So I haven't updated in ages, so here we go...

Eric is approaching his first birthday. We took him to get professional portraits done two weekends ago, and they turned out nicely! I will be picking up the CD today, so I will post a few later.

Eric would really love to walk, but he hasn't quite mastered standing. We'll catch him standing (after he's pulled himself up) and he won't realize it. He's definitely mastered crawling, and if he's determined, he can scoot across the floor in just a few seconds. He loves climbing the stairs, and he'll go right for them if he sees someone go up or down.

Eric has three "words" down: uh-oh, and food and peek-a-boo (in Korean). He's been saying "uh-oh" for a couple months now, and sometimes the timing is so perfect!

Anneli is just Anneli. Her obsession with her cars has plateaued, and her interests now include My Little Pony and Disney Princesses. She will be turning four in a few weeks, and she's so sure she'll really be a big girl when that happens.

Also, I came across this, which really made me wonder why exactly this country is against socialized medicine: Finnish maternity package. Imagine the impact that this could have on new, and especially young, mothers. I'd be willing to bet that fewer babies would be abandoned to die, just because their mothers were able to save money on clothes and buy food instead. The one parts that make me laugh are the fourth image from the bottom--"condoms 6 inserts"--and the last image--a box that "can be used as crib."

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.