Today George and I took the kids to see Santa. The first year for Hayley was when she was only three months old; she sat on his lap, sucking on her fist and gazing ahead. The second year, just over the age of one, I have a picture of myself holding Hayley beside Santa (not even on him) while she screamed. Since then, she’s eager to see him, shy when she actually gets there, and she’s full of reverence for him when she sits there for her picture – it reminds me of when people get star-struck around celebrities.

When Breanna first went, she was a whopping one month old. She slept on the way, slept while I removed her snowsuit, slept while Santa held her, and barely woke up while I re-dressed her, then went BACK to sleep while we shopped. The second year, at just over a year old, I have a picture of her sitting on Santa’s lap, screaming with her arms out to be taken away from the giant man in red.

This year, Breanna has been talking about Santa a lot because of seeing Christmas specials (especially her Caillou Christmas movie) and seemed interested in going to see him. When I told her this morning that we’d go today, she kept saying, “see Santa! Santa! Presents! See Santa, picture. CHEESE!”

Honestly, I expected that once she got there, she’d balk at going up to him. I thought I would have to send Hayley up first and try to encourage Breanna that way. Instead, Hayley hung back, not because she was afraid, but because of that shyness. It was Breanna who pulled her hand out of mine and went walking up the steps and she walked straight up to him, arms held out to be picked up. It was awesome. Hayley joined her, sitting on his other knee, and I ended up with a great picture.

I tried taking more than one picture in an effort to get Breanna to give me a big smile (the place we go to see Santa has no photographer, but what’s great about it is that there’s never a line-up. Also, the Santas always look great and authentic.), but she wouldn’t take her hands out of her mouth, which is what she usually does when she’s a little giddy, so I love that. And I love how she’s leaning her head on his shoulder. I also love Hayley’s smile which is just about to crack into a huge, “holy CRAP it’s Santa!” expression.

After we did the pictures, we did a bit of shopping, ate lunch while listening to a god-awful live band, and came back home. Breanna was so ecstatic about the Santa experience that I printed her up her own copy of the picture so she could carry it around the rest of the day, and Hayley is freaking out with excitement that tomorrow is Christmas eve. I have one more stop to do tomorrow for last minute things (stocking stuffers and more gift wrap) and then I’ll be ready to be excited too!

(Edited to add: Here is a link to the 17-second video clip I took of the music. I was trying to be discreet so you can’t actually see them but you can hear it. Gah.)