Tara is continuing to eat solids, having started today with green beans. She appears to like them quite well… she downed two ounces today between two feedings, and is becoming more familar with the following four-step process:

1. Open mouth.
2. Food goes in.
3. Close mouth.
4. Chew and swallow.

On occasion she proceeds directly from step 2 to step 4, blorting the contents of her mouth onto her bib or pants. Another popular mistake is to become distracted by something shiny after step 2, later to be surprised that there is something in her mouth. On the other hand, she managed to keep her hands away from the spoon and her mouth for almost the entire feeding. Previously, all would go well for the first five minutes or so, and then a face-painting contest would break out.

In other news, Anna has her friend C. over to spend the night. I have said previously that having a friend over to play is almost less work than just the one child, because they entertain each other. Apparently I was insane when I said that. Actually, it’s not quite so bad, but Anna and C. are behaving more like siblings now, so the host-and-guest manners have pretty much faded away. To top it off, there was a bathtub incident in which… well, let’s just say everyone had to get out while the water was changed. I’m going to have to bookmark this post for when Anna gets older and attempts to date…

Update: I have put together a short movie (approx 10 MB) of Tara’s first feeding. It took me a while to figure out which Metallica songs go with rice cereal…