Up !

Friday afternoon we ventured out with little guy to the movies. You have to understand how much "prep" went into this.

Our last attempt at going to a movie with him was nothing less of a disaster. He was 4 years old and it was a VeggieTale movie so we figured since he loves VeggieTales, we'd give it a shot. My first clue that this was going to be a bad decision was that the movie theatre did not honor the "free voucher" that we had for Chris to see the movie. I should have just walked away then. But, we had 2 of our babysitter's with us because they just love Chris and we thought it would make him even more comfortable to have them around for his "first" movie experience.

Once inside the theatre, we bought the popcorn and drinks and were dashing into the theatre but Chris caught a glimpse of the video arcade. Once he saw that, he didn't even want to go in the theatre. So, by the time we got inside, the previews had started and the theatre was dark. Dark theatre + toddler + loud noises = disaster! I guess I had forgotten how that surround sound can really boom in the auditorium.

Chris was not having any of it. Having him sit in his seat was near impossible and Steve & I took turns bringing him into the lobby to try and "reason" with him and walk him/talk him through this "wonderful" experience. He was so restless that Steve finally just took him out of the theatre and drove around the neighborhood with him. I was inside the theatre watching the Veggie Tale movie with our son's 2 babysitters.

What happened next was even more unexpected. All of a sudden, I was nauseous... seriously. Sick in the stomach, where's the nearest exit sick. I told the babysitters that we had to leave... NOW! So, halfway thru the VeggieTale movie that cost us about $50 dollars to attend, we walked out. I had to call Steve who was still circling the neighborhood with Chris to swing by the theatre and pick us up before my lunch was displayed on the front steps of the theatre.

When we got home, it was not pretty. I was violently ill and the day was then ruled a disaster. I went to straight to bed and Steve was on patrol.

Needless to say, we waited a year and half to try this again. Chris actually saw the promo for the "Up" movie on TV and told us that he'd like to see it. So, this time, I "practiced" with him how we are supposed to sit in a theatre, I demonstrated how the lights would dim and then turn off, and made sure to mention that parts of the movie were going to be loud and he could just put his hands over his head if it got too loud for him.

Well, I'm happy to report that Friday's trip to see the new Disney movie, Up, was a huge success. He did great!! Very cute movie and it was in 3-D too which made it even better. I couldn't believe he wore the 3-D glasses and didn't complain. He managed to polish off a very large bucket of popcorn and only asked to use the restroom 2x. Hopefully we are well on our way to being able to do this more often -- although movies are expensive these days!!