| When I brought Rebekah home and was getting used to having her around, I really
couldn't imagine even taking her out of the house, much less out to a restaurant!
But we've had her out with us for lunch or dinner several times. The first
was a few weeks ago when we went to the local pizza place at lunch time. Since then
we've had her out to the Black-eyed Pea (which has special holders for Rebekah's carseat),
IHOP, and the Spaghetti Warehouse. We've also taken her with us on several picnics.
It's really been an adventure. Rebekah is really good during our lunchtime outings. She's still fresh enough at that time of day that she does not usually fuss. In fact, she tends to sleep through most of these outings and rarely is interested in eating at least until we're done with our food! Dinnertime outings are a different story. Rebekah tends to be fussier as the day wears on. This week's trip to the Spaghetti Warehouse was a typical dinner outing. We made sure we had recently fed Rebekah and then headed out. There was no wait in the restaurant since it was a Thursday night, and Rebekah certainly got a lot of attention as the waiter led us to our table. While we were looking at the menu, Rebekah was looking all around - at the lights, the train car in the room we were in, and who knows what else. Through our soup and salad course, she was still fine. But just as we were finishing up with that, she started demanding our attention. So Joe picked her up and held her for the remainder of dinner. We noticed a foreign couple nearby who was observing Joe holding Rebekah, bouncing her, patting her back, and everything else we've learned to do to keep her happy or calm her down. When I had finished stuffing myself, I held Rebekah. Really, I know many parents have far worse times than this. Rebekah's a good girl. As long as we hold her, she tends to calm down. Other babies may not be as calm under these circumstances. We're really thankful that we have such a peaceful baby. |