Glimpses of Childhood

Last week, I picked Petite up from daycare one evening, and I had a quick stop to make at the mall on our way home. Petite was agreeable to leaving daycare without too much fuss. Usually she's having so much fun when I arrive that I have to coerce her to come with me; she hates to leave her friends and whatever fun she's engaged in when I arrive.

Anyway, we bundled into the car and went to the mall. There, I stopped at one store, looking for a particular item. When they didn't have it, I thought I'd try one of the other stores in the mall. And as Petite and I walked along (okay, she ran; I followed behind carrying our coats), we came upon the area in the mall with Santa Claus and his North Pole setting. She stopped dead in her tracks.

"Santa!" she pointed and smiled as I caught up to her. I nodded. "Yes, that's Santa Claus. What does Santa say?" I asked. The reply was immediate, "Ho ho ho!" She beamed. I bent down and hugged her. I said, "Would you like to look at Santa? We can visit him another day, but maybe we can watch him for a few minutes from over here." I led her to a better vantage point where she could really get a good look at Santa and the kids who were visiting with him.

She watched intently as a little boy, maybe about 5 years old, went up the ramp and sat beside Santa, talking to him. Petite was all eyes, drinking in the scene.

I picked her up and explained what was happening. "See, the little boy is going to talk to Santa. Santa is a very kind man. He likes to talk to little boys and girls." She nodded quietly, all the while watching, and mouthing "Ho, ho, ho."


"At Christmas, Santa will bring presents to good boys and girls. And maybe, if you talk to him, you can tell him what kind of presents you want. Would you like that?"

Petite nodded and turned to me, "Presents?" she asked.

"Yes, Santa will bring presents if you're good. Would you like that?"

She nodded emphatically.

"When you can talk to Santa you can tell him what presents you would like. Petite, what will you tell him? What presents do you want?"

Her reply came swiftly.







"Chocolate ones."

Out of the mouths of babes. Bless her chocolate-loving soul. That's my girl.

Hmm, I wonder if I can get a doll made entirely out of chocolate for her; obviously that'll be the perfect gift!



Development Notes
We took her to the doctor last Friday morning and while there, the doc measured her at 36" exactly and 29 lbs 15 oz. She's lost three pounds, but it brings her back into the norm on the charts at the 75th percentile. All is well. And boy, is she a smart cookie. Wow. I was putting her boots on her the other morning. I started counting, "one" and she followed quickly, counting right up through 11 on her own. She knows a bunch of colours, she knows numbers through 10, she is getting familiar with the alphabet and God love her, while she doesn't respond to me in French yet, she understands my questions and words, replying in English in the appropriate context. I am blessed.