More Milestones

This one is a Daddy milestone rather than a Charlie milestone...

Last night, our friends (and neighbors) Jeff and Lori came down to visit while Charlie watched me wash my truck. They brought their 2 month old Andrew, who is nothing but smiles these days. Can you believe he is catching up to Charlie very quickly in weight and height?

They were going to go to the Italian Market for dinner and asked if we wanted to go. When I told them Rebecca wouldn't be home until about 7:30, I then thought, "well, Charlie and I could go on our own."

I know you're thinking, "you do everything with your baby girl, what's the big deal?" But this was the first time ever that I'd considered taking her out to a restaraunt without her Mommy. Talk about being nervous. Fortunately, Mommy has her broken in pretty well already, so I wasn't too worried.

I had to pack some baby food, milk, toys, burp cloth, a spoon, the Bumbo, a bib... you see how hectic this is getting already?

We got there and found that the chairs at the place weren't real safe to sit a Bumbo on, so Lori brought us over a high chair. I was worried about it. Just a wooden chair, not real comfy or even safe looking. So I had to rig it up with some padding. You see, Charlie sits up really well on her own, but she does like to throw herself around a bit.

I had to position the chair perfectly. Not too close to the brick wall. Not facing the door to the outside patio (she gets distracted easily). Not in the sun. Not too close to the table so she could tip my drink or steal the stack of napkins... you get the scene, right?

No sooner had I set all that up to get ready to feed her dinner, when my dinner came to the table. How does Mommy do this? And then I realized...

I was just going to have to eat my dinner cold, after Charlie was fed and content.

She did great. She ate full containers (3 oz.) of sweet potatoes and pears and only made a minimal mess that Daddy easily cleaned up with her bib.

After we cleaned her up, Charlie hung out at the table with us and played with her teething toy while we finished our dinners. Baby Andrew woke up near the end of the meal to join the fun.

Here's what I learned from my first meal out on my own with my baby girl:

1) Don't order much food for yourself
2) Fettucini Alfredo isn't so good luke warm and half coagulated from cold grease
3) Appetizers aren't so appetizing when you have to eat them after the main course
4) We are very lucky to have a girl so easy going and flexible

Thanks to Jeff and Lori who helped me carry in all the "stuff" I thought I'd need, and also played with Charlie while I went to pick up Mommy's carry-out order.

I get so worked up and anxious when I do new things with her. I'm not sure why I always think things will turn out badly when I take her out. You'd think I'd learned after 6 months that Charlie is as patient with her Daddy as her Mom is with him!!

What a lucky guy I am to have two of the best girls around on my side!