Getting Ready for Christmas!

We got our tree while in Green Bay for Thanksgiving!  Bennett loved it - he wore his snowsuit for the first time and had fun eating snow, playing with snow balls, and knocking snow off of the trees.  He also loved the sleigh ride we took to get out to the tree field.  And he got to meet Rudolph!

It took us a few days to get the lights on...  It is still awaiting ornaments!

Then today Brad's work, GE Healthcare, had their annual Kids Christmas Party.  Ben took a long nap, so we only got to go for about an hour, but it was fun.  Ben got to meet Santa, had a "treat" (a sucker), and got a balloon dog.  And he also got to meet Elmo, a "snowman" (Olaf), and a panda bear.

Surprisingly, Ben was VERY scared of Santa!  Last year he loved him, and we've been practicing "What does Santa say?" and Ben replies "Ho ho ho!"  But the poor little boy in front of Ben started crying when his parents tried to force him onto Santa's lap, and that freaked Ben out.  He immediately started fake crying, but then wouldn't go near Santa.  This was the best we could do.

Of course as soon as we left that area he kept pointing in that direction and saying, "Ho ho ho!"  When I asked, "Do you want to go back and sit on Santa's lap now?" he would vigorously shake his head no. Oh well - maybe next year! :) 

Elmo was a much bigger hit.  He gave Elmo a fist bump.

A little girl walked over and hugged the panda and Elmo, and Ben reached out his arms like he wanted a hug too, but he wouldn't go any closer than this on his own.

And here is Ben's first viewing of the lit up Christmas tree.  I missed his initial reaction, which was an enthusiastic, "Wow!!!"  Wow is one of his favorite words lately.  :)