Snack with Santa and Mommy and Daddy's first date without Charlotte

Charlotte awoke a little before 8 am—-it was a bit of a scramble to get everyone out of the house this morning. Today, Mommy helped Auntie Dale with Snack with Santa at Kristen’s and Gregory’s school and Daddy babysat Kristen, as she was home quite sick. Charlotte enjoyed running around the gym, talking to the children while they ate their snacks. Several times, Charlotte got up close to Santa to check him out, but wouldn’t touch him. When Santa would get out of his chair to visit with the children, Charlotte frequently would crawl up into his chair to watch Santa move around.
Charlotte sitting in Santa's chair

Mommy’s hoping that the repeated exposure to Santa will mean a better photo with Santa at the mall next Monday morning with Charlotte’s cousins. Charlotte was quite taken with the candy canes that Mommy gave to the children—she generally carried one of each flavour around with her until they fell on the floor and broke, at which point, she would want another one.

By lunch time, every child in the school had had a visit with Santa and enjoyed a snack supplied by the school’s Parent Council—-Mommy enjoys helping Auntie Dale at this annual event. Charlotte, having missed her morning nap, fell asleep not long after we left the school for home.

Daddy played with Charlotte and read books this afternoon until it was time to go to Nana’s—-Kaitlyn and Nana looked after Charlotte while Mommy and Daddy went out for the first time without Charlotte since they returned home from China. Mommy and Daddy went out for dinner with a few retired colleagues of Daddy’s and their spouses to the Jerusalem Restaurant where a belly dancer performed during the meal. Occasionally, the belly dancer would encourage patrons of the restaurant to dance with her. As the music played, Mommy’s hips moved secretly, while dance routines and moves went through her mind—-she misses her belly dancing days, but looks forward to the day when Charlotte takes the Mother-Daughter class with Mommy.

Charlotte was still wide awake and playing with her cousins when we arrived at Nana’s to pick her up. Kaitlyn completed her babysitting duties by changing Charlotte’s diaper and putting her in her sleepers for the ride home. Many rounds of kisses and hugs later, we were on our way home.

Charlotte fell asleep on the way home in the car, as expected. She opened her eyes briefly while we removed her winter outerwear when we got home. Mommy quickly whisked Charlotte upstairs before she awoke too much, as both Mommy and Daddy had very full stomachs and were really tired. Charlotte chattered briefly while laying on the change table so that Mommy could remove Charlotte’s shoes. Charlotte’s eyes closed almost immediately once she was placed in her crib. It was just after 11 pm when we turned out her lights—-Mommy is expecting that Charlotte will sleep until late in the morning, perhaps missing her little program at the community centre.