Date night

6:45 p.m. Babysitter, my friend Anna, arrives.
6:50 p.m. I put a drowsy-but-awake baby down in her crib, turn out the lights, and close the door.
6:50 p.m. and 3 seconds. I'm free!!!
6:51 p.m. Matt and I try to describe to the babysitter what kind of cries she may hear from the monitor, and what she should do in each case (usually, sit tight). We instruct her to call us if necessary and note that our cell phones are both almost out of battery. Oh well.
6:52 p.m. Out the door and into the car.
6:53 p.m. As we pull out of the driveway, I repeat the sound advice of "Let's try not to talk about the baby." Matt sees this as an opportunity to talk about fishing, and I ban that topic as well, having heard more than enough recently.
6:54 p.m. Silence in our car.
6:55 p.m. Matt notes that we can't not talk about the baby because she's so cute. We discuss how she's about ready to crawl, and how cute she is.
6:57 p.m. With baby talk safely out of our system, we actually branch into other topics.
7:02 p.m. We arrive at the restaurant, an Italian place we've chosen partly because it's close and partly because we can get a nice, sit-down meal that makes us feel like real human beings without breaking the bank.
7:03 p.m. We're seated.
7:04 p.m. Kalina makes a peep back at home. I pull out my cell phone and put it on the table, expecting a phone call. Nothing happens.
7:15 p.m. I begin to--what do you call it? Relax? I find words flowing from my mouth that are neither describing poop color nor singing cheerful songs trying to quell crying. We discuss everything from higher education to kayaking.
7:27 p.m. We happily munch bread, salad and soup without little hands trying to pull them off the table and into our laps.
7:36 p.m. I'm a bit sad that we're not the center of attention due to our darling baby.
7:45 p.m. Kalina makes another peep. I check my cell phone again: nothing.
8:12 p.m. We boisterously laugh at some joke one of us made while the waitress comes with our check. I mentally note that we look like we could be in a commercial for the place.
8:14 p.m. We tip the waitress well because we can't believe this is working out and she seemed like a nice person. We decide it's far too early to call it a night, and head to REI to look around.
8:23 p.m. I ooh and ahh over cute, pricey trekking gear for babies who may or may not be able to walk yet.
8:31 p.m. We wonder how old Kalina will have to be before we'd feel safe taking her out in the canoe, and whether they make full-body life jackets.
8:45 p.m. It's getting late! Better be getting home.
8:50 p.m. We walk in the door and I fire questions at the babysitter. Essentially, how much did the baby scream? Did Matt make her agree not to tell me if the baby screamed? She assured me the baby had only made two peeps, which I pretty much already knew about (mommy intuition). We wonder if we even need a babysitter at all next time since Kalina was so good, and theorize we could just set a cell phone up in her nursery. Maybe???
12:59 a.m. I awaken to general fussiness, not screaming, from the nursery. It continues, off and on.
2:27 a.m. Still awake, I decide the baby can eat at 2:30--she's been waiting until after 3:00 lately but I can't take it anymore.
2:28 a.m. She falls asleep. I'm left wide awake wondering when she'll wake up.
3:07 a.m. I'm drifting off when "I'm-hungry" crying finally begins.
4: 11 a.m. Baby fed, I finally fall asleep again (thank you, insomnia).
5:15 a.m. Cat meows loudly
6:16 a.m. Baby is awake for the day, having gotten her revenge and guaranteed we won't be leaving the house on a date night again anytime soon.