Silly Dave and I. We decided to have a family date Friday night and go out to eat at the Olive Garden. We packed Ella into the car after picking her up from Grandmother's house, and away we went. She commenced to screaming and continued all the way to Alabaster. We made the rounds to Olive Garden, O'Charley's, and Longhorn in an attempt to find the shortest wait time, then decided it wasn't worth it. She screamed the whole time. We finally decided to eat at Firehouse Subs because I don't think either of us could face driving back home again just yet with the screaming baby in the backseat. We unloaded her and took her inside where she transformed into Happy Baby. She talked and smiled at everyone in the place, sat in the middle of the table and shook two bags of chips until I'm quite sure they were pulverized to bits, and generally just had a good time. We stayed there way longer than we needed to just to enjoy the peace, knowing that loading her back into the car would trigger another screaming fit. We weren't disappointed. I even rode in the back seat with her on the way home, and she still screamed the entire time. I told Dave that the next time we want to have a family date on a Friday night, one of us is bringing home take out. Do you know how long the drive is from Alabaster when the baby screams the whole way? It feels like an eternity.
Saturday we met Aunt Becca at the Olive Garden (no crying this time), and Ella had a grand time alternating between chewing on a breadstick and rubbing it all over her head and face. (She has a fixation right now with putting things on her head.) When it was time to leave, Aunt Becca picked her up and brushed the garlic crumbs off of her, and it became obvious that they would need to vacuum around our table before seating someone else there. I guess life will be that way for the next several years. We should probably increase our tip amount.
We also shopped for some new toys for Ella, since she has figured out how to work most of her old ones. We went to the consignment shop and spent $50 on what I feel certain would have cost at least $125 if we had bought it all new. She got some cars, pop beads (the giant ones), an alphabet puzzle, a nesting toy, a little truck tool set, a tap-a-tune piano, and a rocking zebra. The zebra might have been a bit of an impulse buy, but it was only $23 and it was so cute. It will be a while before she outgrows it, too. The nesting toy is great for stacking and kicking in the Johnny Jump Up. Her daddy taught her to hold onto the zebra while she rides him, and I taught her how to roll the cars and make car noises and how to use the tools to work on the little truck. Dave commented that I bought a bunch of boy toys for her. I did, I guess, but in my defense, I was looking for things to occupy her hands and there just weren't any girl toys that would. Besides, who really cares if she plays with tools and cars?
Sunday she fell asleep in church with no crying at all. I cannot tell you what a big deal it is for her to be able to fall asleep without crying or nursing. It amazes me that she does, and that I can put her into and out of the carseat without waking her up now. I never thought that would happen. I love it.
No comments:
Post a Comment