“When is Alster Snowball going to get here?”

I stopped what I was doing to try to figure out what Drew was talking about. And, by the way, that’s how conversations go with a 4-year-old. They come out of nowhere, with very little detail, and often leave you trying to decipher their meaning.

Anyway, I tried probing for more information and Drew says, “The one who watches and tells Santa.” Ohhhhh! I’m clued in now. I said, “Oh, Alabaster Snowball?” I’m shocked for two reasons:

1. That he got so close to remembering Alabaster’s name, I didn’t choose a very simple one and we hadn’t mentioned him since last Christmas, and…
2. Because I went to great lengths trying to make Alabaster as exciting and magical as possible with the story before introducing him to Drew, and when I finally pointed to Alabaster sitting above our window, my then precious 3-year-old looked at me and said, “That’s not real, Mommy,” with a look on his face and a tone in his voice that suggested I was a total idiot! Of course, I was offended and insisted that he was real. Drew half-heartedly played along for the rest of the Christmas season.

Soooo, imagine my surprise and true giddiness when Drew brought it up this year. Let me tell you, this elf is FABULOUS! Every morning Drew will race downstairs to see where he is. Then we spend a few minutes contemplating the measures Alabaster has taken to get to his new location. This morning for instance, he tenderly moved a picture frame off of the shelf, then hopped on the stool to aid him in returning to his spot for the day.

After Drew asked me when he would show up, I hadn’t given a whole lot of thought to it because, like I said, he wasn’t totally sold last year. But, we talked about how it was up to Santa and hopefully he’d arrive soon. Wouldn’t you know the next morning we had a visitor.  I never mentioned anything about it, I just let Drew go downstairs, as is his usual ritual, to get his milk and play in the living room. Suddenly, I hear, “MOMMY, MOMMY!!!! HE’S HERE, HE CAME!” So naturally I asked who came and if there was someone at the door to play along (this is why kids are so fun).  He said, “No, Alabaster, he’s here, come see, come see!” I, of course, was in complete shock that he had arrived and ran down with Drew to see him.  Drew spent the remainder of his cartoon watching time glancing up at Alabaster in complete awe. It went like this: Watch show, glance up, smile, look at the tv, quickly look back up, stare at Alabaster, then…”Mommy, I think he just moved.”

Ahhhh, perfect. That is what I tried to get out of him last year. Better late then never, I suppose. So, without further ado, meet Alabaster. Alabaster, meet everyone!

~Melissa :o)