Santa Claus is coming to town...

Every year since Tessa was born, we've gone to the children's Christmas party at my Mom's office to see Santa.  Sometimes the drive into Seattle was stressful and the walk from the parking lot to the building was cold and/or wet, but I love these pictures more than I think I would if we had paid for a photo with a mall Santa.  Merry Christmas from Tessa and Santa Claus!

Christmas 2000
Tessa was about 4 weeks old when she met Santa for the first time.  Well, she slept through the whole thing so she didn't really meet him.  But she was adorable in her Christmas outfit that she got from Robby and Andy.

Christmas 2001
At just over a year old, Tessa seemed fascinated by Santa.  It helped that he gave her a present.  She was so good and I was relieved she was not going to be scared of Santa...

Christmas 2002
Tessa loves to prove me wrong.  At just over 2 years old she wouldn't get anywhere close to Santa.  She got within arms reach to grab her present and cried all the way back to her chair.  We did catch up with Santa in the hallway on his way back to his sleigh so Tessa (with the help of Daddy) could thank him for her present.  Notice there is still a 3 foot "No Santa Zone".

Christmas 2003
Tessa had just turned 3 this year.  We managed to talk Tessa into getting back up on Santa's lap but she wouldn't move her stuffed kitty away from her face.  Tessa is in there somewhere!

Christmas 2004
A lot changed between Tessa's 3rd and 4th birthday.  This year she still needed her stuffed kitty for moral support but she decided Santa wasn't so scary.

Christmas 2005
As a 5 year old, Tessa was one of the older children at the party.  Lots of little kids went up to see Santa before she did and since they all seemed to come away unharmed and with cool presents to open, Tessa decided she could go see the man in red too.   We even got her to take up her much smaller stuffed snowman while grandma held kitty.

Christmas 2006
Six years old and Tessa finally walked right up to Santa with no hesitation! 

Christmas 2007
Tessa is 7 now and since Grandma is retiring in early 2008, this will be our last trip to Seattle to see Santa at Grandma's office.  Maybe we'll have to do breakfast with Santa at the train station here at home.

Merry Christmas!

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