No to Santa, Yes to Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers.

Baby it's cold outside!

I can't believe she did not rip her gear off the second we entered the store.

Shop til you drop.

Early Monday morning Baby S and I braved the crowds to go shopping. I dislike crowds and always feel uneasy among throngs of people, so this was a stretch for me. It totally goes against my love of amusement parks and my ease in China, but trust me, it's a real fear. It was about 34 degrees when we left the house and I was pleased when Baby S allowed me to bundle her up without a single complaint. She actually kissed the dragonfly jacket her Auntie C sent her (this is why we think that she views it as another stuffed animal).

Much to my dismay I could not get everything I needed at T@arget and that meant schlepping the kid to Wally Mart. The Salvation Army volunteers decided to spice things up and had Darth Vader and three Storm Troopers in front of the store. After the Santa fiasco I was a bit hesitant to expose Baby S to life size Star Wars figures. Baby S LOVED Halloween but her love was mainly for skeletons, monsters, ghosts and other disgusting creatures. She did see a Storm Trooper at the Mall and did not flinch, but that was before the Santa trauma.

I realized that I could not sidestep the SA people, so I just sighed and made a mental note to add more money to her therapy fund. As we were getting close to entrance, Baby S noticed them and went all gaga, like most kids go over Di$ney characters. She smiled, cooed, giggled, gushed, waved and blew kisses at them. One of the Storm Troopers walked over to us to say hi, while I just held my breath and wished he would just go back to ringing that stupid bell. Baby S smiled at him, did her nearby wave (opening and closing her hand) and said hi. The ST commented on her beauty and how great it was to see a kid without fear. I told him that he should have been at the Mall a few days earlier when she was traumatized by the sight of jolly old good Santa. The ST said, "Can't blame her, that guy is just creepy." Yes full grown adult, wearing a ST costume in front of Wally Mart and ringing a bell, Santa is the creepy one.

I should have set her up right there for pictures and use them for our Christmas cards.