Eating at the table!!

So since cheeky was out of a high chair we have had some difficulty with mealtime. We didn't have a dining table so i bought cheeky a little child's table, which he was very impressed with. He very quickly adapted to sitting at his own little table at mealtimes... with the odd tumble off his chair of course, and attempting to sit on the table and not the chair, pretty standard stuff i think. So all was going well, we would generally have breakfast together, Cheeky at his table and mama just sat close on the sofa. I would give cheeky his tea at about 5 am and i would eat once he had gone to bed. It was much easier this way. Whilst this worked at home, when it came to taking cheeky out to eat or just to sit and have a drink somewhere, it was awful, he would not sit still. A friend and i took our boys out to eat pizza, my friends little boy, being a full year older sat perfectly and ate and was as good as gold, but cheeky, goodness me he was all over the place, jumping on the seats running off, spitting food out, climbing over the chairs, it was a bad experience, i promised myself i would address this issue. It took me a while to figure out what to do however. After trial an error i eventually bought a dining table and chairs for home. We now eat together at every mealtime, eating is a real occasion and cheeky loves it, in fact mama loves it too. He knows that once i start to set the table its time to have a meal and he says "sit down" and gets on his chair. He now has his very own knives and forks. The difference is unbelievable. He now feeds himself ( a bit messy but hey) eats better and stays at the table, since introducing the table we have only had one incident whilst out where he screamed and tipped food on the floor, but he was exhausted... on the whole though introducing mealtimes at the table has been a very positive for both mama and cheeky! :)