue is wet.
Me: Okay.
Anneli: My mouth is wet.
Me: Okay.
Anneli: My mouth smells like... [looks up, trying to think]
Me: What does it smell like?
Anneli: It smells like butt.

Eric has had some difficulty pooping lately. He has pooped once in the last six days. The most probable reason is the rice cereal he had. It's normal for rice cereal to cause some constipation (Anneli went 2-3 days at a time without a poop), but one poop in a week is a little strange. He doesn't seem uncomfortable, although his farts are STINKY. He's been sneaking out some silent ones, too. We've been giving him prune juice hoping to help the poop, but it doesn't seem to be working. Suggestions welcome.

Milestone: Eric 4 months

Weight: 17 lbs. 6 oz. (90th percentile)
Head: 16.75 in. (60th percentile)
Chest: 17.25 in. (85th percentile)
Length: 26 in. (80th percentile)

And that's on an empty stomach! What a fatty.

Anneli has obviously inherited her clumsiness from me. She had a rough day yesterday. We were at Target ("red circle shopping") and she ran into the arm of a clothes rack. Banged up her cheek. Later in the evening, she fell face first down a set of stairs and landed on the opposite cheek! Luckily she didn't break a tooth, although there was some bleeding. She had a big lip this morning. She tried to blame me for her falling, said my foot made her fall. She didn't believe me when I said she fell by herself.

So let's update on her newly acquired skills:
- count to one hundred by ones and tens
- write every letter of the alphabet
- write basic words (cat, cow, car, mom, dad, eye, pig)
- spell and write her name and Eric's
- draw flowers, ants, rainbows, suns, people
- using adverbs (definitely, surely)

She can draw people much better now. She now includes a body and limbs, and she adds hair when applicable. ("Oppa, you don't have hair on top.") I should start scanning her pictures so I can show them to her when she's older.

Eric can hold his head up when he's on his belly! We're trying to get him to roll over, but he can't quite yet. (Maybe because he's so fat!) If he's like his sister, then he probably won't do it for another few months.

He's been smiling and laughing a lot, and his face just lights up when he does. I'll post some more pictures of him--all smiles, of course. He has his four-month physical this afternoon, so I'll find out exactly how fat he is! (He is now wearing 12-month clothes.)

Eric is 100 days old today! Koreans usually mark this day with a huge family celebration, which we will hold this Saturday. See you then!

[edit 07/27/2001] I realize I never posted anything about the party. I also didn't take any pictures, which I had planned to do, but obviously, things got a little busy. Anyway, it was fun all around because so many of my family attended. It was really nice to have everyone here!

Eric spent his first Easter with my family! We went to my cousin's house for dinner. The kids (minus Eric) had a quick egg hunt, a mad dash to see how much chocolate each kid could score. Eric, obviously, didn't do much besides eat, sleep, and be cute. :)

Milestone: Eric 2 months

Weight: 13 lbs. 8 oz.
Length: 22 in.
Head: 16 in.
Chest: 16 in.

Poor Eric had to receive five vaccines today, and he's had a tough go of it. He cried off and on 7:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m., but he's finally asleep.

Last night, Eric slept from 9:00 p.m. until 4:45 a.m.! Initially, it would seem I also got a lot of uninterrupted sleep, but don't be deceived. I was constantly waking up at the slightest noise, waiting in the dark for Eric to fidget. He ended up just sleeping through the night. Hopefully, this is the start of something good. :)

Today we visited an otolaryngologist to correct Eric's tongue tie (ankyloglossia). Dr. Bhatti recommended we have it corrected right in the office. It was a fairly simple procedure (from an observer's standpoint): clamp on the frenulum, snip with scissors. Of course, Eric cried, as I imagine it must have been painful without any anesthesia. Dr. Bhatti said letting him breastfeed would help the blood clot and put pressure on the wound. To my surprise, Eric actually latched on after a few minutes of anguished crying. He eventually fell asleep. When we got home, he was hungry so we tried breastfeeding again. He kept getting frustrated because he wasn't getting the steady flow of milk he was used to, but he kept at it for about ten minutes. He finally gave up and started to cry because he was hungry. I'm not too worried about the breastfeeding, but I'm glad he has full mobility in his tongue now.

Anneli was sitting on the bed, and she got up to move. There was a fairly large bread crumb where her butt had been. I told her she had pooed, and she must have believed me. She asked, "Is there a hole in my pants, did it come out of there?" Good times.

Eric is definitely going to be a big boy. He long ago outgrew the newborn-sized clothes, and is now on his way to outgrowing the 3-months clothes, too. There are still some outfits he has yet to wear! He is noticeably more clingy than Anneli was, perhaps because he and I had regular contact in the hospital. (Anneli was in the NICU.) Eric always wants to be cradled and cannot seem to fall asleep on his own, if he hasn't already passed out from eating. We joke that he's like a baby rhesus monkey, but you'd never know the difference. (Maybe because of all the monkeys on his clothes?)

Milestone: Eric 1 month

Weight: 10.5 lbs
Head: 15 in.
Chest: 15 in.
Length: 21 in.

Eric is growing very fast, more so than Anneli for sure. He had a one pound advantage over her at birth, and he has outpaced her in his weight gain in the first month. Dr. T informed us that Eric has a tongue tie, which could cause some speech difficulties later (most notably a lisp). She said it isn't absolutely necessary to have it corrected right now, but Dr. E said we should get it done sooner rather than later. Eric has an appointment to see an ENT doctor in April.

Weight: 8 lbs.
Head: 14.5 in.
Chest: 14.5 in.
Length: 20 in.

Eric's first check-up went well! Since he was jaundiced (or as my mom put it, "He's Asian. He's supposed to be yellow."), the doctor wanted to make sure Eric's bilirubin level was okay. He did the standard weight check (8lbs. - lost a few ounces), plus all the other usual poking and prodding. We all ended up having a good laugh when Eric decided to pee and sprayed the doctor! Otherwise uneventful, and Eric got a thumbs up on his health.

We were allowed to leave late this afternoon, and so far, it's been uneventful at home. (Whew.) Eric has had one poopy diaper and one meal, and now he's sleeping. I expect he'll be hungry in a couple hours, but that's no surprise. Anneli's been very good so far, no jealousy that I can tell. She is taking everything in stride and wants to be helpful. Tomorrow will be our first full day together at home; we'll see how that goes...

The Birth!

Time: 8:29 pm
Weight: 8 lbs. 3 oz.
Length: 19 3/4 in.

Just like big sister, Eric decided he just couldn't wait until he was scheduled to arrive. I left work on Wednesday thinking I'd have a lot of time the next morning to get more lessons planned and handouts copied. I decided to leave my books and flash drive on my desk... I should have known better!

I picked up Anneli from daycare and we went grocery shopping. I wanted to stock up on things we (read: Ryan) could whip together easily. We finished with an insane amount of food from Safeway and headed to Costco. On the way, I felt a little strange and thought I might have peed in my pants a little. Not really thinking much of it, I figured I'd just use the restroom at Costco and finish up. Well, as soon as I stepped out of the car, I felt a gush of water. I got back in the car and tried to call Ryan, but my phone wasn't working. I tried several more times with no luck. Luckily, we only live a couple miles from there, so I rushed home and called from the house. I called my mom and my cousin too, just to let them know.

We finally got to the hospital just before 7. I went into triage by myself (no children allowed - Ryan had to wait downstairs with Anneli), and I endured an hour of painful contractions. I wasn't allowed an epidural because I needed a liter of saline in me before they could administer it. I didn't get one until I was already in the OR. From there, things went very smoothly and quickly (unlike the first time, thank goodness). Zero complications and twenty-nine minutes later, baby Eric was born.

Both of us recovered quickly from the birth. Eric was a bit jaundiced, so he spent most of his time under a light in the nursery, but we still got to spend a lot of time with him when he came to my room. Anneli has been enjoying getting to know Eric.

Anneli doesn't just like to talk about cars. Now, she likes to draw them. When I asked her where the doors were, she added them (in purple). She also enjoys "writing", which usually means a series of "X"es, but we'll work on it. In the meantime, I'll enjoy getting pictures of cars and faces.