ladies who lunch

yesterday was rather exciting.
harper and i became ladies who lunch.

i decided recently that lunchtime would be intentional harper and mommy time. time for us to chat about the day and our lunch, have a meal together, just the two of us. 
so thursday was harper’s first “big girl lunch”. i started with some baby food as usual, then we moved on to the grown-up stuff.

i put finger-friendly noms on her high chair tray and let her at it. (we’ve also been working on her using the spoon to feed herself.)
first on the menu was:

corn, yummmm… sweet girl did a good job, but they’re slippery little suckers.
so many a time it was into the hand, fall out of the hand, didn’t notice, still put hand full-on into mouth, nothing goes into mouth… where’d it go????

then we added some pasta…

a little earlier i cooked some kids pasta and then mixed it with a little pesto. (seriously, people i am NOT ready for the MESSY that is tomato sauce. i can’t even handle thinking about it right now. maybe one day i will, but for now, i choose to live as if there is no such thing.)
next up: cheese…

i put some on the tray then turned to get my camera (yeah, ok i am a dork and document WAY too much… but that’s why you read my blog right?!?) and she had already eaten the 4 pieces i started her with. so i gave her a few more and before she could inhale them, i got a quick shot.
and for the meal’s piece de resistance: mandarin oranges

the lady loved them. she couldn’t get them into her mouth fast enough. it was adorable. there was juice flowing down her chin and all over her little hands.

she was a mess by the end…
food everywhere, bib covered, including her pants.
why her pants, you may ask?
WELL it seems as if a tacky, potbellied old man snuck in and taught her how to wipe her hands on her pants in between bites. 
every other bite or so, harper would put her hand under the tray and onto her pants! i must admit i was horrified. CHILD. seriously? where did you learn this?
i’m shipping her off to emily post, first thing monday morning.