AJ's 1st trip to see Santa

Today my mom and I took AJ to see Santa for his first time! We were not sure about the weather since the forecast was for freezing rain all day yesterday and that the conditions would stay slippery for today, but all the roads were dry this morning and the sidewalks were pretty clear as well. I should just stop going to the Weather Channel web site! Anyway, for whatever reason (cold? teething? grandma's too fun?) AJ did not want to take his morning nap, but we packed him up in the stroller anyway and headed out. We bundled him up pretty good, and on the walk to the El, he fell asleep and stayed that way for most of the trip to Macy's. Between the Blue Line and the store, we went through the Christkindlemarkt in Daley Plaza and took pictures by the tree, which is actually made up of 133 trees!

We thought the line would be relatively short since it was a weekday, and when we got there, the line was moving pretty quickly. After a bit though, things seemed to slow down and we started to wonder if Santa want to lunch! Several people waiting in front of and behind us turned around and left to avoid meltdowns, but AJ was hanging in there, so we stayed. We took some pictures of him looking around in wonder at the little winter wonderland they created for the line. As our turn approached, Andy and his friend Tracy met us in the line and I was so happy that Daddy would get to see this special event! The line felt like it took forever to me, so I have to say AJ was a major trooper.

When we got to Santa, AJ was very interested in his beard! I think Santa had to reclaim it more than twice, but he was very good-natured. The visit was actually free and we did not have to purchase a "photo package", so we just took a bunch of our own pictures and it was really fun. We tried to get AJ to smile, but he was in a more inquisitive mood. I think all he asked Santa for were his 2 front teeth (since he is still all gums)! Is it wrong to think your own baby is soooo cute?!!

After saying goodbye to Santa, AJ also said goodbye to his daddy, and then went to the food court for lunch and he did well there too. All this good behavior was surprising to me given the lack of normal napping today, and on the way to the train stop, he fell asleep again. Here he is at the Washington stop, waiting patiently for the train...once on the train though, AJ woke up and let us know he was unhappy, but quieted down again before our stop and didn't make a peep for the rest of the ride home. There were no more naps today, but AJ stayed up long enough to hang with Daddy for a few minutes before he fell asleep tonight with no story, prayer, or lullabye! I guess Santa wore him out!











Oh, and one more thing...AJ is not crawling yet, but he does sneak backwards on his belly! Here he is again. The animals in the foreground were just inches outside his grasp when he started!