Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

It's me, Maya.  I think we need to clear the air.

This year, when Mom & Dad brought me to visit you, I was excited.  They told me that you were coming, and I was happy.  I've been practicing saying your name all month!  ("Sssss!")

This is us---do you remember?

And then I heard your jingly bells and I looked up and suddenly, you were there!  I couldn't believe it!

Santa!  It's really you!

But then . . .well, Santa, I don't really know what happened.  I mean, I had been waiting for to see you for a long time.  But when my big moment came, I got a little scared.

And then  . . . then I got a lot scared.

And you were so nice to me, and talked to me about my Christmas wishes, and whispered nice things . . .

 . . . but I still liked you a little better from a distance.

But there's something you should know.  I'm still a big fan.  As a matter of fact, I couldn't believe that you had given me a present for visiting you!  I was amazed.

 It made me want to shout, "Santa's #1!"

So, I hope there are no hard feelings, Santa.  Parker and I are really, really excited for you to come visit.  All day long, Mom and Dad were asking me, "Maya, do you remember who's coming tonight?" and I would say, "Sss!" (As if I could forget you were coming.  Ha!)

I got things all ready for you.  First, I put some cookies on a special plate that I made with my friends at preschool.

Then, Daddy said that maybe this year we should leave sugar for the reindeer (we used to leave hay, but we thought they maybe could use a little extra energy).  I thought that sugar was a great idea!

Like, a really, really great idea!!!

I helped to scatter it around the plate so that all of the reindeer can get a lick.



Santa, I hope that you have safe travels tonight, flying all around the world.  I want you to know that even though I was scared of you (a little), I still want you to visit my house.  Also, even though sometimes I'm a little naughty, I'm still mostly a good girl.  And when Mommy asks me, "Maya, are you a good girl or a bad girl?" and I say "Ba!" with a naughty smile, I'm just joking.  I'm not really a bad girl! 

Also, don't forget Parker!  He's, like, the best doggie ever.

Lots of love always,

The cutest little girl ever

(that's me, Maya!)

A note from Dana:  If you want to see Maya on Christmas Eves past, go check out this post :)

And if you want to see the past 3 years of Maya's visits to Santa, go check out this post :)

'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight* (and every night, actually)

It seems that cows have been bumped from the top spot on the "Things Maya Loves" list.  Her newest obsession?  Santa. 

Last week Dave pulled out her Santa pajamas (because they were the only clean ones left are so cute) and she went crazy.  She was giggling, pointing, laughing, totally excited about SANTA on her pajamas!  Since then, she's worn them every night and is a little obsessed.

When I dumped the clean laundry on to the couch to start folding it . . . she started to giggle, toddled at full speed over to the pile, and triumphantly held up . . .

 . . . SANTA PAJAMAS!

And then she did an imprompu shake-them-in-the-air dance of joy!

In hindsight, it's weirdly fitting that she's wearing her "I believe in Santa" shirt

The tricky thing about the Santa pajamas is that they are 2 piece----a top and bottoms.  Typically she sleeps in zip-up footie pajamas.  The two piece nature of the pajamas led to a surprising morning discovery the other day:

What?  I'm just taking off my pants.  I know that I've never done it before, but I've been awake for a while, I already threw my books*, and I didn't have anything better to do.

Then, the next morning . . .

What's the big deal, Mommy?

Oh, my pants?

They're on the floor.

(The Santa pants are front and center, along with her blanket, bedtime books, and assorted other stuff that got dropped out of the crib.)

You may be thinking "That's cute!"  (Or you may be thinking "What's the big deal?")  The problem was, I knew where this was heading.  First comes trying to take the pants off.  Then comes quickly taking the pants off.  What comes next, people? 

Any guesses?

The following morning . . .

(This picture is blurry and oddly shaped because it was taken on my cell phone and cropped)

Yeah, that's her diaper.  In her hands.  Luckily it was only wet and not dirty. 

Holy moly.

Check out the video below, and witness Maya's enthusiasm for Santa pajamas yourself.  One mention of the pajamas and she goes from whining about going to bed to literally beating down her own door.

*The books in the crib thing was recently mentioned on the Facebook page, as was another cute story today.  Head on over there to check it out---it's set to public, so you don't have to be "on Facebook" to see our page.