April 5

(The picture was taken with my phone)

Today we had a really cool experience at dinner time. We all went out to TGI Friday's. We haven't been there in awhile. In fact, I think it was the 2nd time we've been there since Billy pulled the fire alarm there 6 years ago. Anyway, Billy was a little edgy. Of course he remembers the fire alarm incident so he doesn't "WANT TO GO THERE! IT'S TOO SCARY!!!". We get him in, calmly, and he settles down as we wait for a table (coincidentally, we are one table away from the fire alarm!). We order a Three For All appetizer - mozzarella sticks, buffalo wings, and loaded potato skins. To mine and Bill's surpise, the kids dove in - ALL OF THEM. Billy would normally have nothing to do with a plate of that food, but he must have been in an open mind kind of mood. He tried TWO new things from the plate - mozzarella sticks and buffalo wings. We didn't even ask if he wanted anything, he reached for them and tried them on his own. Not only did he try them, he LIKED them. If you know Billy, you know he doesn't like sauce on anything - he doesn't like mixing food textures. The fact that he ate two buffalo wings was a total shocker to us.

It didn't end there. When the waitress came to take our order, Billy was the first one to speak. She asked if he wanted french fries with his pizza and he replied, "How about.....ummmmm....CINNAMON APPLES". She told them they don' t have those there and suggested the fruit cup - mandarin oranges, bananas, and strawberries - or the carrots. We were bracing ourselves for the typical, shouted response of "EWWWW!!! THAT'S GROSS!!!!" that we normally get when we suggest foods to Billy we know he doesn't like. Imagine our pleasant surprise when he calmly said "Well, how about those french fries, then?". GO BILLY!!!