Out to Lunch

My sweet little Eric. He is just amazing. So in the moment. Happy or sad, afraid or confident- he's in the moment. There's something to be learned from that.

Tired? Time to nap. Hungry? Time to eat. Tooth coming in? Let me suck on my fingers or some plastic-y thing. No matter what time it is, that's what time it is. Very zen. Hmm, the Tao of Baby.

We went out for a walk today. I had a few things to do in our neighborhood... post office, bagel store, dry cleaners... you get the picture. We stopped at my favorite Chinese restaurant on the spur of the moment for lunch. Very daring, I know. Who knows how a baby is going to act while anywhere- especially at a restaurant. Well, we went in, I sat down with Eric's stroller up against the table, and he was, well, he was....

Perfect.

I, however, was on edge. Wondering what he'd do when he suddenly got bored of Puppy. Wondering when he'd have a meltdown. I couldn't eat fast enough, or so I thought.

I give him so little credit. He was perfect. He played with Puppy (his stuffed toy). He watched the waiters going back and forth and gave big smiles and wiggles when he saw them come near. He kicked at some chiming rattles hanging on his stroller by his feet. He looked around at everything and simply had a great time. He finally did get a little bored, but by then it was more him getting tired... he was due for his nap. Sweet Eric. I was done with lunch. We left. Within a few minutes he was asleep in his stroller.

I got so much joy out of watching him during our little date. It was a short time that I don't want to ever let go of or forget. It was the best lunch I've had in awhile; I can't wait to do it again.

And next time, I won't be so nervous.