Night out with Max...

Tonight, Brent went with friends to the hockey game. Max and I were going to have some time together, alone. Brent takes Max out on adventures on his own all the time and I feel that Max really prefers Dad over Mom lately. Instead of hanging out at home, I decided to take Max to Santana Row to take care of some errands and go out for dinner. Leaving the house was a challenge in its own. We could not find the "right" beanie and Max was devastated. However, Spider Man socks (yes, we have a pair..) made up for him having to choose a different hat. Getting into the car was also difficult. Max likes to get into to his car seat by himself, without help. At times (more like usually) he plays around and takes his sweet time to get into the chair. When I finally got him into the seat I noticed that he had unlocked the seat belt that connects and supports the car seat! I'm glad I noticed it and snapped it back in. We finally got going, arrived at Santana Row and found a parking spot just outside Pizza Antica - perfect! Well, almost. It was 1-hour parking, possibly the reason it was open on an evening such as this when Santana Row was filled with people trying to catch up on their holiday shopping. Oh well, I decided not to care, parked the car, unloaded the stroller and Max who thankfully agreed to ride in the stroller. I tried to stop in at H&M but Max protested and asked to see the Christmas tree. We proceeded to the lawn area outside Starbucks where the large tree stands, all decorated and full of lights. Max wanted to get out of the stroller and touch the ornaments. I let him. Then he ran over to the fenced in play area. We hung out there for a while. Then he took off running across the lawn and did no longer want to ride in the stroller. I forced him into it since there is quite a bit of traffic nearby. Max wails. He calms down after a while, I stop in at Anthropology to make a return. Max is calm. We proceed to Pizza Antica. I ignore the fact that I am parked in a 1-hour parking space. We have to wait for a table for 15-20 minutes. I order milk for Max in the bar. Max sits on one of the bar stools, flips through a magazine, drinking his milk. We look at the lamps, the flowers, the lemons in a large bowl. Then, Max becomes impatient. I hold him in my lap and shortly thereafter we are shown to our table. Max is seated on the bench seat with me across from him at a small table. When the waiter arrives, I order everything at once; more milk, a glass of wine, the gnocchi (to share) and a salad. Max opens his crayons and starts to color. Almost immediately he drops one or two crayons, wants to crawl around on the floor to find them without me helping him. We are so close to the next table. I don't want to bother the people next to us. I get Max up from the floor, tell him that unless he sits down in his seat, he will not be watching any Mickey Mouse tonight. He sits down and behaves for a while. The food arrives and Max does not want to try his food. I bribe him into trying the gnocchi, using the Mickey Mouse thing again. As soon as he tries the food, he of course likes it and eats more. I get through my gnocchi some of my wine but very little of the salad. I have to move over to the bench seat next to Max on numerous occasions in order to get him to sit down, sit still, not touching the people next to him, not spill his milk. What was happening? Max never acted this way when out to dinner with both Brent and me. I got out my credit card, asked for the check and for a to-go box for my salad. We got out of there, I let Max run down the side walk for a while and then we went through yet another battle of him not wanting to get into the car seat. I bet he does not pull this type of stuff with Brent. No way. Max was upset with me all the way home. When I pulled into our street and Max saw the Christmas lights outside the Sanders' and the Manriquez's homes, he lit up. We got inside, skipped the bath, got Max into pj's, teeth brushed and then he was allowed to (of course) watch an episode of Mickey Mouse. Although our night out together may not have been exactly as I pictured, his hugs and kisses before going to bed made me feel loved, yet again. Being a Mom is the most difficult job of all. I realize that I may need to spend some more one-on-one time with Max, away from home, without the support from Brent. We will see when I decide to venture out again... Oh, and thankfully I did not get a ticket parking in the 1-hour parking for 2 hours. Whew!