At the beginning of the evening he spent time coloring Rudolph pictures with his best buddy Corbin. They also spent some time chasing around a big bouncy ball and rolling it back and forth to one another. He is the first friend Samuel has made that is a boy around his same age. They actually get excited when the see each other. Allen and I get along great with his parents too so we try to get together often.
This was Samuel's first experience meeting Santa and he was very curious about the Man in Red. By the time he left he knew just who Santa was and would look in his direction everytime I mentioned his name. Santa read the Night Before Christmas before distributing gifts and Samuel sat right down in front of Santa with the other kids and listened to the whole story. He was mesmerized!
Later, I found that he had wandered over to the speakers in the corner of the room and was quietly sitting and bobbing in time to the music. He loves to dance and will move in time to any rhythm he hears. After I convinced him not to sit so close, he found a friend to dance with him and they both stood by each other bending their knees to the beat.
After the party Samuel was a big helper as usual. He found the dishes trolley and pushed it all around the room. People were able to drop their silverware into the buckets and then (with some guidance) he pushed the cart right into the kitchen.
Samuel got to do all of his favorite things at the party - color, play with friends, chase a ball, listen to stories, dance and push around something with wheels. Needless to say he was exhausted by the time the celebration was over. On the way home I kept looking back to see his eyelids fluttering and when we got home he fell fast asleep!
