The Santa Experience

Today was the day...the day that CiBaby decided for herself that she wanted to talk directly to the Big Man himself.

The first year CiBaby was with us, we didn't even consider bringing her to see Santa...we could barely get her to sit on relatives' laps without crying! Last year there were a couple of times that she saw Santa from afar...but that was close enough for her.

But this year was different. This morning we were talking about Santa and all of a sudden she said that she wanted to talk to him. Well...okay! So I did what any good mother would do and found out where Santa was that day, of course! And I was still able to get an appointment, that day, with the man himself.

So we hustled, and we bustled and got ourselves ready to get out the door. Thankfully there was a small line to wait in before talking with Santa. This gave CiBaby some time to fully take in the situation. She studied him. She saw what the other kids were doing. She noticed that Santa had CANDY next to him!*

Not knowing exactly what to expect from her when her turn came I stayed fairly quiet. But once the little boys were done in front of her...you would have had to have had a barricade to stop her. She was on a mission to talk with Santa. She marched right up to the little stool that sat next to his chair and sat down. She was serious. They had a discussion about being good, did lots of givin' fives and even willingly, and with a real smile, got pictures taken.

After it was over, I didn't have to pull her away, she walked away confidently and told me that she had talked with Santa. We picked our picture** and bought a frame*** and headed out for lunch. As we were looking for the perfect location to have our tidbits to eat we saw Santa having lunch. You would have thought we saw a mega star. She was giddy and Santa was so sweet. He talked with her again, gave her a piece of candy, and I swear she swooned.

Later that afternoon, I framed that picture...which was quickly confiscated and now resides on CiBaby's dresser.

It was a great day in this life.

*There's very little this kid misses.
**Not shown here...must scan for that.
***It was too dang cute to pass up.