Babies Who Brunch

Now that I finally, finally, finished Matilda's birth story (thousands and thousands of words and really, I cut out a lot - you're welcome!), let's move on from all the transcendent, emotional hoopla and talk about what we have really been doing since her birth.

Brunch.

Matilda went to a restaurant for the first time when she was 14 days old. She had already been to the pediatrician several times, the hospital for a few blood draws (she was a bundle of jaundiced joy), Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, the airport to pick up my parents, a Super Bowl party at Jessica and Jakob's...actually, looking back on it I can't believe it took us two weeks to park her carseat on an upside down high chair and re-enter the delicious world of bottomless cups of coffee (yes, I switch to decaf...eventually), crispy hash browns, and sweet stacks of pancakes.



We love brunch. And we're picky about it. So yes, that sure is a Tre Kronor menu in her carseat for those of you who are also discriminating about brunch. That was the first restaurant we ever went to when we moved to Chicago and we have spent more time downing coffee and sharing cinnamon rolls in that little yellow room than we have in any other place in the city. So when my parents were here visiting Matilda, we decided Tre Kronor had to be the first restaurant we ever brought her.



This was her second trip, at seven and a half weeks old. In the meantime, she had been to m.henry, Southport Grocery, and Wildberry. Since then she's been to Wishbone. And if I'm going to get serious about the restaurants she's been in, not just for brunch, Matilda has slept happily at Orange Garden, Prasino, Chilis, Garcias and I'm sure others that I can't even remember. Oh yes, her one and only meltdown was during a dinner at Andies. I hope that doesn't mean she won't like Lebanese food, because I was sort of planning on pushing hummus as a nutritious snack.



She was drowsy and sweet when we brought her here to Matilda, which has a nice website and a great menu and so was a little bit of a surprise when we walked in to realize it's basically a bar. With good food, but still. We took our baby to a bar. Luckily my parents were with us so it didn't look quite as Teen Mom as it could have.

We absolutely love exploring Chicago's restaurants - it's what we do instead of going to a movie or a show. While I hope little Miss Matilda will grow up to appreciate living in a city of boundless dining options (and will not be a picky eater!), we are definitely trying to take advantage of her sleepy babyhood to enjoy going out to eat with our friends. The toddler years will probably find us at home a lot more, wiping yogurt and veggies off our own floors instead of those that are open to the public. But for now it's a lovely little luxury for me and Joshua to wake up late on a Saturday after a crazy week of baby-wrangling and extra long work hours, and decide poached eggs sound delicious. And I have no idea how to recreate that at home. It's also nice for me to get out of the house and see my friends during the week. I may need to pick up overtime when I go back to work to support our now-more-passionate-than-ever brunch habit, but we all must make sacrifices. In the meantime, Matilda sleeps like a dream in her carseat, wakes up wide-eyed and happy to find new things to look at, and has no problem eating her own meals on the road under a nursing cover. As an aside, those things are supposed to make nursing in public more discreet, but I think it's funny how many older people have come right up to me to tell me how smart they think I am for using one. I am scared to think how many bare breasts hanging over toast you would have to see before crossing a restaurant to basically thank someone for keeping her chest to herself.

So we love our brunches and breakfasts and coffee dates with our little urban baby. And every time I see a kid in a high chair (right side up!) grabbing eggs off his parents' plates at Tre Kronor, I am so excited for Matilda. I can't wait for her to realize how fun and delicious her little life is going to be, whether we are out or at home.

In the meantime, we have big plans this week for brunch at Bongo Room. Bring on the overtime!