4 month old peanut

Right before she passed out at the wedding. So tired!
But Oh, so cute!
watching daddy eat his dinner.
The girls, all dressed up. She liked eating her dress more than wearing it.
Cuddling with daddy on Sunday before a walk with Gammadele and Grandpa Steve.

On Saturday, Coranelle turned 4 months old. To celebrate, we took her to our friends' wedding. We thought that since she seemed to be doing better in the evenings, she might do well and we could introduce her to some of our friends from college. She didn't do as well as we hoped, but she is priceless and adorable and we are glad we got to spend the evening with her. She didn't want to be really quiet during the wedding ceremony, so Ryan had to take her out to the lobby so she wouldn't disrupt the ceremony. When we walked into the reception, she freaked out for a while at all the faces that were admiring her, the music and just TOO much to see. But, she calmed down and we ended up being able to stay until almost 10pm. She nursed in a parking garage before the reception and took a bottle from Ryan at 8:30ish. We hoped she would take a little nap on us during the evening, but there was simply too many exciting things going on. It was great for us to see some friends from college and celebrate with Scott and Jenny. It was a beautiful ceremony and the reception venue was the clubhouse at Folsom Field. The views were spectacular and it was very enjoyable. Coranelle finally decided to pass out on me at 9:45pm as we were dancing. Sooooo cute.
In other news, she still refuses to take formula. We tried a new kind patiently on Sunday and she wouldn't have it. Too bad, considering her weight gain has slowed and the doctor recommended to me that I feed her one more time per day. She went in for her 4 month appointment yesterday. She now weighs 11 pounds 8 ounces and is 25 inches long. That takes her from the 20th percentile in weight to the 9th, and the 75th percentile in height to the 77th. This, of course, concerns me. Being that she is solely breastfed, it is hard to not take this issue personally and feel like I am doing something wrong. But, she has a full feeding every 3 hours and is a good little eater. Even though most babies move to feeding every 4 hours at 4 months, I have kept her on a 3 hour schedule because I know she is a peanut. So, I feed her 5 times a day. When do I put in another feeding. I refuse to wake her up at night to do it, or disturb her one good nap of the day. If she would take formula, it would be easy to pop a bottle in her mouth sometime in the evening. I already feel as if I spend a ton of my day nursing ( close to 3 hours). I don't really want to sit on my couch even longer every day. What to do... The doc said she could eat as much rice cereal as she wants. She'll eat that with formula, so we'll try to give her a bit more of that. The doc also told us to try soy formula, as it tastes a bit more like breast milk. So, Ryan went to pick some up today and we'll try that out. I hope that she catches up in weight someday! I am still perplexed as to how I have a tall, skinny baby! The doctor also reminded me to make sure I am drinking and eating enough. I am going to make a point to make sure I am drinking lots of water and eating enough calories. I used to be very good at drinking water (when Coranelle was first born), but have sort of fallen off the bandwagon recently. And, given my past(destructive) eating habits, I refuse to count calories and thus have not counted to ensure that I am eating an extra 500/day. I suppose I need to be a bit more aware of how much I am eating so I ensure Coranelle is getting enough!
Other than her slowed weight gain, she is developmentally doing great. She rolls, talks, lifts her head, sits with support, plays, focuses, grasps things, puts everything in her mouth, etc. Last weeks new thing was the discovery and infatuation with her feet. She grabs them all the time and puts them into her mouth. Very cute. Ahh, she is wonderful. We love her so so so much. She is currently "eating" her feet, complete with the new "hand-me-down" booties we got from some friends. She also got a hand-me-down excer saucer and lots of cute hats and toys. We love hand-me-downs. She and I continue to go to play groups with our Mom's club. I love walking with my friend Jenny and her little Adelaide 3 times a week. It is wonderful to have another mom with a baby girl the same age. Our walks are often the highlight of my day at home. Then, my next highlight is when Ryan walks in the door after work. Coranelle loves it too and is totally captivated with daddy. She studies him and watches his every move and smiles with delight at the attention he showers her with. I LOVE my family!

Outside of Coranelle, we are prepping our house to get it ready to paint this fall. We seem to have a growing list of house projects that get done much slower with a little baby who is constantly captivating us with her smiles and jabbering. That's all for now. Have a great week!