Turning a long awaited corner

When Simon was a tiny little peanut baby we took him out to dinner all the time. He'd stay in his car seat the entire time and request a bottle or a jiggle every now and again, but for the most part we could still have an uninterrupted, pleasant meal. Soon the very idea of dining out would fill me with a sense of dread. Actually doing it, however, really wasn't so bad. I kid. It was really that bad.

I can't easily cite specific examples of Simon's restaurant behavior because like any traumatic experience, you naturally block out the details. I can vaguely remember the essence of those dinners, though.

Simon was grabby.
Anything he could get his grubby little paws on he wanted. Sometimes he would literally appear frantic when trying to grab things before we could move them out of reach (he particularly liked salt because so much comes out so fast when you tip the shaker upside down).

Simon was loud.
He has yet to master the concept of "inside voices" no matter where we are. At a friend's with a sleeping baby? WHO CARES. At the library? WHISPERING IS FOR SUCKERS. At a restaurant? GOOD LUCK.

Simon was squirmy.
The chair was never a place he wanted to be. It was always better to be (attempting) to stand on the chair, crawl under the table, examine other restaurant patrons nearby up close and personal or simply try to run away.

Simon was "reasoned" with.
"If you throw one more breadstick, you're not getting any more food" ... "You have until the count of three to sit down or we're buckling you into that high chair" ... "You have to let Mommy hold the overfilled, lidless cup of milk the thoughtful waitress brought or you won't get any at all."

Luckily, we really are turning a corner. He's not so grabby, loud or squirmy and we don't have to try to reason with him over something every 8 seconds...he's just been GOOD all on his own. In fact, the last several times we've gone out he's been an angel and it's been wonderful. I know we'll have our bad days still, but it's great to know that they are going to be fewer and farther between from here on out (I'd go into the details about lunch at McDonald's with his 3 cousins today, but in the spirit of optimism I'm choosing to block it out instead...I don't want to remember him throwing a bag of apples at his baby cousin's face).

(These pics have nothing to do with anything...they are just because.)