Babies Who Lunch

Lunch with friends accompanied by baby has improved recently.  What used to be an hour of nursing/bouncing/picking up toys while attempting to eat has turned into a leisurely 1.5-2 hour jaunt during which I can chat, show off my delighted child who seems to go out of her way to seduce waitstaff, and eat, all at the same time.

The secret, my friends, is solid foods.  I know, I thought this would be a detriment to my eating, since Willow wants to eat absolutely everything I do, and so is constantly pawing at my food.  But I discovered that with some thoughtful ordering, and by alternating mommy bites with baby bites, we can have a fine and happy meal all together.

Yesterday, for instance, Willow had a waaaay better lunch than her daddy did.  My friend Mary took us out to Momofuku Noodle Bar (rock on) and Willow had...wait for it...confit of pork belly for lunch.  Well, la di da.

The salt content had me forcing gallons of water on her, but she loved it, and honestly it's hard to get her meat that is mushy enough.  Mary was cracking up--Willow takes a bite, and is immediately "mmm!  mmm!  mmmmm!"-ing for more.  ('Twas also the best meal I've had in ages.  God, I could eat absolutely everything there.)

Just another instance of my child, the developing foodie.  Probably not the best thing to be encouraging, really--imagine a 2-year-old demanding only the best imported goat cheese and dipping her cheerios in fancy olive oil.