We moved in November, and what we miss most about our old apartment is the people we got accustomed to seeing on a regular basis. Among those people: friends Fred and Mia, and their extremely sweet now nine-year-old daughter, Ava, who lived a couple doors down. We always talked about getting together — our kids were very cute with each other in their hallway interactions — and then covid blah blah blah, everything changed, and we moved, and we never met up.

We never even exchanged phone numbers! So Fred ingeniously messaged me on LinkedIn (I never think to do that), and he and Ava met me and Holden at Holden’s school carnival in May. One of the things that I always loved talking to Fred and Mia about is Ava’s strange eating habits — she’s got Holden beat. Ava … does not like a lot of foods. And when I saw Fred recently, he assured me that that had absolutely not changed.

Here’s what Ava will eat: chicken nuggets and pizza — but both only of a specific brand — and chocolate chip cookies (she doesn’t even like candy!!!). Her pediatrician, perhaps unsurprisingly, did not do much to assure Fred and Mia that this was okay, but she did have them add Pediasure into Ava’s diet — which Ava was okay with, but she was only okay with the chocolate flavor. As you can imagine, Fred and Mia are not thrilled with the current situation.