Cuddle time

Today was one of those rare weekend days when neither Dan nor I had to go to work. Beth calls these her "favorite days", since it's so unusual for both of her parents to be home together for an entire day. After Mass, we took the girls out to lunch at a nearby casual restaurant. After the hostess seated us at a booth, the waiter arrived with a big bowl of popcorn.

He looked a bit frazzled. "We're really short-staffed today", he mumbled.

We placed our order, and the kids began munching on popcorn. Erin has never tasted popcorn before, and I was a bit worried about the risk of choking, but she seemed to tolerate it fine. We had to hold her down to keep her from climbing onto the table to grab more fistfuls of the salty stuff. They polished off the bowl within minutes, and then started coloring on the coloring papers that the restaurant provided. Erin quickly grew tired of this, and began to whine. We handed her spoons. She threw them onto the floor. We handed her a sippy cup of milk. She promptly drank it all and then began fussing again.

Finally the waiter came back. "We're really, really short-staffed", he mumbled again. He handed us another giant bowl of popcorn and disappeared.

Ten minutes later, the girls had finished that bowl too, and Erin was nearing her wits end. We managed to grab the waiter and ask for a bowl of peaches to keep her quiet while we continued to wait for the food. The fruit kept her busy for another few minutes, but then she began to screech uncontrollably.

I left the table and began pacing the hallways with her. Our meal took over an hour to arrive at the table, and by then my arms were shaking so much from carrying Erin that I could barely lift my fork. Erin was so stuffed from her appetizers, however, that she refused to eat any of her chicken fingers, and began to wail even louder. I finally resorted to carrying her out to the car while Dan and the girls finished their meals.

We climbed into the front seat, and Erin cuddled up in my lap. She began sucking her fingers, and within minutes fell fast asleep.

I didn't even mind missing out on the meal in the restaurant. Erin is not really a cuddly baby, so it's rare that I get to hold her quietly for long periods of time. I listened to her soft breathing and put my cheek on her soft hair. I watched the noisy crowds rushing by outside, and realized that there was no where else I wanted to be at that moment. The chicken salad could wait. Some things are just too important to miss.