Rookie Mistakes

Parenting...there certainly is a learning curve for new parents and I was made very aware of this Friday night!

We went out to dinner with my parents and this is the third time we've been out to eat with Lucy. All the times before when we've gone out she has done really well. She's just slept in her car seat and not made a peep. Friday night was a little different, though.

I fed her before we left home and she was awake on the way to the restaurant. When we got there, she slowly started to fall asleep. We were about 3/4 of the way through dinner and all of a sudden she just started crying. Not just a nice, little cry, but one of her waling cries. We were at Zio's, which is a pretty loud place, so it wasn't very noticeable to everyone around us. Thank God. :)

 I immediately got her out of the car seat and tried to calm her down. This didn't work, so I thought maybe she's wet. I got the diaper changer and diaper from the diaper bag and headed to the bathroom.

Now I was a bit nervous about this because I haven't had to change her diaper in public yet, so this was a new experience for me! I went into the bathroom and looked around for the diaper changer station but couldn't find it. I stood there for a few seconds trying to figure out what to do. I looked at the floor but thought no, I can't put her on the floor (even though I have a changer thing to lay her on) in a public bathroom! So I headed back to the table to get the keys from Ross - I was just going to change her in the car.

When I got back to the table I told them my problem and my Mom said perhaps there's a changing station in the handicapped bathroom. I took the keys and went back to the bathroom and she was right. There was a changer in the handicapped bathroom, but I couldn't get it to work right. By that I mean that the table I was to put Lucy on would not fold down level. I don't know if I didn't try hard enough or if it was broken, but I just didn't want to mess with it, especially while holding a screaming baby. So I headed out to the car.

I got out there and set up my changer thing in the backseat and got her changed...all while she was crying. After her diaper was changed she still did not calm down. The only thing I could think of was that she was hungry, so I fed her. In the backseat of Ross' car. Without my "hooter hider" that was in the diaper bag. I simply just tried to be as discreet as possible and hoped that the people in the car next to me did not leave while I was in the backseat.

I learned a few big lessons that night:

• Always take the diaper bag to change her, or take everything out of it that I might need, even if I think it won't be needed. 
• Always bring a bottle in the diaper bag, even if I think I won't need it. 

I guess some things are just learned through experience!