Two thumbs up

I realized that I've been using the phrase "more on that in a later post" a lot lately. So I figured I better start making good on my word.

A few weeks ago, my friend Holly invited Biscuit and me to see a movie with her at one of the local theaters in town. Biscuit had never been to a movie before, so I thought I better have the chat with Holly before we went.

"Here are the potential problems with taking Biscuit to a movie," I said to her. Then I proceeded to explain that Biscuit, like all 2-year-olds, has an attention span of about 20 minutes at the most (figured by the average length of a show on Nick Jr.). He doesn't have a filter on his sweet, little mouth, which translates to "if he thinks it, he says it." He might be bored and go to sleep. He might not be able to sit still. And probably a few other warnings that I don't even remember.

Holly was not scared. She was excited. So I don't think there's anything I could've told her that would have made her want to cancel.

The movie, which was a fundraiser for an area children's home, was "Muppets Take Manhattan." Remember a blog post last June about Biscuit having an Elmo vs. Zoe fight with a grown-adult friend of mine? Well, Holly is that friend. It's an understatement to say that she has a thing for the Muppets.

I picked Biscuit up from day care that evening and took him straight to have a quick dinner.

And let me take a minute to say that despite the fact that baby car seats are safe, and I would never ever consider taking Biscuit anywhere without one, they are a big pain in the backside, especially when you're making several stops in a short amount of time.

At daycare, I put Biscuit in his car seat, then we drove five minutes to the restaurant. I got him out of his car seat, took him into the restaurant, got his belly full, then put him back in his car seat. I then drove two minutes to a convenience store, took him out of his car seat, went in and bought a drink to sneak into the movie theater, then put him back into his car seat and drove five minutes to the theater. I took him out of his car seat, put him in his stroller and took him into the theater.

Each time I put him into his car seat, I have to get his arms through the straps, finagle the straps to the right position and fasten three buckles. And depending on whether he's wearing a coat or a light jacket or just a shirt, I have to adjust the length of the straps, too. It's not terribly difficult, but after you do it that many times in that short a time span, it gets to be frustrating.

Back to the movie.

We got to the theater at the same time as Holly, and Biscuit was really excited to see her. She brought a stuffed Kermit for Biscuit to play with. And of course, she was wearing a Piggy shirt. Piggy is her favorite.

On another side note, every once in a while, Holly will meet Biscuit and me at Target to do some shopping. Somewhere down the line, Biscuit has associated Holly and Target, so now every time we pull into the Target parking lot, Biscuit says, "See Hah-ee? See Hah-ee?"

Back to the movie ... again.

We bought our tickets, got our popcorn and went into the theater. They had booster seats for kids, so we grabbed one of those, and it put Biscuit up high enough to see.

We got settled in, and the movie started.

Biscuit's first comment (out loud, of course) was, "It dark, Mama. It dark."

"Shhhhhhhhh," I said. The first of many times I made that noise.

Then, Kermit came on the screen and started to sing.

"FOG!!! FOG!!! WIBBIT!!!! WIBBIT!!!! Mama, fog! Fog, Mama!" Biscuit was really loud, and I was really worried. I was trying to figure out how I would handle anyone who made a comment about him.

I whispered to Holly, "Is he too loud? Should I take him outside?"

"Dude! Of course not," Holly said. "Everybody has seen the movie before. Plus, this is a fundraiser. It's supposed to be fun. He's fine."

Then the pig showed up!

Miss Piggy started her song, and Biscuit yelled "PIG" and "OINK" just like he yelled "FOG" and "WIBBIT" for Kermit. And much to my relief, the people nearest us laughed every time Biscuit named a new animal. He continued to call out every animal he could make out, including Rowlf the dog and Fozzie the bear, but he grew quite quiet when Gonzo appeared on the screen. I don't blame him. I don't know exactly what Gonzo is, either.

Biscuit got pretty involved in the movie. He was following the storyline and seemed pretty content. Then all of a sudden, he was done.

"Want to go home, Mama," Biscuit said.

I only needed to hear it once. As soon as he said that, I was on the move. I got our stuff together in record time, and Holly was already taking Biscuit down the steps. I finally had to admit to Holly that I had never seen the movie before, either, and I wanted to know how far Biscuit made it. "So how much of the movie is left?" I asked Holly.

After she got over being horrified at the fact that I had never seen the movie, Holly said that we were only missing the last 15 minutes or so. I was really impressed with Biscuit's staying power, and so was Holly.

I'm not sure if he's ready for a new release, but I'd be very willing to take Biscuit to a fundraising-type event again. So Holly, I guess you should be on the lookout for a showing of "Muppets in Space."

Here are Holly and Biscuit in the lobby before the movie: