Kids countdown to their own new year

Most of them were too young to stay awake for Monday night's minute-by-minute account of the ball descent in Times Square.

But hundreds of youngsters -- with parents in tow, of course -- filled the Paramount Theatre in Aurora for their very own midmorning New Year's Eve bash.

As beach balls bounced through the air, parents danced in the aisles of the refurbished theater with their kids to the tunes of "My Favorite Snack" and "Chicken Pot Pie."

The songs blared from the stage by the Imagination Movers, a high-energy group of children's entertainers from New Orleans made popular by their Disney Channel television show.

"His eyes lit up bright as they walked past us into the theater," said Colleen Dewan, as she held her 9-month-old son, Patrick, during a break from the hourlong performance.

The show, which featured a noon countdown to the "new year" complete with confetti and an assortment of party favors, was organized as part of the DuPage Children's Museum's Bubble Bash.

The annual event, which in the past has been hosted at the museum's Naperville location, typically sells out weeks in advance.

Two-year-old Kerry Cooke-Hall didn't seem to be worried about the lack of bubbles at Monday's show. As her mom, Mary, stopped to talk to people in the theater's vestibule, the little girl kept tugging at mom's hand to get her into the theater.

"As you can see, she's having a great time," her mother said.

Stephanie Zitler is no stranger to performances by the Imagination Movers. The New Orleans woman has seen several shows in her hometown with her two kids.

Zitler was at the Paramount with family friends again, this time waiting in line for autographs by the popular group.

"One of the things that's so great about them is adults dig the music as well as the kids," Zitler said. "They know kids because they're fathers themselves."