Happy Saint Nicholas Day!

Santa!

James has had a few opportunities to speak with Mr. Claus thus far this year.  Each time he's asked for the same thing-- a Hess truck.

The most amusing time was at an event in Ramsey.  We were at a party for kids, and James was sitting at a table multi-tasking (making a sticker gingerbread house and eating some snacks).  In walked Santa.  James jumped out of his seat exclaiming, "I've got to tell him to bring a Hess truck!"

He then raced around the room jumping up and down behind Santa saying, "Hess truck! Hess truck!"

Once Santa got on stage, James hopped right up there to speak with him one-on-one.  Somehow, the line formed next to James, so he had to endure several other children having their turns first. Finally, it was his opportunity to speak with the Big Guy.  No fear and no tears (see photo above). He happily answered the questions about his behavior and then enthusiastically stated he wants a Hess truck. 

Thanks for the deposit, Blitzen.

James LOVES his new back yard. Lately, every time we head to the new house, that's where he wants to go (even today, with a high of 30 degrees).

Last weekend, I spent lots of time out there with him playing funny games like stand-atop-a-boulder-then-run-to-another-one. Well, at some point James says to me, "Look at these things I found, Mommy." I look down, and he's moving some little objects from one spot to another....

"James, put that down! Don't play with that! Yuck! That's poop!" Yep, folks, deer scat. (Understandably, it looked like little marbles to Jamesy.)

James said, "Who pooped in our yard?"

"Some deer."

"Why did the reindeer poop in our yard?"

"I don't know, James. They don't have a potty. Now, let's go inside and wash your hands."

And, every so often this week, James will ask again, "Why did the reindeer poop in our new backyard, Mommy?"

What a winning combination!

On Saturday, Santa came to the Maywood Train Station! James was thrilled to go to the station, and then quite pleased to find that the big guy in red was there.

As we stood outside in line, James quite enjoyed the entertainment provided by two high school girls standing in the bed of a pickup truck. One played guitar and the other sang. James was bouncing to the beat and dancing away. He momentarily forgot about Santa, and was moving gradually toward the "stage." So cute.

When we made it inside, James smiled up until he got into Santa's lap, then he resumed his freaked out look. It was fine though, and he high fived Santa on the way out.

Afterwards we explored the engine and caboose parked at the station. A very fun start to the morning.

Christmastime

James is quite enjoying the Christmas season this year. In fact, yesterday morning he came into our bedroom and asked, "Is today Christmas Day?"

On Saturday night we went to Ramsey's Home for the Holidays. They shut down the main street to traffic, and then had a light parade. James loved it!

We walked around town and got a coloring book; saw firefighters; got candy, lots of cookies and hot chocolate; and met Santa!

It was finally time for the parade, and James sat himself right down on the curb. "Do we have our feet in the street, Mommy?" He enjoyed all the floats, musicians, and rescue vehicles.

At the end, James popped up to follow Santa down the street. It was SO cute. He was going in a beeline for Santa's float. Finally, the cold caught up with us (sitting on the curb was chilling!), and we headed for the car.

So fun!

Santa did come!

Well, it looks like Santa understands how difficult it is for a toddler to hold it together after eating cookies and visiting big kids and their toys. James appears to have stayed on the Good Boys and Girls List.

James woke up early and then unzipped and removed his pjs while hanging out in our bedroom. OK. This means he was fully dressed for the morning's festivities (even if Mommy was still in her jammies). We had our traditional Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls (this year from IKEA-- Yummy!) which James called "cake" and enjoyed thoroughly.

It wasn't until after breakfast that we let James into the living room. So he didn't know that Santa had come. He was so excited! "I see Mickey Mouse," he said breathlessly.

He had a lot of fun opening and playing with his presents. As he would play with a new toy, Dan and I would seize the opportunity to open our gifts. When James saw us unwrapping packages, he would want to as well. "Present for James."

It was really fun!

Then off to Grandpa & Grandma's house.

James immediately checked out the tree and was happy to see that there were more presents. "I see stockings. I see stockings for James." James's favorite activity seemed to be pretending to make pancakes...

After lunch, James was napping and we decided to watch "Elf," for Dan's parents had never seen it. (I'd totally thrown Dan's mom off by answering the phone, "Buddy the Elf. What's your favorite color?") James woke up mid-movie, so we brought him into the family room to play while we continued the movie. Well, he was NOT a fan of "Elf" at all! He'd break into screaming cries if there was any yelling or physical roughness. And there is lots of both. So, Dan and I took turns chaperoning James in the living room until the movie was over. Oh well!

It was altogether a fun day. James still talks about presents and Santa. Yea!

Christmas Eve

So, as I mentioned in the earlier post, we did some shopping in the morning on Christmas Eve. James, by the bye, LOVES shopping. I haven't the slightest idea where he gets that from. Seriously ('cause typically I don't). He'd say, "More more store," every time we'd go out a door to head to the car. Really. Finally, I'd had it and wanted to make sure he ate lunch at home and got a decent nap, so much to his protests we headed home. Also, as you've read, aforementioned nap got interrupted by the Santacade.

Well, after that final visit with St. Nick, it was practically time to head to the children's service at church. We went inside, and while I was changing clothes, Dan helped himself to a cookie and shared some with James. Well, Jamesy ended up eating TWO chocolate chip cookies himself.

The sugar and chocolate kicked in right about the time we got in our pew. Excellent. James was a spaz. There's no better word. Up. Down. Under the pew. On top of the pew. Talking. Singing. Running. Crawling. Altogether good times. He quite enjoyed helping to set up the creche. This year we brought Mary to the stable. James had become quite taken with the Holy Family in the days leading up to Christmas, so he really got into the creche building.

He was also enlisted to help in the presentation of the gifts at the start of the Eucharistic Prayer. In addition to the bread, wine and offerings, we also present a big basket of food for the needy. Well, James and another toddler were each given a canned good to bring up. So there was James with his can of green beans walking proudly up the aisle. I believe the idea was for the kids to put the cans into the basket as it was presented. However, James put the brakes on at the front of the church. He was ready to takes his beans and run for the border. Luckily, Dan was fleet footed and got the beans into the basket and James back in our pew. Hilarious. Communion was a big hit as usual.

When we got home, Grandpa and Grandma were here making Christmas Eve seafood. After we ate, we all went to a neighbor's house for some festivities. James quite enjoyed hanging with the big kids (and their toys). It was well past his bedtime when Dan and I decided we needed to get him home. He was none too happy and cried the entire time as we walked two doors down and then changed him into his jammies.

He stopped crying to get Santa's cookies ready...

... but then cried again when he realized they were for Santa and not for him.

He even cried during books! And he had a VERY special book from Nana and Pops.

Luckily, he did calm down and listen (and has quite enjoyed it in subsequent readings).

Whew... would he still be on Santa's Good List after all of that?

More Santa Love

Well, as Christmas approached, we saw more and more of the nicely-hatted Mr. Claus. Every visit to the mall included a spotting of Santa with James waving enthusiastically. On Christmas Eve Eve (that would be the 23rd), Dan met James & I at the mall after work. We had a family dinner upstairs at the food court in a seat overlooking Santa's chair. Evidently Santa was dining at the same time. James spotted him right away as he returned to his station. "I see Santa!!!" He was so excited! (Another mildly amusing episode from that dinner is that James got a book in his Chick-fil-A kids' meal. After flipping through it he tossed it aside... right over the wall into the Verizon kiosk down below. Oops. I ran down to apologize/retrieve it.)

On Christmas Eve morning, James and I went over to the Bergen Mall to pick up our last few items. Again, he was quite excited to see Santa. There wasn't much of a line, so we went up for an official visit (instead of James's standard shouting of greetings from across the wall). James was, again, anxious for his turn. However, as soon as I popped him out of the stroller, he chose to sit on the floor making bashful faces at Santa while keeping me in reach. He finally got on the big guy's lap, but the photo wasn't so great. This at least gave me an easy out for having to purchase any photos ($17 for the cheapest package!).

That afternoon, James's nap was interrupted by the arrival of Santa at our corner! The town's EMS has a Frosty & Santa that tour the streets (complete with sirens) every year. Dan was arriving home just at this moment, and as soon as he heard that James was awake, he grabbed him and his lil' jacket and ran out the door. (I followed behind with James's shoes and a camera).

James was thrilled by the "sleigh" and Santa. We chatted with our former neighbors and then began walking back towards home. James protested. "More, more Santa! More, more trucks!" So we promptly walked back. James went willingly to Santa's lap and even posed for some pictures. (Sadly, my battery needed charging and was therefore a bit slow, so I didn't get some of his best smiles recorded.)

Moral of the story-- if you want your two year old to sit happily with Santa, have some big trucks involved!

Post-Dec. 25th Santa news: in our few trips to the mall in the last couple of days, James has been looking for Santa. He's known right where to find him, and has been quite disappointed to continually find an empty chair.

Santa!

James has been pretty excited about Mr. Claus since "seeing" him in the parade on Thanksgiving. He's spotted him at the mall a few times. Last week we passed him en route from Target to Whole Foods. James ran over to the fence shouting, "Santa! Santa!" Then he said, "Nice hat! Nice hat, Santa!" He was really annoyed when I pried him away to go buy dinner. When we left Whole Foods, he darted back to the fence. Santa was up chatting to the photographer, and James said, "Santa, get in that chair!" It was funny. Santa sat down and waved to James :-)

Well, on Saturday we headed to a local nursery who had free Santa photos in the greenhouse. James was SO very excited the whole drive over. We'd ask him who we were going to see, and he'd say, "Santa!"

In line he could hardly contain himself and was practically diving out of Dan's arms to get to Santa.

Then it was his turn.

He wasn't so sure anymore.

The official photo we received captures the "deer-in-the-headlights" look a bit better.

He fell asleep in the car afterwards saying "Santa" to himself. When he woke up at home he asked for "More Santa. More, more Santa," until we let him hold the picture.