We started off the Christmas celebration with a visit to Santa at the downtown Macy’s. Clare was really into the Santaland decorations, especially the train (which promoted a few “chugga chugga choo choos” and the ‘reindeer’). She was less enamored with Santa and turned into a clingy little monkey as soon as she saw the big guy. As you can see we remedied it by me sitting on Santa’s lap with Clare on my lap. She hung onto me pretty tightly, but she did talk to Santa compare shoes with him, and give him a fist bump on her way out. All in all, not to bad.
Obviously, Clare much prefers Santa Daddy to Santa Claus. She really got into opening presents on Christmas Eve, especially the paper and bubble wrap.
The payoff: A happy little girl on Christmas morning!! Clare approached her Santa loot very carefully, with a lot of exploring, but as you can see she loved it. I think she spent all Christmas Day climbing on and off her little chairs, setting all of the dishes on the table, opening and closing every door, turning every dial, etc.
Presents aside, we had a great Christmas with family. Mom made a prime rib on Christmas Eve night, and J made a Mexican fiesta feast on Christmas day complete with beans, rice, pork shoulder, and tortillas from scratch. All this while battling the brutal cold that I’m finally over.
