Where's Santa?

Yesterday morning I told Brody that after his nap we were going somewhere special. I told he we were going to see Santa Claus. Big mistake!!! I put him down a little early for his nap (so we could avoid traffic going to the mall) and he talked to himself up there for over TWO HOURS! I finally went up to his room and he exclaimed, "I'm awake now! I'm awake! Let's go see Santa!!!" Since it didn't seem like he'd go to sleep, Namaw and I loaded the boys into the car and headed for the mall. What do you think happened as soon as we got on the highway? Yep. Brody fell asleep.

When we arrived at the mall we devised a plan to load the boys in the stroller while trying not to wake up Brody. As soon as I opened the door on Barrett's side, Brody's eyes shot open. He said, "Is this the mall?! Are we at the mall?! Where's Santa??" He said this while frantically trying to get out of his car seat. We got the boys in the stroller and headed into the mall while Brody asked over and over and over, "Where's Santa???"

I was so excited when we arrived at Santa's house to see that NO ONE was there! Santa and his helpers were just sitting there chatting. It was awesome! They said that the first half of the week in the afternoons is always really slow. (You better believe that's when we'll go every year from now on!) Brody climbed onto Santa's lap and went mute. He wouldn't smile or talk...he just sat there! Barrett on the other hand was captivated by Santa's beard! He was straining his neck back to look up at Santa. Not even the noisy elves (who tried to get his attention while I took a picture) could get Barrett to look away from Santa.

What is funny to me is that Santa came to Brody's school today to visit. I asked Ms. Amy if he went mute again and she said that he didn't! I guess he told Santa what he wanted for Christmas and told him "Merry Christmas!" He also told me that he smiled and said "cheese" when Ms. Amy took a picture. I said, "Why didn't you smile for me when I took a picture of you with Santa yesterday?" His response? "I only smile with Santa when Ms. Jessica and Ms. Amy are taking the picture."