Christmas Party

Saturday marked our first Christmas party of the season. Jesse's mom is one of 11 kids so each year they rent out a local town hall which provides enough space for everyone to celebrate together. Like every year there is a ton of wonderful food, great conversations, Christmas songs being sung, and a visit from Santa.

Riley was clingy for a little bit when we got there. I don't blame her -  this many people can be overwhelming even for me (even though I also have a large family). But soon enough Riley discovered kids playing in another room... and more importantly found a similar aged buddy named Jackson. She and Jackson spent a fair amount of time running around after each other. Or, more accurately, Riley spent a lot of time running after Jackson. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come as it isn't the first time we've seen her enamored with little boys.

So much food!

The kids all colored pictures which they then gave to Santa. Here Riley presents Rudolph's cousin, black nosed reindeer.

We had been preparing Riley for at least a week that she would get to see Santa this day and that he would bring her one gift. She was quite excited about this and informed me that when she saw Santa should would say "give me my one present please". At least she was going to say please, right? I tried to convince her to say "nice to meet you", but ultimately she was too petrified to say anything.

In the past two years meeting Santa has not gone over so well, but we were hopeful this year since she has a better understanding of who he is. We were prepared that she would still freak out when close to him - so we were pretty proud when she shook his hand. Sure, she looks a little apprehensive, but no freaking out. She even walked right up to him to hand him the picture she colored. Amazing.

So she didn't sit on his lap, but we didn't really push it either. Maybe in a few more years... and Santa had plenty of other little and big kids willing to sit on his lap.

We left shortly after Santa did. Riley had gone without her nap and was actually asking to go to sleep in her bed. As we were leaving Riley kept asking if Santa left in his sleigh. We assured her that he did, but I think she was bummed that she didn't get to see it.

Oh and what did Santa get Riley? A fox backpack. It had a coloring book and crayons in it, but she didn't seem to care. Actually, I think she was too tired to care about any of it until she got some sleep.

Since then she is all about putting stuff in her very own backpack and taking it with her... where ever she goes.

Just wait until Santa come on Christmas, kiddo!