Okay, first a little background, to better explain the situation. DD was an identical twin, but her sister was stillborn. They were born seven weeks early, and so far she hasn't really seemed to take any longer than "average" to hit some of her milestones. She can roll over (from back to belly and belly to back), sit up when propped, etc. She's (nearly) exclusively breastfed. What we've been doing is giving her a couple of bottles of formula a day with her vitamins, but other than that, it's all the boob. Oh, and she's about four months old now. They were born October 3.

Anyway, first question; While she is gaining weight steadily, she isn't gaining much. I've done a lot of reading online and the general consensus is that nursing bubs gain weight slower than formula-fed bubs. I don't have an issue with this, except for the fact that she is no longer eating every two to three hours every day. Sometimes she can go up to four hours at a time between feeding, though I don't like to let her go that long. My question is whether or not I should be taking a more aggressive approach to feeding her. Whenever I offer, she seems eager to nurse, and generally takes upwards of half an hour at a time, so I know she's actually eating. What I'm trying to say, I guess, is should I try to feed her more often, or just let her eat whenever, so long as she doesn't go longer than four hours.

Second question; We recently went out to supper this weekend, and I had her in my lap because she was fussing at being in the carseat. I was eating a salad and had her facing the table. She didn't really try to reach for it, but she was just staring really intently. She's also been watching me eat a lot lately. I wasn't sure if this was because she's beginning to pay more attention to everything that's going on, or if she's genuinely reaching the age where she's ready for solids. The handout from her four month checkup did have a section on solids in the feeding portion, and had a list of "signs" of readiness. Ability to sit up independently, loss of the spitting reflex, ect. What I'd like to know is... is it possible that she's ready, or almost ready for solids? I know everyone says six months is the magic number, but I figure every baby is different.