A visit outside our comfort zone

Well, on our trip to New Jersey, we had to (gasp) eat in a public place.  Other than home and a few relative's houses, we haven't really.....gone anywhere.  Wednesday, we found out how difficult going out to eat was.  We were at the airport and our flight was delayed, so we decided to have lunch at TGI Fridays.  It was rather hectic and reminded me of why we just eat at home =).  We contemplated using one of their high chairs, but just couldn't do it.  Brynn wanted nothing to do with her stroller, so she sat on my lap and we started whipping out toys left and right to keep her occupied.  Fact:  toys from home while you are out in a new, public setting are no fun at all.  She grabbed a napkin.  Fine, play with the napkin.  Straight into her mouth of course.  Yank that out, stick her nuk in her mouth to deter her from putting EVERYTHING in there.  Napkin lasted about 30 more seconds.  So, Danny decided to take her on a little walk. While they were walking, our food came. I figured I'd scarf down my meal before they come back so we could switch and he could eat while I occupy B.  Fact: I am not a very talented food-scarfer.  They came back and Danny sat down with Brynn off to one side of his lap so she couldn't reach the food.  Fact:  11 month olds are QUICK.  Her hand grazed the edge of his plate. UGH, this is too nerve-wrecking!  The nuk came out of her mouth so many times during the meal and her tongue would just go crazy as she was checking out the food on our plates.  Poor baby.  I couldn't help but think of how easy it would be and how happy she would be if I could just give her a chunk of my bread, or a french fry...But, those thoughts aside, we survived the meal. 

We decided it wasn't something that we wanted to do again the next dinner, so we ordered in at our hotel.  B had already ate the food that we prepared for her (sweet potatoes) when our food arrived.  Danny and I took turns--one of us ate while the other played with B, then we switched.  It worked.  It'll be awhile before we go out to eat again. 

We are home now and Brynn couldn't be happier.  She can crawl all over the floor, she can sit in her own (clean) high chair by the table with everyone else and eat her sweet potatoes and pears.  Life is good.  =)