Santa, Baby!

Visiting Santa at Brookfield Square Mall.

We're still playing catch-up here. I can't believe that Christmas was over a month ago already, but it's too cute not to document some of our experiences with the man in the red suit this year.

As in the past, we took the boys to see Santa at the mall. We went on a Friday early in December, taking advantage of the fact that I was home on leave to avoid the longer lines of evenings and weekends. Jonah had been very excited about Santa; this is the first year that he really seemed to engage in and understand the concept of Christmas and this mysterious man named Santa. Ben and I were able to use the concept of staying on Santa's nice list to our advantage, prompting good behavior and a listening boy on a number of occasions. Before visiting Santa, we had asked Jonah what he was going to tell him that he wanted for Christmas. This changed a few times over the course of a couple of weeks, but then fortunately settled into a pretty consistent response of "an orange convertible and lots and lots of garbage trucks."

Our experience at the mall was a positive one. Jonah sat on Santa's lap without issue and Jude, innocent babe that he is, didn't mind one bit. Santa definitely got a chuckle when Jonah made his request. How many little boys ask for lots of garbage trucks? I suppose there must be a good number of them as you can find several different models in stores and online.

Baby Jude is bored by Santa.

The following Saturday, we went to Cranky Al's, our favorite bakery in the old neighborhood, to see the Santa they had there. It's been a bit of a tradition for us, and we weren't ready to give it up. Leading up to the trip, we were getting some sense that perhaps Jonah wasn't feeling as keen about Santa as he had for his first visit. Trying to get him out the door with statements about going to see Santa were met with "I don't want to see Santa" responses. While we waited in line, Jonah was more interested in placing his order for a doughnut than in getting to the front of the line to see Santa. In the end, it took a lot of bribing to get him to stand next to Santa (Jude, of course, slept through it). Santa's elf even gave him a jingle-bell hat in an attempt to make him happier, but Jonah wasn't really having any of that either. What happened between his first visit with Santa and this one? I can't say, but a doughnut made everything better.

I just don't know about this guy...

Trying out the elf's hat...

My doughnut! Awesome!

Jonah with Santa at day care, 2011.

Jonah's final experience with Santa was at daycare. We rearranged our schedule so that Jonah would be at daycare on the day of Santa's visit. Last year, Jonah didn't want anything to do with the Santa at daycare, and it is our understanding that this year, he sat on his lap for this photo, took the candy cane from him, and would then have nothing more to do with him. Wouldn't talk to him. Nothing. Poor kiddo. At least he mustered a half-hearted smile.

Jonah with Santa at day care, 2012.

I wonder what next year will bring. I doubt Jude will be sleeping through the experience at that time. Will he be afraid of Santa? Will Jonah conquer his fear? What will be on their Christmas lists next year?

Santa Claus

We took Jonah to see Santa at the Brookfield Square Mall on the Monday after Thanksgiving so that Grammy Sweets could join us. One benefit of going so early was that there really wasn't any line to see Santa and we were able to get through quickly.  We weren't certain how Jonah would handle Santa; he generally is pretty good with strangers, but we know this is also the period when kids generally start to freak out at seeing Santa.

The photographer explained to us a strategy that really worked well. She told us not to "introduce" Jonah to Santa, but to instead walk up, plop him down in Santa's lap, step back so that she could get a picture (using an Elmo toy and encouragement from us), and then we could introduce him to Santa after that.  The strategy worked pretty well.  Jonah didn't cry, but most of the time he sat on Santa's lap, he had a pretty serious look on his face. In the end, we got the following photo that makes it look like he was snuggling into Santa's arm, but I think he was more reacting to the toys he was being entertained with.

Don't I look like I'm snuggling with Santa?

Just because one experience with Santa worked well doesn't mean that a second will.  On a Friday earlier this month, Santa made an appearance at the Marquette Child Care Center, where Jonah's reaction was slightly different:

To his credit, Jonah did actually get on Santa's lap.  Apparently few of the kids in his room made it that close to Santa and instead freaked out and cried before they could even sit on his lap.

Last year, Jonah enjoyed Santa pretty well:

How much Jonah has changed in the past year and how much he will change before next Christmas! At this point, Jonah can identify Santa, but doesn't identify him as someone who brings presents to children for Christmas day. I wonder what he will ask Santa for next year??