Seeing Santa

The moment was right for seeing Santa on Black Friday. We'd just taken Christmas photos at Penney's and were walking through the mall, when I spotted Santa. I cheered, grabbed Natalie's hand and we ran up to the little fence around Santa Land. Her eyes were wide and she giggled.

"I see Santa?" she asked.

"You want to go sit on his lap? And tell him what you want for Christmas? I asked surprised, but thrilled. This is the girl who needed to walk past him on six different occasions last year before finally walking up to him. And even then, she burst into tears, refused to sit on his lap, but left with a high-five and a sucker. I figured this year would sort of be the same. No big deal -- it's not worth tears!

"And get a sucker?" She was game!

Best news, there were only two families in line -- a line that usually wove in and out and packed in dozens of families!

Jason and Gavin caught up to us and we all waited for their turn with Santa. As soon as the last kid wandered off, Natalie walked right up to him and he lifted her up on his lap. Jason sat Gavin down too and they started smiling for photos. Well, Natalie smiled and Gavin worked diligently to pull off Santa's beard. Thankfully it wasn't a fake, so it didn't budge and Santa was a trooper, calmly loosening Gavin's little fist each time he grabbed ahold. My two little babes with Santa, how adorable!

Natalie topped off the experience by asking Santa for bananas and grapes for Christmas. I was terrified she was going to ask for a baby in her tummy, like her aunty Nikki has right now. She's been asking us at home for one and Jason told her she needed to be older and then ask God.

"No, I ask Santa," she said. And she's been talking about it ever since.

Bananas and grapes sound much better, little N. I think we can swing that one.