Milestones: Anneli 4, Eric 1

I've got to get better about posting on time.

So, both of the babies had their birthdays this month, and we also conducted our annual visit to the pediatrician. Our stats are below:

Eric: weight - 25 lbs.; height - 30 in.; head - 19 in.
It seems Eric has actually lost weight, although you can't tell by holding him. It certainly feels like he weighs 50 lbs. He didn't cry during his physical as he has done in the past; he was actually cheerful and laughed when the doctor was examining him. She declared him very healthy and definitely happy.


Anneli: weight - 38 lbs.; height - 42.5 in.
I don't know how it's even possible for both of my children not to have gained any weight! Anneli weighs a ton, too. She did grow a few inches, as evidenced by the sudden shortness of her pants; she is wearing a size 5, and even that she is ready to outgrow soon. I guess Anneli got her height gene from Husband, and Eric from me.


Both of them had some booster shots, and they both cried terribly. Of course, Anneli cried even more because Eric started crying. "We are both crying!" according to Anneli.

Eric hasn't started walking yet. In fact, when we put him on his feet, he throws his head back and goes limp, as he whines to be picked up. He does, however, enjoy pushing around Anneli's little shopping cart and doll stroller. He also pushes around his Lightning McQueen ride-on car; he prefers that to actually riding on it (he gets off immediately). But you put him on his feet with nothing to push? Forget it. We did get him some shoes--very cute, by the way!--and he's gotten used to having them on his feet. He cried the first few times, but he doesn't mind anymore.

Anneli is working on learning to read. She recognizes several dozen short words, and she's figuring out how to sound out new ones. She is also working on basic addition and subtraction; she can do calculations up to 10 using her fingers. She can count past 100 now. She is also working on Korean; she can write her name in Korean (한별), and she recognizes Eric's name (한섭) and some other words. I think we've got a smarty on our hands.

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.

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.

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...