Gracen and I have been busy crafting up all sorts of fun homemade ornaments for our tree this week, and this cute little Santa is the latest addition to the fleet. I’ve made these with several classes of students during my time teaching, and while they’re a perfect project for older kids, Miss G and I had a great time working on one together.
While we don’t have a Santa photo for Gracen’s very first Christmas (we were living in Kuwait and didn’t really have the opportunity there, so we planned on getting one taken in Paris while we were on vacation, but ended up spending 3 and a half days in the Frankfurt airport and never making it to France due to weather conditions…), here’s a comparison of Grae’s santa photos for this year and last. It’s amazing what a year does, isn’t it? In the first one she still looks like such a baby, and in the second, she’s clearly a little girl (*sob*).
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Gracen’s always been a shy little girl around people she doesn’t know (men more than women for some some reason). In fact, she started really playing strange between 3 and 4 months old when most babies are still so young that they don’t mind being passed around in the least.
Last Christmas, when we went to visit Santa at a nearby mall, we were thrilled with the fact that both the photographer and Santa were very sensitive to Grae’s cautiousness. Santa took the time to come over and talk to her while she was still in my arms and let her pet his velvety suit, and the photographer set out a little rocking horse for her to sit on instead of having to sit on Santa’s knee. The session went really well, the photos turned out beautifully, and our little girl left happy and excited about Santa Claus, which was the most important part.
Given the great experience we had last year, there was no question in my mind that we’d go back to the same place this time around. We’ve been talking about it for the last week or so, and though Grae’s seemed really exciting about seeing Santa, I could definitely sense that she was a little uneasy with the sitting on his knee part.
When we arrived to the mall this morning, we lined up, and enjoyed the entertainment provided by Santa’s playful elves. Gracen went around collecting their trading cards and loved seeing the tree, hugging Frosty the Snowman, and inspecting Santa’s kitchen as the line up moved through Santa’s village. When it came to her turn to visit with Santa, she was happy to give him high fives, but didn’t want to sit on his lap. And you know what? That was absolutely fine with me. Having my little girl feel nervous or uncomfortable all in the name of a photograph is just not worth it in my eyes. Instead, she sat on his rocking horse long enough to snap a couple of quick photos, and then asked to be taken off. Here are the shots we got this year…
I love how the first one starts out very seriously, in the second you can see a cautious smile sneaking out, and in the third she looks like she’s having a good time.
In the end, the photographer asked if she’d like to sit with both Mama and Santa, and she agreed {although she doesn’t look overly thrilled}.
Overall, I’d say the whole thing went pretty well. The photos are a perfect representation of Grae, after our mini photo shoot was done she snuck back to give Santa a quick hug, and she hasn’t stopped talking about him since.
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For those of you in the Lower Mainland, these photos were taken at Richmond Centre. I’d highly recommend them as the elves, photographer, Mrs. Claus, and Santa are all absolutely lovely and great with little ones. They have several package options all available for $25 (we always get the disc of images so we can print and use them as we like) and there’s plenty of entertainment as you wait in line. For more information, click here.