Meeting Santa 2.0

Because this is Freddie's second Christmas we thought why not meet the man in red twice this year. We've had Christmas decorations up, been playing Christmas music pretty much since after Halloween and have been talking a lot about Santa so it was only natural that the next step was to say hi to the man himself. 

We went to see Santa first at the Commonwealth Pool a couple weeks ago. I'd heard from many people that kids around Freddie's age (19 months) were not usually big fans of meeting Santa and the odds of him actually sitting on his lap were slim to none. This, of course, did not stop us from going but it did make me take a shower beforehand in case I had to be in the pic, too.
 

Turns out this was a good move (thanks for the advice Francie!) because Freddie gripped my hand tighter than ever as we cautiously walked up to Santa. It was a long walk up to the big guy and Freddie was moving at a snail's pace- very unusual. But, when we finallyyyyyyy arrived at Santa's seat, Freddie waved to the elf and was very interested in the mini-Christmas trees, fake snow and reindeer.







He and I (our hands still glued together) walked up to Santa and said hi (well, I did). Freddie sat on my lap and leaned as far away from Santa as he could while still being close enough to accept the bag of reindeer food and a present from him. We took a few snaps and that was that! Once we walked away Freddie turned and waved goodbye to Santa and the elf and had a blast playing at the pool's soft play center for an hour. The pic of him with William on Santa's seat was taken after that hour- hence, the tired face!

We met Santa again at the Dad's Rock Christmas Party. This was such a hoot. Dozens of little kids running everywhere. There were cool toys to play with, including a really nice toy kitchen made of wood, and a disco dance party where they could show off their moves. Freddie's favorite toy at the party was definitely the balloons. I never realized what a great dance accessory they are!








Meeting Santa here was a similar experience. Freddie clung to me and would not let go but, despite the extreme skepticism, there were no tears. We got a family pic this time and a really cool book called "Santa is coming to Edinburgh." Thank you Santa!!

Freddie with his good friend Madison!

Wish I'd showered for this one!