Touché

My grandparents were visiting from Florida this weekend and ended up taking the family out for...um, dunch (?) yesterday afternoon. Chris and I don't really go out to eat with Eric very often, because, well, we're not that brave. My parents take Eric out to eat way more often than we do, and they just go on and on about how great he is in restaurants. So, I leave the restaurant-going to them.

Anyway, Eric's behavior yesterday was actually about as good as any toddler can be expected to behave at a restaurant. The first thing he noticed was how great his (cute, but) sinister laugh sounded with the high ceilings of the restaurant. He laughed like that for the first ten minutes or so. I figured, well, he's kind of loud, but I'd rather listen to a loud laughing baby than a loud crying baby. Next, he discovered the crayons. He colored on the provided paper for about 12 seconds. Then he tried to color on his head. Then he ate the crayons. A few minutes after that, I rescued him from his highchair and let him stand on the booth seat and look out the window.

When the food came, he went back into the highchair. One of the first things he did was accidentally knock his cheeseburger off the plate and onto the floor--cheese side down. So sad. I took him out of the chair again and he sat on Chris' lap and ate off of other people's plates. At one point, Chris tried to get him to try a bite of his pickle. Now, Eric isn't exactly Mr. Adventurous when it comes to food, so it didn't really surprise me when he turned up his nose at the pickle. But Chris persisted. "Come on Eric, just try it--you might like it! Do you know who likes pickles? Monkey likes pickles!" (For the record, Monkey also likes taking naps and having his diaper changed and taking medicine, etc.) I chimed in, "Oh, that's right! Monkey looooves pickles! They're his favorite!" Eric looked at Chris, then at me. Then he reached down, picked up Monkey from the bench and smashed the pickle into his face.

We were outwitted. By a less-than-two-year-old. Ouch.