Santa

Well, to say that I have struggled this year with what to do with Santa would be an understatement.  You can't really get around talking about him, since he's everywhere (and pretty fun for little kids!), but I certainly don't want him to be the focus of Christmas around here.  So I have gone back and forth quite a bit.  But in the end we did get to see Santa A LOT!  Probably more than I would have chosen, but I am a pushover for a good picture.  What can I say.

Let's start with this picture...

This was Caroline (on the left) on her first Christmas sitting on Santa's (aka Grandpa) lap with her cousin Kaitrin.  She was petrified!  Caroline has since seen this picture (on our picture calendar) and has made the statement over and over again, "I'm not going to be scared this time.  That was just Grandpa.  I'll tell Jack he doesn't have to be scared."  So she was eager to prove to herself that Santa was in fact OK.

This was last year's picture with Santa (Grandpa).  She was ok as long as she had her baby with her :)

Our first chance to see Santa this year was when we were out at the mall on a weekday morning.  There was nobody else in line so I thought, well it doesn't get much easier than this.  Let's see how she does.

A little bit unsure, but trying to hold it together so that Jack will join her.

Jack kept his eyes on Mommy the whole time, but there was no screaming.

"Are you still there Mommy??  I think I've had enough now."

Grandma was hiding in the trees behind the real picture taking lady because we didn't want to pay $20 for mall Santa pictures.  I think she was discovered by Santa because he seems to be looking right at the camera. 

At this point he was asking her if she wanted to sit on his lap.  Still not so sure about him...but she was doing everything she could not to cry. :)

She made it!  Mostly because there was the promise of a candy cane.  This position was VERY short-lived, but she did a great job.

Our next Santa encounter was a Meijer.  Caroline, Jack and I were out shopping and ran into Santa in the holiday section of Meijer.  They were offering free pictures with Santa, so we couldn't pass that up.  Caroline wouldn't sit on his lap, but stood right next to him and wished him a Merry Christmas.  She did make sure that her cup was between her and Santa.  I don't have this one in digital form, sorry.  You'll just have to come over and see it on our fridge.

Today was another chance to see Santa.  We headed over to a mall near our house that has a great train set up.  We had brunch at a restaurant there and then headed in to see the train.  Santa was also there and Caroline was eager to see him again.  Here's a cute shot that we got of Caroline and Jack with him.  Just ignore the sweet rash he has on his cheek.

And then tonight as we were celebrating our family Christmas tonight (more on that in another post), Santa (aka Grandpa) made a surprise appearance at our house again.  Here's a video of Caroline talking to him when he came in.  The best though was when he asked her where he could find her cousin and she said, "She's at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Your house!"  She knew exactly who it was but apparently played along anyways :)


Caroline and Santa from Jenn Miedema on Vimeo.

So for not wanting to make this season too much about Santa, Caroline has sure managed to see him a lot.  I am glad though that she has no idea that he is supposed to be bringing her presents.  I think that she really just thinks he is a guy who comes around at the same time as Jesus' birthday.  I'm sure as she gets older she will have more questions, but for now I'm just glad she didn't break down into tears during any of her meetings.