balloon confusion

For Nick's birthday this year (2 weeks ago), we purchased four yellow and green helium balloons. One popped the second it came through the door and two quickly followed suit. #4 was quickly tied to his chair at the table in hopes that we could keep it 'alive' until after the party. Not only did we succeed but the balloon (which was quickly moved downstairs after partying) hung out for over a week afterwards (it was filled with Hi-Float so it really was floating that whole time. After that the balloon slowly sank and was forgotten - by all so it wasn't even tossed by Mom or Dad.

Yesterday Nick went to the basement to play and came upstairs with this balloon. Once he had our attention, first he tried to throw it up into the "sky" (Nick's word) to no avail. Then he asked for help doing it. I told him the balloon was broken and that it didn't float anymore. The balloon was dropped and we quickly forgot about it again.

A short time later, Nick's rooting around in the battery drawer. He pulls out a AA battery and starts saying "Balloon, balloon". Adam tells him that isn't a balloon and Nick starts crying. The intensity of the crying had me figuring out what was going on pretty quickly. Nick isn't stupid - he didn't think the battery was a balloon. He just knew that batteries fix things and that battery HAD to fix the balloon so that it would float again.

What a heart breaker! WOW he wanted a floaty balloon. You know, Megan had an intense fear of balloons when she was that age. It's surprising to see how much Nick loves them.