A Boy and His Balloon

My son loves helium balloons. I mean, he REALLY loves helium balloons. It all started at his first birthday party, on March 25, 2007. We had bought some balloons to have at his party, which, as we all know, is not uncommon. So, after the party, we came home with some balloons. Well, he decided he really liked the red one, and became pretty attached to it. This I mean figuratively and literally. He held that balloon by its string and would not let it go. He held it while sitting and playing with toys, he held it while sitting in his high chair and eating, he held it while getting a diaper change, he even wanted to take it to bed with him. And he would get really mad if we tried to get him to let go of it, for things like taking a bath, going to sleep, or even when we just tried to get him to switch hands, when we were dressing him. It really was pretty cute, though. EVERYWHERE he went, so did his balloon. The problem is, helium balloons don't stay up forever. So, that balloon lost its umph pretty quickly and my son lost his beloved toy. But, two days later, his daddy, the sweet man that he is, went out and bought a helium balloon with added magic to make it stay afloat longer, and came home with this gem for my son. He got a new balloon on his actual birthday! My son loved it, and enjoyed this balloon for a whole week! I am not kidding, the balloon stayed up even as it became smaller from losing air. Now, fast forward several weeks, and my son has not had any more balloons since that one faded. We went to a birthday party this weekend and guess what his favorite party favor is? You guessed it! A helium balloon. Only this one is yellow, not red. I think he still prefers red, but is happy to have the yellow. It really is very sweet.