'Zat you Santa Claus?

'Tis the Christmas season. The boxes are out of storage and the lights are strung on the roof. The holiday has overcome Thanksgiving and begun encroaching on Halloween. As we were unpacking the Christmas decorations and watching some old stand-up comedy, Violet and I had the following conversation (paraphrased below).

V:  haaaaaaaahhmmmm (Hey who's that?)
M:  Who?  Me?
V:  ahh ahhhhzzz (No, the guy in the red suit.)
M:  Honey that is Eddy Murphy. We're watching an old tape of his stand-up.
V:  thig-g-g-g-g G-G-G-Gh (THE ONE IN THE Hat!)
M:  This is Santa Claus.  He brings toys to good children every Christmas Eve.
V:  h-rumph (Toys you say? I must meet this man.)

And so the journey began.  We set out to meet this Santa Claus Saturday (11/20) afternoon, unsure of the mall traffic we'd face. We were also unsure of what Violet would think of her first encounter with Santa Claus or her first shopping trip.

Santa was so happy to see Violet. And Violet was happy to see Santa. Through Santa's magic powers he was able to understand what Violet wanted for Christmas.

Afterwards we went shopping.  Violet showed us when she'd had enough of the mall by dropping a bomb in the seat of her pants. I decided to give changing her in our Honda Element a shot, while Lea stopped into a shop to make an exchange. I was scared to see how a 350 lb. man would fit in the back of this car. There was plenty of space for me without having to hang out of the car; and the way the seats reclined, it made for the perfect changing table. Who knew? Now I do. Now you do. Doo doo.