Santa 2.0

My Dad and I took the girls to have their second annual Santa picture this past week. I've been meaning to write this blog entry since last Thursday!

Things didn't go quite as smoothly as last year, but don't fret, there is a story.

For the last several weeks, everytime we saw Santa or a picture of him, I pointed him out to the girls. I thought that if the girls were introduced to Santa early, they would happily sit on his lap. Simple. Well, as we walked up to Santa's temporary dwellings, Quinn actually smiled slightly and waved at him. Teagan stared him down skeptically. Seeing her stare, Santa immediately told my Dad and I to back the children up facing us, place them on his lap and walk backwards talking to them. We were going to fool two 18-month olds into thinking that they weren't on Santa's lap. Right. The second our hands were off the girls, they both started wailing. Teagan calmed easily but Quinn clutched my neck for dear life telling me that there was no way in hell she was sitting on his lap. The elf photographer didn't miss a beat.

OK! Santa is going to hide behind the couch and will jump up at just the right time! One of you needs to be in the picture!

Not it, Dad. (Let's be serious, it is cuter with Grandpa anyways)

My Dad parked himself on Santa's couch. I placed a still slightly upset Quinn onto Grandpa's knee. All the while, I could see Santa's furry hat ducked behind them.

The elf photographer started furiously shaking a clapper while her elf buddy waved Elmo in the air to get the girls attention. That was Santa's cue. He leapt up placing his hands on my Dad's shoulders.

And that's the story of how Grandpa starred in the girls Santa photo.