In Which Connor Has A Birthday And Now We Are Six

Happy birthday, Connor!

My little guy is six years old!  That doesn't seem even remotely possible.  Where has the time gone? 

Since the little guy wasn't excited about the idea of having a party, we had a super fun day Connor-style.  Connor's idea of fun isn't really the same as most other six year olds that I know so it was a bit of an unconventional birthday celebration, but hey, he had a fantastic time so as far as I'm concerned it was a big success!

We started off the day by singing the Happy birthday song.  Then we got him dressed, took him into the dining room and opened presents.  It's all about the instant gratification around here! 

Then we were off to a movie theater about twenty minutes from our house.  It's a tiny theater that shows a lot of stuff that's been out a while, and they had Beauty and The Beast playing in 3D.  While I think that movie would be pretty scary at Connor's age in 3D if he was seeing it for the first time, he's seen Beauty and The Beast quite a bit during his standing sessions because he loves the music, so we thought we'd try it out. 

We got to the shopping center with the theater in it really early, so we stopped in a local deli and ate a late breakfast.  Connor had some chocolate mousse, which is probably the best birthday breakfast ever.  We walked over to the theater after we were finished and took our seats pretty early.  I was happy to see several other kids and adults with developmental or physical disabilities in line, which told me that this was a good theater for us.  And once we sat down there were only three other families in the entire theater-- all of them with toddler age children.  Connor could be as loud as he liked and it wouldn't have mattered.

But actually he did a fantastic job in the theater!  I don't think he enjoyed it quite as much as he did the dinosaur production we saw back in February, partially because Beauty and The Beast wasn't originally made for 3D production so it didn't have nearly as many jump-out-at-you moments (Connor loved those the best) and partially because it wasn't about dinosaurs.  It was also a bit long for him-- he took little nap about halfway through.  But I think he still had a pretty great time, and I'd probably take him back to this theater again. 

After that we went to a mall and let Connor ride a jeep-- one of those in the middle of the aisle that makes noise, rocks back and forth and that I never let him ride because it's way too expensive.  Then we walked around a nearly deserted arcade, which for a kid who is fascinated with lights was absolutely hypnotic.  Next we drove across the street to the pet store, where he happily watched the mice running around their wheel and cooed over the parakeets. 

Then we walked down to the bookstore, where he picked out a new book.  And finally we ate a very late lunch at a Thai restaurant, where Connor gobbled as much tom kha gai (medium spicy-- he likes it with a kick) as I could shovel into his mouth.  It was a great end to his birthday outing.

He was drooping in his seat but really, really happy by the time we brought him home.  That's how a birthday outing should be!

~Jess