Remembering the attention span of a baby is important.

Remembering the attention span of a baby is important.

And even if you do, that doesn't mean everyone else around you will.

And so you'll end up feeding chocolate cheesecake to your 15 month old to appease him.

Today we went out to brunch at some golf/country club in Beaumont.

We went after church, so at least we were dressed okay. But because neither my husband or my Mother-In-Law knew exactly where we were going, we ended up driving around in circles for awhile. My daughter contributed her two cents to the argument my husband and his mother were having up front about where we were going. I was in the very back of the van and my job was to keep my body from falling off the seat everytime my mother-in-law suddenly slammed on the brakes, while correcting my daughter in proper back seat manners. The baby slept peacefully through the whole thing.

I always carry a "bag of stuff" anytime I have my children with me. I don't call it a diaper bag, because diaper bag would indicate some sort of organizational thinking and I ceased that a long time ago, so now I just have this "bag of stuff". It usually does include a diaper and a baggie of wipes. It also includes various food items intended on distracting my children. I also may throw in a toy or two, but I can't testify as to whether the toy is always in good condition or not.

Today's "bag of stuff" contained 1 diaper, 1 baggie of wipes, 1 baggie of crunchy veggie sticks, and one baby yogurt. Oh, and I made my husband go back to the car after we got in the restaurant, for this new strawberry milk thing Gerber has made. It's like a juice box, only it's strawberry milk for toddlers.

My husband going back to the car delayed us some.

My mother-in-law going back to the car delayed us some.

By the time we had sat down to eat, the baby had worked his way through half of his veggie sticks and 5 of the 10 minutes he can tolerate a high chair.

So far my children were the models of good restaurant behavior. If you know the attention span of a baby, you know this won't last long.

The 15 month old sucked down that strawberry milk quicker than I can say, "Slow down, little buddy."

So with a full plate in front of me, I had half a baggie of veggie sticks (3 minutes eating time) and a baby yogurt (2 minutes eating time)to distract the toddler. My daughter started to whine, so we distracted her with bacon and some kind of strawberry tart.

She likes bacon.

I did finish my biscuits (and gravy!) before the squirming in the high chair started.
I was able to finish my little omlette because the two Simon and Garfunkel sound alike guitarists took the stage and held the children's fascination for about 3 extra minutes. Then my husband took the baby out for a walk.

Then I took the baby out for a walk.

Then my husband took the baby out for a walk again.

Then I got a piece of cheesecake. Right when my husband brought the baby back.

How is it children know the sight and smell of chocolate so well? How is it they know they will like it?

This baby, who is only 15 months old and can only say "sock" and "up" and "uh-oh" and "mama", reached as far across the table as he could and grabbed my cheesecake fork with the intention of bringing it to his mouth.

Baby likes chocolate cheesecake.

A lot.