Santa

We had planned to take Brooke to visit Santa at a local shop after her nap. She went down a bit late, and slept for a while, so we were cutting it close. When she woke up from her nap she was cranky (I guess babies are like adults in that they occasionally "get up on the wrong side of the bed"). As we walked to see Santa we couldn't get her to crack a smile. She had an irritated look on her face and was pouting the whole way.

We got there to find a bit of a crowd (guess we werent the only ones sneaking in at the end) and thought about skipping it. Why push her when she was already in a bad mood? After some conversation we decided to give it a try anyway.

We waited in line for less than 10 minutes. Brooke was checking out the other kids and the decorations, but still no smile. Finally she could see Santa. She glanced his way but really didnt seem to care ... until it was her turn.

Brooke freaked out before she even got onto his lap, and did her best to try to jump off of it the few seconds she was there.

Nothing was going to make it better. Not even Mommy could fix it. You can even tell from Santas face in the pictures he was a bit irritated. I bet all Santas wonder why the heck parents would be cruel enough to bring their little ones (who dont even know who he is) out just to torture them. I'm not sure as a parent I even understand it myself, but it just seems like some sort of ritual each child must go through in life. And we gather photographic evidence for proof.

So we grabbed Brooke, who shot Santa one last horrified look, and carried her out of the store still screaming. In the end, it was fun for all. Let the Holidays begin!