In Which Connor Has A Grand Ol' Time!

Connor had a blast at the parade today!

He's only been to one other similar event-- the Dragon and Lion dance that happens every February up in Seattle for the Chinese New Year.  But this was his first American style parade, complete with floats, antique cars and multiple marching bands, so we weren't sure quite how he would react. 

He was largely uninterested in the floats, cheerleaders, and clowns, but he loved the fire trucks, police cars, ambulance and all of the music.  Jer and I could hear the bands coming long before Connor could, of course, so we could watch him closely and see the exact second that he realized there was a marching band on the way.  I'm pretty sure he was feeling the vibrations of the drum lines before he could actually hear anything, as I could usually start feeling them about the time he'd start reacting.  His entire body would go stiff for a split second and he'd get very quiet, and then a huge grin would spread across his face and he'd use his sign for "music" (weaving his whole body from side to side).  He'd start clapping shortly thereafter and continue until the entire marching band had passed by.  The lights and sirens of the emergency vehicles got a similar reaction.  The only other non-musical entries in the parade that merited applause in his mind were the horses-- especially the miniature horses, as those are the ones he's ridden. 

We left about halfway through the parade (so sorry Kelly, but we didn't see Amanda-- sure she was great though!), as I was having to hold Connor up to see everything and after an hour my arms were about shot.  Also Jer was reaching the end of the time period he could stand comfortably, and Connor was becoming slightly overwhelmed by the constant excitement.  So we left well before we'd be fighting the crowds and went and grabbed some ice cream as the perfect end to a perfect afternoon!

Of course I forgot to bring my camera to the parade, dang it.  Oh well.

~Jess