Meeting Santa

I think I would have forgotten to do this, completely, if I hadn't read my friend Jen's blog and seen the cute pics of her kids with Santa. (Thanks, Jen!) (You can see her cuties by clicking on the link for The Smiths at the right.) I'm sure Cooper would never have forgiven me. I mean, meeting the shopping mall Santa is a rite of passage, right? It's a mandatory parental responsibility. So, off we went. First, we made a stop at my former pastor's home to drop off some food. Dr. Havard 's wife had back surgery in September and is still in a lot of pain, so several from the church have been helping out with food because, in her words, Dr. Havard can't boil water or scramble eggs without burning them! (Thank goodness if I'm ever down and out, Chris can at least cook eggs, bacon, and pancakes! Oh, and of course hamburgers & hot dogs, and any other grilling meats.) Dr. Havard was my pastor as a youth, and he performed our wedding as well. He celebrated his 86th birthday last month! He is always excited to see Cooper. He even met me at the car and took him from me right away. So, I had to snap a quick pic with him first.

Then, we were off to the mall. Chris's parents offered to meet me there. It was a good out-of-the-house trip for Kaitlyn & Kennedy--our nieces that they keep each day. They love the mall, but do NOT love Santa. They scream and cry if you take them too close. They made Grandma & Pa keep a safe distance from the little North Pole Village set up. My mom was also out running errands, and got me a spot in line while I was changing Coop's diaper--which of course he aromatically filled during the short trip from the Havard's to the mall. :) I fed him a snack while waiting in line, hoping he wasn't getting too tired and wouldn't be cranky, scared, etc. to sit with Santa. And... voila! Here's the result:
As you can see, he did great! Never did smile really big, but wasnt' upset at all. He stared and stared at the bearded stranger. Santa even let him hold a set of reindeer jingle bells. Our little boy is growing so fast. It's hard to believe he's almost 10 months old, and so close to a year old!

We travel to Simonton this weekend for an early Christmas with Mom's side of the family. Cooper will get to play with Katie, and my cousin's son, Noah, who will be 2 in March. It should be lots of fun and full of great photo opps! More then...