"Campbell, Meet Santa..."

Campbell's reply, "Um...no thanks. Maybe next year."

Travis' company put on another really great event yesterday for the families, Milk and Cookies with Santa. I was so grateful for this event. Now we can avoid the crowds (and germs!) with Santa at the mall. We dressed up Campbell in her new holiday gear, courtesy of GrandDeb, and headed downtown. Campbell was absolutely giddy! She couldn't contain herself! I don't know if it was being around other children, the room to walk/run/crash, or just the holiday excitement...but she was crazy and oh so happy! She was grabbing onto every adults' legs there, walking from person to person, just working the crowd! The shyness seems to be fading...and fast! ;) She was especially interested in ripping the decorations off of the coat drive box, checking out the older kids' snacks, and carrying around an Elmo paper cup she got.

All was going great until...

She saw him.

She maintained a safe distance and thought maybe she could escape unnoticed, but then he spoke to her. Oh no, no she was really in for it! We put her on Santa's lap and got the exact reaction we expected.

Somebody get me outta here! This big guy in the red suit is VERY scary!!

She faked a quick smile, tried to squirm her way down, and safely escaped Santa's grip. :)

After the traumatic introduction, we went to a conference room where they had crafts set up. Travis made Campbell a Christmas door hanger for her room. Note the picture of my handsome Martha Stewart below. Then we went back to see Santa and tried to squeeze in a family picture thinking if she was sitting with me instead of Santa, it would work.

Nope.

Santa read Twas the Night Before Christmas to the kiddos and Campbell sat still for a few minutes. Then she decided to go on snack patrol and try to snag cookies and pretzels from unsuspecting big kids who were actually still listening to Santa.

After Santa was done, we took Campbell down to Founder's Hall to see the Singing Bears. So cute - these big bears sing Christmas carols and play orchestra music every hour on the hour. Once again, crazy baby! She was ALL OVER the place...walking up to everyone, just begging for attention! In no time, she has transformed from a baby who is walking...to a toddler we can hardly keep up with. Seriously! She's a fast little sucker!!

We had a great day. Campbell was EXHAUSTED which worked well for us. We took the baby monitor and went next door to our neighbors' holiday party after she went to bed. Lucky for us, the houses in our neighborhood are REALLY close together so the monitor worked. She was completely zonked out and didn't make a peep while we enjoyed some good party food and catching up with a couple of neighbors.

One final picture to demonstrate this crazy hair, I hope you can see it. This is before I fixed it for Santa pictures. Travis was appalled when I licked my hand and rubbed her hair down. I kind of was too - OMG...do mom's really do that??? I just did, so I guess so! Seriously, this red hair is growing in every which direction these days. It's hilarious, and has a mind of its own. I think she needs some "product."