a visit with santa.

since i was on maternity leave last year and brought emme to visit santa, i decided this was a tradition that needed to continue.  emme slept through her first visit with st. nick, so i was interested to see how she would respond to him this year.  justin decided he wanted to be part of the action, so the three of us loaded up in the car one sunday afternoon and headed to the mall.  we unloaded emme, the stroller, the diaper bag, and ourselves and strolled inside.  of course we had parked halfway across the entire mall (we don't spend much time shopping), so we navigated through the entire maze of stores and holiday traffic to find the man himself, mr. claus.  unfortunately, he was surrounded by a line that wrapped around the entire area and looked to last about two hours.  we literally did not even slow down; we made a giant loop around santa and his minions and headed out the way we'd come.  i really dislike malls.  

not to be deterred, i decided i would take emme after work the next day.  justin was content to pass, after seeing the insanity that is santa pictures in december.  i had her cute "santa outfit" picked out, and i was on a mission.  there was a line, but nothing compared to the weekend line.  we got in the queue and i began stripping and re-dressing my baby right there.  the people behind us thought i was a little crazy, but emme and i had a hilarious time.  that is, until we got to the destination.  she was intrigued by the giant presents, the twinkling lights, the big tree, the ornaments.  i think she was even interested enough in santa himself.  and then i put her in his lap.  i'd tried to explain what was happening, but i felt the pressure of everyone waiting in line on a weeknight, and ended up probably hurrying her too much.  anyway.  she took one look at santa, looked back at me, and then began to bawl.  big fat tears, red cheeks, the whole nine yards.  she was so pitiful and i could not stop laughing.  the poor photographer showed me the 5 pictures he'd taken in quick succession, all of which were of a semi-creepy santa (aren't they all, just a little?) and my heartbroken baby.  i could tell he felt terrible about it, but i thought it was a perfect capture of the whole experience.  we'll see how she handles him next year....