he sees you when you're sleeping. he knows when you're awake.

if i had a wider blog page, i would have placed these three images side-by-side in a triptych {like i did here}, but because my blog column is somewhat narrow, i thought too much of the detail would be lost if i placed them side-by-side. so i added them vertically as i typically do. but if you clicked on the link above, would you agree that the triptych would be a nice order if i were to have these shots printed and framed? i would love have that done on canvases for his nursery.

i originally had a different photo picked out for this post. this one...

it was taken quite a while ago {around thanksgiving, i think?} i had remembered it when i got the idea to do this little santa's coming to town series, and i made a mental note to use it for this post.

but since then {a few nights ago}, i happened onto one of those serendipitous occasions... you know, where you are in the right place at the right time? at one point, i was at the computer, and at the complete other end of the house was isaac and mr. b. i thought they were in there together watching t.v. and winding down for bed. well, actually, they had been doing that when i left them. they were watching a special about vintage andy williams christmas specials on p.b.s., but sweet isaac was so tuckered out, he had fallen asleep right there on his dad's lap... watching television upside down, of course... which he loves to do!

mr. b. very gingerly reached for his phone so as not to wake isaac up. he wanted to call me to come see isaac. {we're giddy, goofy parents like that... always calling the other to come in and see something cute that isaac is doing.}

anyway, it turned out that i was already on my way into the room to get isaac and put him down for the night. when i walked in, i was to find him so adorably sprawled out across mr. b's lap, in what looked like a less-than-comfortable position to sleep. but i guess when you can sleep like a baby, you can sleep anywhere, any time, in any position... oh, how i would love to sleep that well again!

well, needless to say, i had to run and get my camera and pray that by the time i returned, he would not wake up. and as you can see, he did not. and when i was done taking {far too many} pictures, i sat with them on the couch and watched the rest of the christmas special. it was a moment i'll never forget... especially not now that i have photos of it and now that i wrote about it here.

speaking of magical moments that i will never forget, we took isaac out to a couple stores to get him some christmas presents tonight. we got a late start, and i was not sure how he would handle it all. i thought he might get cranky in the stores and be so tired that we would not feel comfortable taking him with while we went to get something to eat afterward.

but there was something in the air... maybe the bright lights? maybe the aisles of endless toys? maybe just getting out of the house, period? i don't know what it was, but isaac was in the very best mood! we were looking for a little kid guitar for him {we found the cutest one at world market}. so while we were in the toy aisle, we held up some of the instruments {like tambourines or maracas} and played them for him. he would just giggle and giggle with glee.

then we went to toys-r-us, and it was a similar experience. when we found the stuffed toys aisle, i was able to get him to laugh quite loud and for such an extended amount with a big stuffed green turtle and a silly little stuffed giraffe. it was the longest he has ever gone on laughing, and we were so tickled by it. {i'm no dummy... those were the two animals i purchased for him. mr. b. was scolding me for showing them to isaac. but that was how i knew which ones to get!}

i know isaac has no idea what christmas is all about right now. and i know that shopping for christmas gifts means nothing to him right now... we could have been grocery shopping, and he would have been just as sweet and playful. but there was something about knowing that we were out looking for gifts for our first christmas with him that made it pure bliss.

it was such a fun night, that i "begged" mr. b. to let us go out to eat afterward. {he does not typically like to eat out.} there is a chinese restaurant a few doors down from toys-r-us. we've eaten carry out from there many times. but this was the first time we went there to eat in. they have the very best crab rangoon!! we were one of only two occupied tables. it was late. isaac was tired, but still in the sweetest mood {like i've never seen him before}, and i made up my mind right then and there that this would be our christmas tradition {or one of them}... every year, after shopping for isaac's gifts, we will go get chinese food as a family.

i think knowing that this beginning of a tradition that sort of just hunkered down into our family... unplanned, sort of unexpectedly, but almost like it was always meant to be... that was the best part of the entire evening.

and i don't think i can even wait another 365 days until we can do it again.