Annual visit with ole Saint Nick...

Cole was weeks old his first Christmas back in 2006 so we didn't make a trip to sit on Ole Saint Nick's lap but I knew that the following year that I wanted to find a special Santa Claus to visit each holiday season. Spring forward to November 2007 as we began getting ready for the season. I didn't want to go to a mall and have Cole sit on the lap of crappy costumed Claus with the fake beard and polyester get-up. I was on the hunt for a Santa that looked like Santa should. I hoped I could find one amidst the hundreds of ones that looked as if they were donning Halloween rentals. And then I got a postcard from our local nursery/greenery where I had bought our perennials and annuals shortly after we had moved in in May. There on the front was Old Saint Nick with a real beard, twinkling eyes and festive clothing/robe and boots. It was just a photograph but it spoke to me and at that point, it was settled, Tonkadale Nursery was where we were headed the weekend after Thanksgiving when Ole Saint Nick would be visiting for two days with the added bonus that pets were welcome in the pictures and a triple bonus that the pictures were FREE plus you could take your own.

We showed up early and only waited in line a short time. Santa arrived with a merry greeting and a magical presence and looked just like he had on the postcard. I felt giddy at such a find. Cole was not happy being placed on Santa's lap and a very upset kiddo with a smiling Santa was our photo that year and the next and the next and the next. Four years running, we went, same Santa, same scenario with a crying Cole and our favorite smiling Saint Nick. Last year, days shy from turning five, we went again, but this time, though slightly hesitant, Cole actually smiled and allowed Santa to talk with him. As the days neared this year and we began talking about our visit with Santa, Cole was all excited and wanted to make a Christmas wish list. He cut out pictures of the things he wanted and created a separate sheet for each of six items. We headed out the Saturday after Thanksgiving and again, though slightly reticent, he eagerly kept asking as we stood in line when Santa would get there. As a "HO, HO, HO" rung out, Cole's eye got big and he strained to see through the crowd. The same Santa as years past stopped and waved as he made his way to his seat. Cole looked at us and said "Mom, it is the real Santa, look!". When it was his turn, he hopped up onto the stage and began chatting away showing Santa his sheets. As he got down and began to walk away, he stopped and said "Santa, I'm going to be in Pennsylvania this year at my Gigi and Pop Pop's for Christmas". Santa replied "I know Cole, Santa knows these things". The expression on Cole's face was priceless. He ran over and told us that Santa already knew he would be in PA. So for another year, the magic of the holidays lives on thanks in part to our favorite Ole Saint Nick.

Visitors...

Grandma & Grandpa Fox came to visit us for a long weekend. Cole had fun playing games, throwing the football & watching games on TV, visiting the aquarium, drawing pictures, reading books & snuggling on the couch with both of them. Cole as usual had the energy of all of us combined and would have happily done a hundred more things. :-)

We have a true fan on our hands...

I mentioned just a mere few weeks ago, what a growing fan of the Vikings Cole was becoming. Needless to say, I have watched more football this fall than I have since my college or Boston days. Cole has re-educated me on the finer points of the various plays. He consumes highlight trailers and spits back out statistics with what seems to be a photographic memory. It has been unbelievable to see him learn so much about the game in just a few short months. He follows the plays with extreme precision, can "read" the scores of all the NFL teams as they scroll at the bottom of the TV screen just by the quick flash of the team symbols and intuitively seems to understand the multiple strategies used that are so dependent on time left, location of ball et al. When there are not games on he wants to know when they will be on. He likes to cut out the pictures from the newspaper when they show his favorite players and has begun posting them on his bedroom wall. He drew pictures of Christian Ponder and Adrian Peterson and want to send them to them. :-) He knows how many weeks are left in the regular season and that the Vikings need to win the remainder of their games to make it to the playoffs. It would be comical to some if it weren't actually truly spectacular to observe.

Cole had been asking to go to a game and Dave had only been hesitating with the concern of the raucous crowds. But, he caved after Cole requested for the 999th time and crossed his fingers that the rowdy fans would be sitting elsewhere. The Vikings were playing the Detroit Lions. Cole was more excited than I could ever describe. Wearing his new Vikings sweatshirt and visor, he and Dave headed to the Metro dome last Sunday. Great seats surrounded by great fans thankfully. And the Vikings WON! He hasn't stopped talking about it since.

Kindergarten School Photo...

After being spoiled for three years with photographs of Cole taken at his Montessori school by Lisa Buth, I was leery this year about how his LifeTouch pictures would turn out now that he was in public school. I have heard (and vaguely remember myself) that in order to get so many kiddos photographed, they rush the kids through like cattle and don't take the time to coax true smiles out of them. I've seen enough of these pictures from friends and family with the standard icky bright BLUE background that my expectations were very low. I did my best to get Cole to practice smiling without a forced expression and went with a more subdued (I hoped) gray background when I placed my order (it turned out more gray-blue). I was pleasantly surprised with the results as Cole's pics turned out pretty well! :-)

My superhero...

This Halloween, Cole definitively knew weeks ago what he wanted to be. I thought for sure when I first asked him back in early September that he would say a ninja or a football player but I was wrong. Without hesitation and to my surprise he said "Spiderman". He had gone through a superhero phase earlier this year but his accumulated action figures had begun collecting dust already and his interest in watching Superhero Squad Show was short-lived. We perused the internet looking for a great costume, because I hate cheap costumes. I know, I know, it is ridiculous to spend money on something they wear maybe twice for the season but I just have always cringed at crappy kid's flimsy Halloween gear. So we settled on the muscular (padded) Spiderman ensemble that we came across complete with gloves, a webshooter wand and socks (not just shoe covers). He had seen a "real" mask at SuperTarget the week before that he really wanted (it talked), so we added that (after he had earned it with good behavior) and voila, his Halloween 2012 get-up was complete.

He got to dress up during the school day for their holiday party and then again for trick or treating that evening. He isn't much of a "sweets" kid so asking for candy from strangers (though less intimidating for him than in year's past) was still not terribly exciting. I guarantee that we will have candy in the house until well past Christmas. We made it to 20-25 houses or so before he had had enough.

To date, he has been a monkey (2007), a devil (2008), a prince (2009), an airforce pilot (2010)and a race car driver (2011).