'Scuse Me, Can't You See Santa And I Are TALKING?!

I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but this year will mark D's third Christmas and up until just recently she had never been to see Santa!  We didn't do the newborn picture thing - D was 3 months old on her first Christmas, but that year was unbelievably hectic.  My Dad was very sick, so he was constantly back and forth between home and the hospital.  Whatever free time I had, when my husband was at work, I would spend with my Dad (especially when he was home) so that he could get to know D.  I remember doing ALL of my Christmas shopping in one evening, with D in her carseat/stroller and literally more shopping bags than I could handle.  The thought had crossed my mind to take her that day for the picture, but I just wasn't up for standing and waiting in line, or making D stay out longer than she should have to at just 3 months old. 

On D's second Christmas, I found out I was pregnant so we were a little caught up in sharing the news with everyone!  In addition to that, D was going through some major separation anxiety/making strange and I knew that if we were to sit her on Santa's lap she would have an absolute meltdown.  Not the "cute" kind of meltdown, either.  There were times when she wouldn't even go to her Daddy!!  So, last year was a write off.

This year, however, I was DETERMINED to make the Santa pic happen!  D has been talking about Santa for months already - from the time the first Christmas ads came on TV and the first flyers started arriving in our mailbox.  At some point before Halloween, she even decided that she'd like to pay Santa's house a visit!  (This resulted in a temper tantrum to end all tantrums when I told her that we were not able to go.)  So far, she has told me she'd like Santa to bring her crayons, and a dragon.  Why a dragon, you ask?  Well, I have yet to figure that one out.... But my kid is a character, so nothing really surprises me!

This past weekend seemed like the perfect opportunity to hit the mall and visit the Big Guy in Red.  My husband had a day off on Sunday - so we got D all dolled up on Sunday afternoon and off we went.  I knew the line up would be insane - and it really was - but I didn't care!  Thankfully, it was moving quickly enough that (with a couple of cookie bribes) D was happy to wait.  She made friends with the little girl in line ahead of us, and all was well.  I was really expecting the worst - I kept coaching D on what was going to happen "Santa will say hi, and he'll ask if you want to sit on his lap!  And if you DO sit on his lap, he'll give you a treat!!"  ........ DH went out of his way at this point to ask me to LISTEN to what I was actually telling her, and was that something I really wanted her to learn?  Well, no... maybe not, but in the interest of not waiting in line for nothing, I didn't care, LOL.  D is not the kind of kid who would just sit and cry in a picture - no - if she did not want to be there, with Santa, at that exact moment then she would NOT be there at all.  She'd literally fight to the death.  So, I figured a little coaching was fair game!!!

It turned out the little chat that D and I had was completely worth it.  She marched right on up to Santa, and in her best big girl voice said "HI!!!!"  When he asked if she wanted to sit with him, she said "Uhh...Yeah!  I DO!!!"  .... Sweet!  At this point I bolted out of the way, so the photogs could snap a pic before she changed her mind.  However, they let D take her time with the big guy, so the two of them had quite the talk!  I can only guess what she might have been saying to him.  "A dragon... a crayons....a baby...!"

The picture turned out AWESOME - D didn't really smile, but that's because she was confused as to what the heck the photographer wanted - after all, she was in the middle of what must have been a very important conversation with Santa Clause! lol. So without further ado... Here is D's Santa Pic, 2010: