seeing santa again

We've talked a little bit about Santa Claus (mostly because we have a few Christmas books around the house). This week, we received a few holiday photos of his friends sitting on Santa's lap. Yesterday, after studying one of those photos, he said, "Please, see Santa?" I told him that we would try to make that happen. I knew that with Christmas Eve tomorrow...we were pushing it.

This morning we decided to chance it by going to the mall on *gasp* Christmas Eve to see the Jolly One. To prepare him, I told Kaemon Ze that when he sits on Santa's lap, he can ask Santa for a toy. I asked him, "What would you like to ask Santa for?" He didn't hesitate; he said, "Mean dinosaurs - velociraptor and T-Rex." Well, alrightythen!

Kaemon Ze was surprisingly quite excited to see Santa -- we managed to get out of the house pretty fast. There was a line when we got there, and he did great waiting in the line (about 40 minutes or so). The wait gave him time to go watch Santa interact with the other kiddos.

As we got to the double door/entry that led to Santa, Kaemon Ze started playing with the doorstop. The little girl behind us started to play with him. One movement led to another, which led to the girl accidentally hitting Kaemon Ze in the head with the door. He was rather surprised (though not too hurt) and started to cry. Of course we were next to see Santa! The girl's mother apologized. I re-assured her it was okay. As I was comforting him, I was laughing to myself... Kaemon Ze has a track record for injuring his head right before photos. Clearly, this would not be an exception. I just had to laugh (what else can you do?). At least this time I would not have to put make-up on his face!

As we were waiting for the go-ahead to approach Santa, Kaemon Ze told me, "I don't want to sit on his lap." I assured him he did not have to, but if he wanted, I would sit with him. No pressure... none what-so-ever. He was leading this adventure.

Now...keep in mind, that this is how it went last year, when he was nearly 14 months old:

I was hoping he'd have a better experience...but you just never know. That Santa guy can be an unnerving.

Santa was AWESOME! He engaged Kaemon Ze in conversation then gently reached down and picked him up and placed him on his knee. Kaemon Ze was a little like a deer in headlights, but wow... he was on Santa's lap! Here's our JoyBoy:

After the photos, Kaemon Ze asked Santa for a velociraptor. So cool. However, when we stepped away, JoyBoy wanted to know where his velociraptor was. Oooooh! No wonder he was so excited to see Santa! He thought he'd get the dinosaur NOW. Whoopsies.

I neglected to foresee that gap in knowledge. Sleepy-tired tears ensued as we explained he'd have to wait until "tomorrow morning" to see what Santa brought. Luckily, he got over his upset in short order and fell asleep right away in the car.

Now we're just hoping the box of dinosaurs my little brother sent has a velociraptor in it, because we sure didn't get him one! Haha

Merry Christmas Eve!