So this year was the 5th (!) year off doing this whole Mall Santa thing. Seemed like a good time for a recap and some comparison photos.
 |
| 2009 - The girl is 9 months. |
Baby's First Mall Santa! And the first time I got to Mall Santa as a mom! Very exciting stuff. She's wearing a dress that I wore at my first Christmas that was made out of material from my mother's wedding (it was the '70's. Her bridesmaids wore plaid). All very sentimental. And adorable. And she was decidedly nonplussed. I posted about that first Christmas
here.
 |
| 2010 - the Girl is 21 months |
Mall Santa Round 2. This time in a dress my grandmother made her for the holiday season. She was terrified. And NOT INTERESTED. This was as close as she would get.
 |
| The Dude is 8 months The Girl is 2.5 years. |
That would be my favorite Santa photo of all of them. I blogged about the whole ridiculous experience
here but the bottom line was that The Girl was TWO. Really Two. And Santa was NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Really any time that I'm getting frustrated with The Dude I need to come back and look at this picture because as ridiculous as he's been lately he can't hold a candle to the insanity that was his sister at this age. 2011 also produced this awesome:
 |
| Me in 1908, my son in 2011. We were almost the same age here to the day. LOVE. IT. |
The next year the Santa pics are Instagrammed. Of course they are. 2012 might as well be known as the Year I Instagrammed ALL OF THE THINGS:
 |
| 2012 - The Girl is 3.5 years and the Dude is 20 months. |
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES! Seriously. Everyone was really into it this year. Although I was not thrilled with The Girl's fashion choices overall it was a pretty easy situation. No tears, no woe. Just happy holiday memories. She told Santa that she wanted My Little Pony ponies and all was good. Also:
 |
| 2012 - The Girl is 3.5 years and the Dude is 20 months. |
Santa was so fun we went for a round 2 at the
Kringle Inventionasium in Tower City. Once again The Girl insisted on animal print but whatever. Since then the Inventionasium has been named one of the
11 Best Santa's by Time Magazine. We're going back again this year and I can't wait. Although according to my daughter "Santa does NOT wear Overalls. He should be in a Red Suit." I can't disagree with her....
 |
| The Girl is 4.5, the Dude is 2.5 and the Little Guy is 6 months. |
And finally, this year. We have officially exceeded the maximum capacity of Santa's Lap. But all three of them are looking at the camera! I count that as a major win. I love the expression on the girl's face. She's all... what up. And the little guy is clearly thinking "what nonsense are they making me do now?" The dude is all of two right now but thanks to the magic of an older sibling we had no issues with getting him on Santa's lap. I think he'd walk through fire if his sister told him to. Although he had issues with the mall's choice of music arching his back and screaming NO WANT JINGLE BELLS!! NO WANT!!
 |
| I will never get tired of this picture. |
Also he was NOT going to wear his red tie to match his siblings. Instead he opted for the "DADDY TIE" - it's striped like daddy's ties are striped. I'll allow it because ADORABLE.
The girl asked Santa for "palace pets and barbies" The dude asked for "PRESENTS" both will be getting what they want under the tree this year.
Yay for Mall Santas! And seriously can you believe that this is our 5th year doing the Christmas thing as parents? Time flies, my friends!
