And I just realised I didn't ever blog about it!
this set of pics at this wall was D's idea
My kids see a paediatric nutritionist and she's been tracking their progress every 3 months.
We had an appointment on the first Wed in August, which was the 3rd.
Around that time, in fact I think it was a day or two earlier, Lynette wrote on her blog about taking her grandkids to the Spur for a kids eat free special.
We both take time off for these doctors' appointments (D is very involved and wants to hear everything first hand) so I thought that it was the ideal time to try to go out for a very early supper.
Remember my kids go to bed at 6:30 so this is me letting go...
Well, we fed them supper, bathed and put them in their babygrows and then put tracksuits over the babygrows. It was the heart of winter so perfectly acceptable attire :)
We'd just got them bundled and strapped into their car seats and D started reversing the car out the driveway.
I turned around in my seat because I'm a control freak and pretend I'm also driving and happened to catch sight of Connor.
He was yawning away... not a good sign.
I looked at Kendra and her eyes were glazing over from tiredness too.
This was at 6:10.
I said to D (with quite a bit of panic - you'd panic too if you've ever been with my overtired kids), "I don't think this is a good idea".
He was all, "oh it will be fine".
Well, we RACED to the Spur and had all decided what we were going to eat only to find that the Spur had closed down.
The next nearest place with fast service (!) was Ocean Basket so off we drove.
I grabbed a child, quickly went in and ordered two portions of fish, one with rice and one with chips.
The place was actually about 3/4 full (probably because it was winter and everyone wanted to get home to their lovely warm beds) but the service is always fast.
The bread basket arrived (I love the fact that they still do a bread basket) and the kids tucked in. They'd had supper so weren't hungry.
D and I ate quickly, I got half of mine to take home, and we got them home.
We drove back into our driveway at 7.05.
55 minutes from start to finish.
Amazing.
Our first time out to supper WITH the kids. At 2 years 1 month.
And it was a success.
They were well behaved and sat in the normal chairs eating bread and playing with whatever they could find on the tables.
We haven't repeated it yet but I'm thinking of trying it tonight as my friend date with Hayley has been postponed and we have another appointment with the nutritionist this afternoon.
Are you impressed?
When did your babies first go out to eat with you at night?
(I know some of you will say 2 weeks and such - that's fine :))
PS oh, last time she was 100% happy with K's progress but about 90% happy with C. The action arising (oh gosh, I hate when I talk corporate) was to keep the babies on Nutren Jr for another 3 months. I've cheated and only kept them on for 2 months. I just got tired of all those darn cans cluttering up my kitchen. Hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the bum.
LOL Jack was around 2 weeks when he went out for the first time :)
ReplyDeleteIn fact I took all 3 of them out pretty early.
I did always try make it earlier rather than later though but I find the play areas/excitement tend to distract them.
I think maybe you underestimate your kids sometimes :)
I really can not remember when - we do early nights like this often. What we have only started doing this year is later stuff - to be at friends at say 7 and come home at 10/11.
ReplyDeleteLOL Laura, I think you're right. But I'm just soooo scared of them losing it - it is NOT pretty!
ReplyDeleteI hear you and it is for this exact reason I stopped taking Kiara to the shops until about 2 years ago.
ReplyDeleteBUT we have to at some point trust them and do things we want to do - its how they learn to deal with being in situations like that.
Claire went out for a bite the day she was released from NICU at 8 days! But only because I had to go right back and see Emma. Then a few more times through the week till Emma was released because we had -NO FOOD- at our house. They have actually eaten out with us regular since they were 6 months.
ReplyDeleteUntil recently we've avoided places with play areas so we could all eat without the distraction.
I hate to say it, but we go out almost weekly. There was a phase when R didn't like being in a highchair (or eating, but that's another story) and so we slowed it down for a couple months, but our first family date was probably around a week old. Like everything, it gets easier the more you do it. And I also find you have to find the right restaurant to go to... louder and busier is usually better for us.
ReplyDeleteI too can't remember when we took our kids out for the first time but 55 minutes sure is a record. I have never done it in such a time :)
ReplyDeleteGo ahead. Try it again tonight.
I'm afraid we also go out a lot, Ava started going in her snug and safe. They just love it, their favourite is Primi Piatti because they get to make their own pizzas and they have excellent staff so we literally don't see the kids the entire time. Our closest Spur doesn't have the greatest play area so we don't often go there and maybe I'm too much of a snob but I really don't like their food. We took them to the most adorable place on Saturday morning for tea - they each got their own little tray with their own teapot, sugar bowl, milk jug and tiny cup and saucer. The shop is called Teddy Heaven and it is jam-packed full of room after room of stuffed animals (it's a house) and Christmas decorations this time of the year. I love going out for breakfast so we do that quite often as well. Thankfully they have always behaved themselves but I think it helps that we always eat together at the table for all our meals so it's not really anything different going out to eat.
ReplyDeleteI look my kids out when they were quite young, and I was lucky that I have social kids. They loved being around people. When I see misbehaving children when we eat out, I feel sorry for the parents, it must make them nervous.
ReplyDeleteWe are in the early group as well. We took the girls to lunch at about two weeks old, then we didn't go out much for the next few weeks. By 6 or 8 weeks, it was a regular occurrence....though we now eat dinner out around 6:00 if we are going to, rather than the 7:00 or later it was pre-kids.
ReplyDeleteLike Cat said, the recent development for us is accepting plans that involve us being out of the house after the normal bedtime/settling down time. It's been pretty successful, and I try to only have late nights when we don't have anywhere to be the next morning!
I'm all for early. The earlier the better, so you can see if they are ready for it and also see how you can improve the experience next time. Having said that, it does depend on the child as well. I rarely take Joel to shops unless it's early morning and there are no crowds and I've only just recently taken him to the movies - purely based on who he is. BUT. I will use our experience to decide what sort of experience we will have next time.
ReplyDeleteWell done to them AND you but Laura is right. You do underestimate them. A lot! They are clever and well-mannered and well-spoken and you don't embarrass easily so just go with the flow already!
I'm with you--rarely for dinner with the twins! But it's also because they go to bed so early. I think if I had those 8-9pm kids and maybe only one...sure, why not? But with two and knowing that it's just going to be something super fast? and very early? I'd rather order in and enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteWe DO try to go to breakfast on the weekends and this has been more and more successful in the past 9 months.
When they were infants we did go to dinner a quite a few times and they either slept in the stroller or in the carriers. Good time long gone!
Love the photos!
Impressed? Yes. But then again I am always impressed with you!
ReplyDeleteMo
Good for you, Marcia and D!!! We started taking the girls out to dinner as soon as we had the all-clear from the pediatrician, at about 3 months. Until about 5 months they would just sleep (if we timed it correctly). We had to get crafty between then and 10 months or so, when they could have a little "snack" (like Cheerios). I don't think we went out much then.
ReplyDeleteThe first time we fed them a meal in a restaurant was at 15 months, and that was with me taking some extras in case they didn't like the food there (I remember I had an avocado in my purse...HA!)
The first time they ate a full meal in a restaurant was 17 months.
And now we go out about once a week. Just within the last three months or so has it truly gotten easier...they eat such a variety of food, it's easy to find something on a menu...they sit in regular chairs and drink from regular cups (with straws). It "clicked" for me when I realized we could have an impromptu meal out without me preparing for an hour ahead of time! ;)
If it's something you want to be a part of your lifestyle, I'd say practice it. Figure out what is the best time of the day (for us these days it's lunch)...figure out what the best restaurants are in terms of food / atmosphere / service.
It's an awesome treat for me not to prepare a meal from time to time, and I hope we're teaching our girls how to behave in a different public forum.
Congrats, Mama! :) :)
Two days or so after they were released from the NICU, we loaded them up with their apnea/brady monitors and all and went out for Mexican LOL
ReplyDeleteGood for you! We had our first eat out when the girls were 6 weeks old. They found the first 15 minutes fascinating then they slept through the rest
ReplyDeleteWe've been taking them out forever...they were good at first and then they got bad and now they're good again. It's a HUGE milestone though...HUGE!
ReplyDeleteI am actually starting to like the idea of Spur on Wednesdays and the little ones have a ball, face painted etc. We get time to catch up and chat with our children while their children is playing.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the first time I took Nicola out at night, I think it might have been round about 3 months and she slept through most of it.
ReplyDeleteOccasionally we do go to an evening event (usually family weddings) and she actually does better at those than the day time ones. In the evening she usually wants to sit on either my or my mom's lap and have her milk and fall asleep. In the daytime she wants to run around like a loon!
I don't consider taking her to a restaurant a fun experience at this point. I actually can't do it alone because I end up wolfing my food down in 3 minutes so I can run after her and make sure she doesn't macguyver off some crazy object she wasn't meant to climb onto to begin with and someone has to stay with the bag and the table.
We'll get there eventually.
What I would like to try next is a movie at the cinema with her. It's going to be either great or terrible...maybe I'll wait till she's about 3 (most of the people I asked said that's about the right age for that).