1/2 a year old!

Everything goes in the mouth!
Having some peas and carrots on Thanksgiving with Grams. She didn't eat much. Too many people for Coranelle!
Sitting up all by herself and playing with that pacifier. New hoodie from Grandmadele.

Last night when Ryan came home from work, Coranelle abruptly ended her nursing session to show her dad how happy she was to see him. He's been home for a week, so when he left for work yesterday, we both missed him a lot. Upon coming through that door, he received lots of smiles, laughs, excited squeals and arms and legs flapping. It was really very precious. On Sunday night, while baking monkey bread, we were listening to some tango music. The three of us had a little dancing session around the kitchen. While I was unsuccessfuly trying to follow Ryan's lead and holding our beaming daughter, I took a mental picture of the scene. I will remember those simple, precious moments forever.

This past Sunday, Bruce and Heido came over to watch Coranelle while Ryan and I went to watch New Moon. Yes, I admit it. I read the whole Twilight series and loved it. And Ryan has already been kind enough to watch the first movie of the series with me at home. On a side note, I really enjoyed the movie. I think that the books are well written and the movies are well donw with some unique cinematography. Despite the fact that the books are vampire romances, there are some famous themes- family fueds, tragic love stories, etc. that make them relatable and enjoyable. So, we made a little date out of it. I was worried about Coranelle crying the whole time for Bruce and Heidi, seeing as crying is an understatement for what she has done every time I tried to hand her off to anyone in the past week. But, they played with her on a blanket for a long time and she never got fussy. Then, she took a nap for them. It was great to get away for a little bit and know that she wasn't screaming the whole time (which I knew from periodic texts from Heidi). Ryan and I know that we have to work on leaving her more often so that she gets used to it. I am never worried about her safety when we leave her with our parents. I know they will do an awesome job with her. I just worry about other peoples' sanity with my touchy child. Coranelle also made it through the church service again on Saturday night. The nursery workers said she only cried half of the time this time. So, we're getting better. :-)

We went to the doctor yesterday for Coranelle's 6 month check-up and tons of immunizations. She immediately melts down when she sees the nurse. Does she know that they are going to come put her in pain shortly?! She now weighs 13 lbs, 5 ounces. I was just hoping for 12 lbs, 12 ounces (which is doubling her birth weight). So, I was pleased. Apparently though, she has moved from the 9th to the 6th percentile. I explained to the pediatrician that she nurses every three hours still, and eats solids twice a day. When I try to nurse her in smaller time spans, she refuses. So, he admitted that she will probably just be a skinny girl. She is now 26 1/4 inches long ( 66% percentile) and her head is in the 58th percentile. Coranelle did great with our pediatrician, talking and playing with his tongue depressor. It was nice to be able to talk to him without her screaming. Ahhh, we have come so far since the first few months. Other than her low birth weight, she doing well except for her sensative skin and some rough spots. We are thankful for a healthy, growing girl. She is now sitting up all on her own for long periods of time. She can grab her pacifier and put it in her mouth the correct way. She is taking lots of interest in peoples' faces and is very aware of the world around her. This morning, she was showing interest in her stuffed animals and music boxes for the first time. It is very fun to see her growing up. Next steps are mastering that sippy cup, and getting over this stranger/separation anxiety.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!