Monday night we went out to dinner at a family restaurant — Claire’s first restaurant. She was happy to be there as long as she was out of her infant carrier/car seat. I’d judiciously given her a late afternoon nap so she could make it to 8:00, which was a little bit of a stretch, but she did. We were in and out in slightly over an hour (an excellent waitress too, who knew how to serve a family with a baby). She sat in Husband’s lap and tried grabbing everything in sight. She happily played with (i.e., chewed on) the spoons and again sampled water from a glass. She also enjoyed being spoon-fed sips of water. We think Claire is definitely ready to try solids! Last night she sat in her high chair while we ate dinner and enjoyed the socializing. I bought her small 7-ounce plastic tumblers, and it seems she prefers to try drinking out of these rather than her sippy cup. It’s really charming to watch her attempts.
Aunt LP’s visit was fun and all too short! We all enjoyed visiting and playing. She came along on several play dates and cooked some grub for us: awesome pasta sauce and The Best Quiche Ever (with bacon!).
We also installed the first of many gates, these on the first level. She’s not crawling yet, but she’s gotten good at rolling around. Thursday she has her 6-month doctor visit. She’s also mostly been sleeping through from a slightly later bedtime (8:00 p.m.) to 5:30-6:00 a.m. (A couple of days she slept until 7 and 8 a.m.!) Yesterday she ate the most she’s ever eaten: 34 ounces. Seems as though every day is another milestone.


Is that what she’s doing with that stick!
Wow, you’ve waited this long to go to a restaurant! Poor you!
Well, we waited to go out with Claire. We’d gone out a few times ourselves prior to this.
Ah, that’s better. I had visions of you being cooped up at home with baby, pining for barbecue.
A friend of ours gave us a really good tip: brewpubs are great places to take kids. We had never put that together, but he was right — certain brewpubs ( the ones with seating for folks under 21 ) are full of families that bring their children.
After we braved Hale’s Ales with August, we decided to go and try Romano’s Macaroni Grill. Also a success. So if you count the IKEA cafeteria, we’ve taken August to three restaurants.
I should add that we have yet to go out to a restaurant without August. I guess we need to work on that next!