As we arrived late last night and got very little sleep, today we wanted to stay busy so we could adjust to the 7-hour time difference.  What better way to do this than to go to the Mall of America, and to have the little guy meet Santa?!

The Santa at Mall of America is a real pro.  He looks the part, and plays a little bit wacky but approachable by kids.  With someone as young as the little guy, at 13 months, they like to have him sit on a chair and play, and then have Santa come in behind them and put the kid on his lap and talk to them.  So how did it go?

The little guy had a great time at first, and was smiling and taking some great photos.  Then he was ok when Santa picked him up, because he was focused on whoever was taking his pictures, and the camera in general.  But when Santa asked, “do you like toys?”, the little guy freaked out and tried to run away, literally.  But he forgot he doesn’t really know how to walk yet 🙂

These things like this meeting of Santa are so special.  I never thought I would care about them as a parent, but I really do – it is just something that is fun to do and see, and to me it is really something I look forward to as the little guy grows older – doing those cheesy things with your kids that you never thought you’d do.  Why not do them all and enjoy the specialness of the moment, right?