Clauser & Jee-Zee

Cosi loves Christmas! We've been working hard to catch her up on the holiday - telling her stories about Santa Claus & Jesus, interjecting with some appropriate songs and such.

On Christmas Eve, we took her to meet Santa Claus at our local mall. I kind of felt obligated. It was her first Christmas as an American.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse helped her to know what he would look like with the red coat, white fur, long beard & hat- so she was ready! In typical third person narrations, she kept telling us what she was going to do (& not do) when she saw Santa - "Cosi touch Clauser's beard, Cosi pull Clauser's beard, Cosi punch Clauser, No no punch Clauser, Cosi run to Clauser, Cosi hug Clauser..."

Typical Cosi - she kept her trash talking going, right up until the big moment. In the end, however, she panicked and wouldn't go near Clauser. Trey, on the other hand, sat right on Clauser's lap and looked at Clauser like he was an alien. We don't blame him. Surprisingly, Trey didn't cry. We really thought he was going to cry, but I guess Clauser is pretty interesting for an 8 month-old to look at. We finally coaxed Cosi onto Mommy's lap for a quick picture next to Clauser.

Here's that picture:
























One minute after she left the vicinity of Clauser, Cosi started the 'trash talking' all over again. We told her that she could have a second chance with Clauser next year. (Except it's going to be at a Bass Pro Shop where we don't have to pay - why didn't anyone tell us about that before Christmas???) Of course, she has no idea what 'next year' means, so she still asks to see Clauser a couple times a day.

Now, who is Jee-Zee? That's Cosi's way of referring to Jesus. We did our best to tell her about how Christmas is Jesus' birthday. Birthdays are awesome to her, so she was happy to listen. Then, she told us how "Jee-Zee love Cosi, Jee-Zee hold Cosi, Jee-Zee rub Cosi's belly." We agreed with most of what she said, but we expressed some doubt about Jee-Zee pulling Cosi's hair...

We're already looking forward to next Christmas with our two little ones, even though I expect Cosi's pronunciation might be a little better....who knows, maybe Trey-by will be ready to make us laugh with his versions of their names? I can only hope...