A daddy, a mommy and two preschoolers walk into a restaurant...

Yesterday Emma told her first joke. You want to hear it? Here it is: "What does a pirate say when he has to sneeze? Arrr arrr arr choo!" We all died laughing. I know it is not really the funniest joke ever, but it is an exciting "first" nonetheless. I sort of stopped caring about "firsts" once both of my kids began toddling across the floor on their own, but maybe I need to be keeping better track of these things.

Another "first" for us this weekend was going to a restaurant as a family and actually eating our food. It was amazing. We were seated in the "family" section of the restaurant which meant we were surrounded by strollers, babies snoozing peacefully in their little bucket seats, babies not snoozing so peacefully, and toddlers acting like, well, toddlers in a restaurant. We were all drinking our water, only one of us spilling slightly. Brandon and I were talking about something we saw on Bill Maher the night before (grown up political discussion at a restaurant with the kids? unheard of!) while Emma and Charlie sat perched on booster seats on opposite sides of the table eating chips and drinking their water. Then the waiter brought our food and we all ate! Can you believe it? I can't. The next thing you know I will be going to museums and actually stopping to look at the art or going to the library without chasing a running, screaming little person through the Non-Fiction section. Where have my babies gone? After dinner I couldn't help but feel the same bittersweet combo of feelings I have felt with every other first as a mom: extremely proud of how my kids are growing up but also mournful of the babyness they leave behind every day. I passed a baby snoozing peacefully in a bucket seat on my way to take Emma to the bathroom and thought to myself, now that mom is really lucky.

Arrr, matie....I am never satisfied. The grass is always greener on the other side of Mommytown.