Pancakes!!

Last night I gained an appreciation for Carl...and he wasn't even around! Yesterday was IHOP's National Pancake Day, with proceeds going to the Children's Miracle Network. It also happened to be one of the rare nights Carl had to attend a business dinner. I love pancakes, and I know Savannah loves everything, so I decided that Savannah and I would have a mother-daughter dinner date.

We stopped at Michael's first...I seriously have a scrapbooking addiction, but that's a whole different post...and she loved holding all the stickers I found on clearance. I am definitely going to try to incorporate my love for crafts into her life as she grows up. Then we went on to IHOP. It was only 4:45 when we arrived, but I had to drive around the parking lot twice to find a parking spot. I was surprised that Savannah was patient as we toured the parking lot. Once I finally got a spot (near the front door - thank goodness!) I started gathering everything to carry in with me. I had a diaper bag (into which I put my wallet so I wouldn't have to carry my purse too), a highchair cover, and Savannah. Once inside we were given a table quickly...again this made life so much easier! Then I had to cover the highchair - not an easy task with a 20 pound baby on your hip!

Dinner went by quickly and with all the people in the restaurant to watch, Savannah was thoroughly entertained. It almost was kind of a bummer...she wanted to look at everyone else instead of play with me while we waited for our food! I ended up getting the free pancakes for Savannah. She loves them!

It's adorable how she tells us she likes a new food...all stemming to her Lovey. As I was starting to teach her to hug her Lovey I'd tell her "Love Lovey" and then show her how to hold it up under her chin and lean her head to the side. Now when she "loves" a food she tilts her head to the side and smiles. She doesn't do it with all foods, just the ones she can't seem to get enough of. It's just a cute little quirk of hers!

She ended up eating almost an entire pancake, and had some of my hash browns. I was surprised she ate that much with all of her "people-watching". After I'd gotten the check (and a balloon had been delivered to Savannah - much to her delight), I started the process of gathering things. I tried my best to clean up the food that Savannah had dropped on the floor (mostly just from missing her mouth, I really try to keep her from purposely putting it there), and then I picked her up. Now I had to do all the previous work, only in reverse. I had to roll up the highchair cover, and once I did that it (of course) had some dropped food in it and that ended up on the floor. Now my hands were full and I couldn't pick that food up. (I did leave a really great tip for the waitress...I hated to make her busy day even worse!) Then I had to get the diaper bag (with balloon attached), make sure the credit card was easily accessed, and also take the take-out box (Savannah still had 2 pancakes), plus carry Savannah (it will be much easier when she can walk!).

Once to the front of the restaurant, much to my dismay, the line to pay was longer than the line to get a table! So there I stood, in a very crowded waiting area, holding Savannah, a diaper bag with a balloon tied to it, a highchair cover, and the take-out box! I'm sure I looked to be quite the distressed mommy! The wait was around 5-10 minutes, and once again Savannah was patient. She smiled at people as they would talk to her and she didn't wiggle too much. After I was finally able to pay I had to navigate the sea of IHOP patrons to get out the door...which is much more difficult than it sounds! I had all of that gear attached to me, with Savannah on my hip, and the balloon trailing behind us...what a sight! Once to the car (again SO thankful it was near the door!) I got everything in and buckled Savannah in. It took a while to navigate the parking lot, as people waiting for spots were blocking all kinds of pathways out...but we made it out. Savannah jabbered in the back as I drove home...she has taken to high-pitch jabbering recently...I think she's discovered she can do that.

Once home, I put Savannah in her highchair and gave her some more pancake...I knew she must be hungry since she didn't truly eat. She quickly began eating and was happy to be in her home. I used that time (since she was contained) to bring things in from the car and to put things away. (Please note: I can see the highchair from the kitchen...it's about 5 feet away, and the garage opens into the kitchen, and I wasn't in the garage for more than 30 seconds.) I even spent a little time to eat a pancake with her...since while we'd been at IHOP I had spent most of my time making sure she was taken care of. Once she was done we played for the rest of the evening, and then she easily went to bed.

So after this crazy IHOP evening, why is it I have more appreciation for Carl when he wasn't even present? It is precisely that reason that I appreciate him. While I knew going to a restaurant with Savannah alone would be difficult, I had underestimated just what all was entailed. Carl is usually the one to deal with the highchair cover, picking up dropped food, and paying the bill, while I do everything that Savannah needs. I had to do all of that at the same time! It opened my eyes to the plight of a single mom. A trip to eat dinner isn't as easy - or as hunger satisfying - when you have to watch over a small child by yourself.

I survived; we both did, even if we did end up finishing our dinner at home. I appreciate having Carl's help more than I did before, and hopefully he'll appreciate my willingness to do things with Savannah, even when it is more difficult for me than staying home.