The 4th and a 1st

The 4th of July with a child who is terrified of fireworks is tons of fun. But we survived it again, and even had a little fun this year.

Luke was not excited about our Sunday School class 4th of July party. He heard some fireworks the night before and he made it clear his hatred of fireworks continues. He was calm about it, but he was adamant.

When I listed some of the friends that would be at the party, he decided he would like to go, but did not want to stay for the fireworks. Deal.

He was cautious when we arrived and about 100 folks had gathered for the festivities. He looked around and asked lots of questions. When his little buddy Joshua decided to jump in the pool, Luke asked to change into his suit and join him.

They had a large time.

And they kept the fighting to a minimum. These two boys are crazy about each other but spend most of their time together wrestling each other.

The gracious hosts of our 4th party live very close to a community park and their yard is a great spot for watching a rather impressive fireworks show. But before the show started neighbors began shooting off fireworks of their own. And Luke stood firm in his decision that he did not want to stay for the show, though he did seem a bit intrigued by the light display. The noise, and I think even more the surprise of each boom, was more than he could take.

So we headed home. If you leave before the show starts, you really beat the traffic! As we drove Luke could hear distant booms. I sat next to him so he could put one ear to my chest and I covered his other ear with my hand. As we drove he reminded me with each boom he did not like fireworks. And then he said, "I don't love fireworks. I love Mama."

We came home and stretched out on our bed and watched a little TV. Luke saw Freaky Friday (Lindsay Lohan version) and asked to watch it. I'm certain he's never seen it. After watching a few minutes he said, "Hey, they switched! Mom lets do that. Mom you be Luke and I'll be Mom." I was shocked he picked up on the plot line, especially since we had tuned in after the actual "switch" moment. And that was our 4th.

On July 5, Lamar and I were both off work for the day. We decided this would be a fabulous time to take Luke to movies for the first time. (We're not counting IMAX debacle.) Luke was pumped for Toy Story 3.

Apparently everyone else had the same idea. Despite arriving 30 minutes early, the noon show was sold out. Well, the 2D version was sold out. The 3D version was showing in 3 theaters, none of which were sold out. But every seat in the one small theater showing the 2D was sold. And 3D was not an option. I learned something from the IMAX experience--other than that we evil Americans over fish the sardine population and thus destroy the entire ecosystem--Luke doesn't do 3D. So we bought tickets for the 2:25 showing of Toy Story 3 in 2D. The 2:25 show sold out moments later.

So, we sat down with Luke in the lobby to explain we would have to leave but we would return later to see the movie. Luke was in an extremely agreeable mood and said, "OK! OK!" to everything I said. As we talked he peered across the lobby to the small arcade. When I finished he said, "Hey Mom, I have an idea. How 'bout after I do a great job watching the movie, then I can go play games in there?" pointing to the arcade. Only Luke would concoct a reward for watching a movie. I agreed to 3 games.

We arrived nice and early for the 2:25 showing to ensure we had an aisle seat (lesson #2 I learned at the IMAX). And we joined a line of folks waiting to enter the Toy Story theaters. After waiting a few minutes the usher separated the 2D and 3D lines. Luke asked which version we were seeing . . . about 20 times. About time #3 I explained that to watch 3D you had to wear those special glasses. I'm sure remembering the IMAX Luke agreed he did not care for the glasses. So from then on each time he asked me "Which one are we seeing 2D or 3D?" and I answered "2D" he would say, "Yeah, because we don't want to wear the glasses." Glad that helped. Normally I would have at least attempted to stop his reapeating the same question, but he was nervous so I just kept answering.

We settled in with our giant popcorn and Coke and at least $30 poorer. I suggested we head to restroom before the movie started but Luke didn't want to miss "any of the talking". We warned him the previews might be kind of loud. He was a little nervous but ready.

He watched the previews with his fingers in his ears. And we all thought the previews would never end. He wasn't thrilled about the short before the movie, but then liked it once it got started. He was very excited when his Toy Story buddies appeared on the screen. A few minutes into the movie I told him I thought he'd be okay if he took his fingers out of his ears. He tried it and success! Really freed him up to enjoy some popcorn.

He loved the movie. He seemed to really understand the plot. He hugged me during scary parts and did well anticipating the loud parts and having his fingers at the ready for plugging his ears. He completely cracked up at the Ken's wardrobe changes, tortilla potato head, and Spanish speaking Buzz.

So after Luke "did a great job watching the movie" we headed to the arcade. He made a couple attempts at the claw game, but overall was pretty disappointed with the game selection. He was pretty pumped about the photo booth though.

I don't know why I didn't crop out the duplicates from my scan. Oh well, too lazy to do it now.

So I think the his first movie in the theater was a success. He loves the Toy Story characters so much (we're already planning Halloween costumes) that I think he was motivated to tolerate the sensory overload he faced at times during the movie. Would we have such success with a movie he was more neutral about? No clue.

I think he dreamed about Toy Story Monday night. He woke up and said, "I want to see the real Buzz, Woody, and Jesse . . . and well, all the toys. But I don't want to see the fire." I told him maybe we could go to Disney World someday and he could meet them. He said, "Well, I don't want to see someone in a costume. I want to see the REAL ones. I want to hold their hands. I want to go into the movie." Hmmm.