seeing Santa

We waited to take Bates to see Santa till we were at my mom and dad's (D'd and PopPop). The Santa in my hometown is the real deal Santa. This Santa knows your name and calls you when it's your turn. He knows things about you... like if your room is clean, even your closet, about your pets, etc. Like I said, he's the real deal.

I was excited to take Bates to see Santa. Based on his experience at his preschool, I didn't figure it would go very well. We waited in line for just a few minutes. It was really weird to be standing in the same line that I stood in as a child and this time I was holding my own child.
Bates passed the few minute wait by being passed around to all our family and watching other kids talk to Santa in hopes that would psych him up for his visit!
Then it was Caroline's turn. She was brave and set a great example for little Bates. Although she forgot to add an ipad to her list for me!

Then, we were up.

We walked up the steps and Bates' grip tightened.

I tried to set him in Santa's lap.
I quickly picked him back up.

And held him on my knee while we talked to Santa.

He yelled to his dada and waved.
He told Santa he wanted a "choochoo". Then Santa said, "so you want a choochoo buddy" to which Bates said "No".
and then he asked Santa for some candy.
Then we were ready to go. He told Santa "bye bye" and blew him a kiss.

Santa told him to be sure to come back next year so they could chat.

All in all, not bad. No tears. Just a little scared. So much better than the school experience. Maybe he's warming up to the Jolly Ole' guy!