Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Lean Your Ear This Way!

One evening this past week Hana donned her Christmas sweater dress a friend of hers gave her as a birthday present and we headed to the mall.

She wore a pair of black shoes she's obsessed with. They're a "fancy" pair she received also as a birthday present, but she does not walk very well in them, so I found myself in line at The Children's Place purchasing a pretty, new (and luckily on sale!) pair of "fancy" shoes for her.

She was delighted! (The very next day, however, they were ruined by her climbing on our rock retaining wall in them. That's my frilly-yet-rough-and-tough daughter for ya!) When we arrived, Santa had just gone on a milk-and-cookies break. So we waited and waited and waited. Hana patiently waited an entire hour to see Santa! She really was patient, too. She never complained or whined, just ever so often she would ask, "Where's Santa?" I would explain to her that Santa works a lot this time of year and he needs breaks. It was dinner time for him just like it was about to be for us. Then something magical happened. It began to snow and Santa appeared saying "Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas boys and girls!"

She started practicing posing.

And then she was told, "It's your turn next!"

We were shocked at how patiently she waited for him to call on her.

She answered all of his questions, even the famous, "What would you like for Christmas?" To which she replied, "Toys!"

She was so very nervous and bashful, yet she was so incredibly brave. She did it all by herself; Daddy and I just watched anxiously.

She does not get her bravery from me. Nope, not at all. I don't think my parents have a single picture of me with Santa until I was much older. I remember crying because I did not want to talk to him and they never forced it. I also remember having panic attacks and having to leave the mall because I was so claustrophobic around all the people, but that's enough about me. ;-) She was rewarded for her outstanding behavior with a ride on the carousel.

And then we went out to a yummy dinner "at a restaurant," just like she wanted...