Get Out The Baby Book!

Yet another "first" to log in the calender of "Baby's First Year": the first time that Alex was such a pain at a restaurant that Mommy left wishing she'd just cooked at home...

We went to El Mercado, a favorite Mexican restaurant on our "tour of Austin eateries we will miss when we move." Alex was on less than stellar behavior. Actually, let me just say he was awful. He has this habit now of yelling. Just yelling. It doesn't always sound like something is wrong or like he needs anything in particular. It really just sounds like he's enjoying listening to the noise he can make. Which is fine, but not in public. We do the check: hungry? No. Dirty diaper? No. Too hot? Cold? Some article of clothing hurting? Need to burp? Etc. It seems that the only comfort for the screaming Alex is for one parent to be up and walking. Well, this sort of kills the enjoyment of a family dinner outing when 2/3 of the family is up, admiring the flourescent beer signs while the remaining 1/3 is munching alone. *sigh* At one point, the waiter came over and asked me, "How's everything over here? Can I get you anything?" I wanted to ask if he could take this baby back to the kitchen and bring us a quieter one.

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To make up for complaining about my usually sweet and wonderful baby, a cute picture from earlier today:


I propped Alex up for picture time. Unfortunately, he is all smiles until I try to take pictures of him. I guess the camera isn't as good at coaxing a grin out of him as the faces of his Mommy and Daddy. These days, the right look can send him into a little giggle fit, and he's starting to respond to tickling, too. He gets a startled look on his face and then starts to laugh, as if he's not sure what's happening, what that feeling is, but man, is it funny!