Eating Out

Since it was holiday season when Audra was first born, we went out to eat a lot. She usually slept well through the meal and it was easy. We drug her to numerous places those first few months and never had any issues.

A friends birthday lunch when she was almost 3 months old. 

Then we got busy and didn't have much time or energy to go out to eat.

The next time I found myself going out to eat I realized that she hadn't been to a restaurant in 2 months. In that time she had learned to sit unassisted and knew what food was. We had also ditched her carrier car seat, so she had to use the high chair.

First time in a high chair - Freebirds.

Luckily, her first time out was a stress free experience in which she ate pieces of chicken and tomato from my burrito and was in a good mood. She proceeded to sit well and take in her surroundings at the next few places we went. Then she decided that if we were eating, she better be eating as well. She wanted to touch and get into everything on the table. 

Stealing rice off my plate - Abuelos

I always pack things to keep her content, but they only momentarily do the trick. She will play with a toy for about 20 seconds before wanting the water glass from the table. She will happily eat her snack puffs I bring along, but still wants a hundred bites of our food. She is quick, too. Leave something within her reach (which is farther than you would think) and she has it in her mouth. Drink menu: check. Fork: check. Food: check.

Chuy's for another friends birthday.

We had to keep giving her water from a straw to keep her content.

We did lunch today with some friends and they sat us at the high bar table. They had high chairs, but she would have been at our knees, so we made our own high chair seat with our high chair cover. $7 well spent at that point.

She was content long enough that both Chi and I could finish our meals.

Hopefully, she continues to do well enough that we can have relatively stress free dining experiences with her in tow. She is starting to lose her patience these days, so we will see how that goes.