Santa Anna -- Day 862

Well, we thought that our slightly hyperactive girl needed a bit more excitement, so we decided to take her to see Santa at the mall. You should have seen the smile on her face. She waited in line with -- how should I say it -- ants in her pants.

Then when the time came to get on Santa she hesitated for a bit but then got right up. She told Santa what she wanted, and it was a modest request: soap. Ok, she ended up chatting away and adding to the list. She also wants a brush and because of a police officer nearby, a police hat. Well, that one may be a bit tougher, but we managed the rest of the stuff. She has been asking for soap for her bath for so long, how could we deny that baby pleasure?

Oh yes, we also had a photo taken. By the way, the trick to get Anna to smile is not to say 'smile' but ask her to laugh at the camera. Just a little trick to pass on.

It was also funny on the way to the mall when we took the metro. Anna kept saying, "Santa knows when...," and then filled in the blank with whatever she thought Santa was aware of. This time it happened to be: "Santa knows when you are yawning." Apparently, she had just yawned. She often makes up her own lyrics, and last week she was saying, "Santa knows when you go down the stairs." He also knows when her Nya-Nyas are sleeping and when she goes wee-wee. I guess Santa is a pretty omniscient old fellow.

By the way, my new camera came in this week, and I am now learning how to use it. Special thanks to Charles and Judy for contributing towards the present. It is a pretty slick camera, so hopefully I can capture our fast little girl better. Once toddlers get too quick, point-and-shoots no longer really do the trick. I think this one will work out well though. Even without really understanding the thing yet, I can do much more than with my other digital camera.

Lastly, in a couple of days, we all will be flying to North Dakota for Christmas, so there probably won't be any posts for the next 10-14 days. Anna sure is excited to get on the airplane and can hardly conceal her giddiness. Even though she had a cold the last time we flew and her ears hurt quite a bit, she hasn't stopped calling herself a pilot since. She's enduring the pain for a career as a pilot.