Sorry for the wait! We had a small (ha!) surprise party to throw for my mom’s big birthday last night, so it’s been pretty exciting around here. My whole family’s in town, mom danced her shoes right off, and Tess ate solids and had a bath (these activities corrollate directly) from someone else for the first time last night. I’m writing this on Saturday morning, stunned we pulled it all off.

Tess had a birth-to-three program follow up yesterday, where development specialists came to our house and checked her progress against her adjusted age milestones. Tess blew them away! Her lowest score was at age; she was at 5-6 month milestones for everything else. Our little rock star. They said to call them if we’re worried, but she doesn’t need them. Joy!

In other news, Dave dressed Tess like a boy yesterday, so we had to have the talk last night. We had dinner with Adam and Brigid at Rumpus Room, and while the staff found our little boy adorable, I was not entertained. I kindly informed dad that he is responsible for attempting cuteness with his daughter – and making sure she looks like a girl! I’m merely defending her before she can defend herself. We’ll see how he does while I’m gone. Dave, this is a trap – I mean, test.

Happily, the day ended with a total win. We introduced Tess to avocado this week, and on the first two tries she screamed and howled. We couldn’t figure out if it was just her tummy bothering her or if it was the new food, as she gobbles up cereal like it’s going out of style. Last night, I wondered if it was a texture thing, so I thinned her gruel down a bit, avocado and all. A win!

Per the pediatrician’s instructions, we’re introducing one new food every 3-4 days so we can watch for food sensitivities. She was also adamant that solids are pretty much just baby junk food: Tess still gets all her nutrients from formula (and still has expensive taste on that front! I fear she’s on the extra calorie food for another 5 months. Gak!) Still, the old wives’ tale that solids make baby sleep? I’m totally a believer. She’s only been up once this week, on the day she ate the least (formula and food). Say what you like about how accurate it is: my sleep cycle is quite pleased.