Out and About for Food and Drinks

On Friday I had my first beer in 14 months.

I'm not and never was a heavy drinker. Even in my roaring (?) 20s, it was a crazy night if I had more than two pints. But I have to admit that beer Friday night tasted good.

It was a reunion of sorts with several of my former coworkers, at a bar near my old office. Making my work commute was strange, but it was even stranger to again be in a bar and able to order whatever I wanted.

Paul stayed home with Edith, something he's always willing to do. What made the outing possible without a headache, however, is that Edith is now often sleeping through the night. That means she needs only a 3- or 4- ounce bottle before going to sleep, and I'm home for the next feeding (in this case, 6 a.m. Saturday morning). My late night followed by my early wake-up call meant a late morning nap. A small price to pay.

(A side note for those who are wondering: It's perfectly fine to have a drink or two while breastfeeding. Even our pediatrician said so! Women seem to follow one of several "rules," such as waiting an hour or two per drink after the last feed to feed again. Many say that if you're fine to drive, you're fine to feed.)

The beautiful spring weather that night literally put a spring into my step. And even better, the thermometer stayed in the high 60s all weekend. Paul, Edith and I took a long walk around the neighborhood Saturday afternoon and went into Manhattan on Sunday.

During that Manhattan trip, I also marked another milestone: Eating in a restaurant with Edith in my lap. I know that doesn't sound very exciting, but if you only knew the number of restaurants that now opens up to us!

The story is this: We normally go only to restaurants that can fit a stroller at the table. But Paul and I both felt like conveyor-belt sushi, which meant a trip to East Japanese. The restaurant layout doesn't allow for strollers next to the booths or bar-type stools, or at least not easily. So Edith spent the meal on my lap, and I spent the meal keeping her fingers out of my soy sauce!

But surprisingly, sushi was a great choice since it's a meal you eat one-handed -- much easier than say, a hamburger. With one hand around Edith and one hand on my chopsticks, we had a perfectly wonderful meal.