This week was all about the man in red himself: Santa Claus. We prepped Jackson for his big meeting on Saturday by practising saying, "Santa," "Ho, ho, ho," and "Merry Christmas."
We opted for his nursery's Christmas celebrations again this year to have the meeting take place. The wait for Santa wasn't too long, but to help the time pass, Jackson chose a vanilla cupcake to buy from his teachers' stall in the Christmas market. It was really crowded this year because there was a brass band playing in the main hall, and they took up a big portion of the space with their stage. Unfortunately, it made everything a bit uncomfortable and the Christmas fair didn't have the same feel as last year.
When our number was called, we walked outside to Santa's grotto through a very thin layer of snow. Jackson loved the multi-coloured lights and started dancing to the Christmas carols. He was apprehensive about being too close to Santa, but he did give him a high-five. We tried to take a picture with Jackson sitting on my lap beside Santa, but he screamed and jumped down as fast as he could. Before he left, he did say, "Thank you," to Santa and he was very excited to receive a gift.
After he met Santa and opened his sweetly wrapped gift, he gave it a hug and smiled; but then, he said, "More presents." Uh-oh. With some distractions of other things to see and do at the Christmas Fair, we changed his mind and he enjoyed running from room-to-room and navigating through the crowds. Jackson wasn't interested in sitting down to get his face painted or to dress-up for the photo booth, but he did want to buy another cupcake from his teachers' stall.
Overall, the visit to see Santa was brief, but much more interactive and exciting than when Jackson was one. He had a sense of where he was going and who he was seeing. His love and spirit for all of the Christmas festivities filled my heart with joy. Our little Jackson helps to bring the magic of the season back for us and we are eager to see his reaction when Santa comes to visit our house in just a couple of weeks.
P.S. Good news! After contacting the company about my USB drive, they were able to help me fix it (a free service) and recover all of my files. What a huge relief: there will be no wasted time or money now.
On his way to Dobbie's garden centre for a Sunday adventure out to look at Christmas decorations (and surprisingly, an animatronic reindeer!)
Santa's Grotto
Jackson thoroughly enjoying his cupcake while waiting to see Santa
The best picture we could get of Jackson with Santa
Jackson preferred to pet the dancing dog instead of visit with Santa Claus
Opening his silky soft goat plush toy from Santa
Developmental updates: Jackson had many new words and phrases this week: "I'm better," "brioche," "with choo choo," "bless you," "she's sad," "Ho, ho, ho," "Santa," "Merry Christmas." He is getting really creative with his independent play and using different voices for different cars to talk to each other when they are riding up and down the Little Tikes mountain or racing around the living room. We had a full week of nursery drop-offs without any crying. Jackson was very happy to get into his classroom and start playing right away--even if there weren't any other children there, yet. He made lots of art projects this week (four) at nursery and even penned a letter to Santa. (I hope he gets everything on his wishlist!)
If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.
