Better Not Pout, Round 2

Last year, Ava's trip to see Santa was less than desirable. This year, we hoped for a different outcome, but I'll let you be the judge of how things went:

At first, Ava was curious, intrigued and captivated by Santa's Village at Four Seasons Mall.

She enjoyed hanging out with her super cool cousins while we waited in line to see Santa.

All of a sudden, we were next in line to see Santa, and all of a sudden, Ava was no longer curious, intrigued, and captivated.

The boys went first, all 3 of them. They told Santa what they wanted for Christmas. They all sat perfectly still, with beautiful smiles, while pictures were taken from afar.

While the boys sat on Santa's lap, Ava and I watched from a few feet away... So Ava could see that sitting on Santa's lap was no big deal.

Everything was fine, until... The boys got off of Santa's lap, and Ava realized it was her turn. She buried her head in my shoulder, and frantically started saying, "No Hanta! No Hanta"

I moved a little bit closer, and she dug her nails into my shoulders while tearing up and continuing to say, "No Hanta! No Hanta!"

As we approached the Jolly Old Man, Ava assumed the death-grip position as I threw her in Santa's lap...

All while screaming, "No Mommy, No Hanta!"...

And so, for the 2nd year in a row, Ava flipped out during our trip to see Santa. Let me say though, that while she was screaming and crying, she was very polite to the man in red.... When Ava first sat down, Santa said, "I love you, Ava." To which she replied (while screaming and crying), "Uh-Un, Hanta" (I love you, Santa). Santa then asked Ava, "What would you like for Christmas?" And while screaming and crying, with mouth and eyes open wide, Ava mustered up the courtesy to say, "Teddy Bear!" Santa handed Ava a coloring book, and without being prompted, she immediately said, "Cuh-Coon, Hanta!" (Thank you, Santa)... Again, while screaming and crying. Santa did his best to ask her more questions, but by that point, Ava only replied by saying, "Buh-Bye Hanta. Cuh-Coon. Cuh-Coon, Hanta. Buh-Bye." She blew him a kiss, jumped back in my arms and wrapped her little arms around my neck.

As soon as we were near the exit of Santa's Village, Ava was back to normal. Every once in a while, she would look back at Santa and say, "Hanta.... nice!"

Perhaps one day we'll get a picture of Ava smiling while on Santa's lap. If not, we'll certainly have an album full of hilarious pictures to share with her when she's older!