santa is a communist

on friday, jack and i joined a group of local bloggers on a fun little seattle outing which included a visit to macy's santaland. i didn't have high hopes for a great santa meeting due to j's reaction at the reindeer zoo, and those hopes were exactly correct. as soon as we got close to santa, jack started shaking and whining and grabbing my arm in a tiny toddler death-grip. i couldn't bring myself to be one of those moms who throws their screaming child onto santa's lap and hops away, so i obliged and sat in the photo. even then we ended up with a hilarious shot.

notice his little hands clutching me for dear life. oh jack. i don't know where you get this from. [actually yes i do. i still tear up and feel nauseous when i have to get close to someone in a character costume -- mickey mouse, chuck e cheese, cosmo the BYU cougar, you name it. hopefully i can defeat this phobia before jack's first disneyland trip.]