Taking your 8 month old BABY out for a $100 dinner...

Image by NguyenDai via Flickr

New baby? quiet dinner out? the two usually mix like oil and water unless there is something involved called a babysitter. Of course I know this, I just as recently as 1 year ago, would feel nothing but annoyance and contempt for anyone who would dare bring their squirming mini human into any eating establishment that wasn't decorated in garish colors and scary clowns aka most fast food joints. and god forbid the small mini human (aka baby) started to make noise, even when I was pregnant I assured myself and everyone else that "I" wouldn't be one of "those" parents, well now that I am actually 'with' child i realize that I still get hungry, yes even when I'm not at home, and the question always pops into my head, "do I dare go into that restaurant, do i dare step up to the hostess and say "table for 2" as if I didn't have my mini noise maker attached to my chest (who at this particular time is as quiet as a bee and oh so cute!) and let me remind you I live downtown, where there are no family friendly restaurants like Chili's or TGIF's on every corner.

So needless to say i relegate myself to eating Cliff bars, Luna bars, and stale trail mix previously stored in the baby bag just for such occasions, yesterday was a little different though, first of all I had, had some extra sleep gifted to me (Dad took Muffin for a walk) I had a friend over and Muffin was a perfect angel, we took a walk, went to the park, and even stopped at the market and Muffin was still being a quiet, playful, super smiley, angel, we came home, had some lunch, she took her scheduled nap - no problems - this is where the story takes a turn. Muffin wakes up, Dad suggest that we go for an early evening walk with him, I'm thinking it's been a perfect day so far, why not? so that's what we do, this is when it happens, we saunter over to our neighborhood park, which happens to be the home of one of Seattle's biggest tourist attractions, the Space Needle, not having ever been up in the Needle, Glenn suggested that we go up and have dinner in the revolving restaurant at the top. Dinner with Muffin? oh well it should be fine, she's been a total angel all day...

So after securing a reservation for two and a highchair at 7:00pm (make note her sleepy time is 7:30pm) we ride the elevator to the top, ooh and aah at the gorgeous panoramic views and then take our place at our table when called, we ordered beers, me an organic pale ale, and a creamy oatmeal stout for Glenn, feeling very cocky because we have the worlds most well behaved child, I casually order an appetizer, and tell the server I need a bit more time to look over the menu (mind you I usually shovel my food down my throat in 5 minutes flat, you never know when all hell is going to break loose) Muffin is quietly entertaining herself with one of her toys.

We sip our beers, chat, enjoy the 360 degree view of the rotating restaurant, and smile as people compliment our beautiful, well behaved little Muffin. I was starting to ask myself why had I been so reluctant to eat out with my Muffin, look at her she's perfect......

Well as you can probably guess, this is where the fantasy blimp comes crashing down, as if an alarm went off in her head, one that said "pssst, it's way past your bedtime, and your Mommy's going to try and eat a real meal, with a fork and knife and everything...." so right then and there I was delivered the 1st loud warning shriek, (they usually come in sets of three) you know the kind, the kind that says if you don't get me out of here in 5 minutes flat, I will cause a scene that you won't soon forget! Even with that one scream I could feel the asses of all the neighboring diners clinch up tightly, a few cast me the look of "get that kid out of here" I know that look well remember I used to be one of those people. I looked at Glenn, and of course here comes our entrees, they look delicious, I'm suddenly ravenous, oh well, I scoop up one screaming Muffin, tell Glenn that I'll walk with her for a bit and she'll fall asleep and we'll continue our lovely evening out. 45 minutes later I'm back, she's still awake, he's finished eating, and my food is cold. The nice server returns and ask if I need anything, I pass off the Muffin to Dad, ask for a box, and the check (so much for dessert) while Glenn stands rocking the Princess, I take the last few moments to at least finish my beer and soak up a little more view while asking myself what was I thinking agreeing to eat out, and so so close to Muffin's bedtime. Oh well the time we had in quiet was pretty awesome, and of course we will try it again sometime, but maybe we will secure a babysitter next time, or not, at the very least try it somewhere our bill isn't $130.....

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