A Visit to Santa

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, and for the most part, I shun all things Christmas before Thanksgiving, but in my effort to avoid the mall between Thanksgiving and February, I took the boys to see Santa on Friday. Mudgie was SO excited. I'm pretty sure this was because he thought he was going to come home with his Christmas wish (a fire truck with a bell and a light), so I had to explain to him that this visit was just to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas. Then Santa has to go back to the North Pole and tell the elves, so they can make it. Then, on Christmas Eve, Santa visits the homes of all the good little boys and girls to bring them their wishes. Now he wants to go to the North Pole!

Since this is the first year that Mudgie really gets who Santa is, it was also the first year that he didn't scream when he saw him. Although he's a pretty shy kid, he went right up to Santa on his own and told him what he wants for Christmas. Then he willingly sat on Santa's lap for a picture, and happily accepted the candy cane Santa offered. In fact, he asked before we even left the house if he was going to get a candy cane since he remembered that from the last time he saw Santa. This kid has an amazing memory! However, I knew Aaron, who still has stranger anxiety, was going to want no part of Santa's lap, so I joined in the Santa fun, and Aaron didn't shed a single tear!

We spent a lot of time at the playground this weekend, especially since the weather was so nice. On Saturday morning, the boys and I checked out an indoor playground since it was still pretty cold out. Aaron loved running around to everything, playing for a minute and then moving on. Mudgie got really into the train table (big surprise, right?) and the car table, and spent most of time playing there. Watching these 2 boys play is so interesting, as their styles are so different. Aaron watches what everyone else is doing, and wants to try it. Mudgie gets totally immersed in his own little world, and doesn't care about anyone else unless they try to touch his stuff.

What interesting, adorable, and infuriating little men I have! Most the time I can't decide if I want to kiss them or strangle them. Aaron is really bad at listening to, or at least following directions. We've even started giving him time-outs, especially when he hits Mudgie over the head with a toy, which unfortunately, is fairly often these days. But when he's done with time-out, he'll go over to Mudgie and give him a hug and kiss, which is so cute that you immediately forget his prior transgressions. These kids!