In line for Santa....

She was great.  It was late at night, close to 9 pm.  Lots of children waiting in cheerful outfits, lots of parents in sweatpants and sloppy shirts.  Grace told us that she was going to ask for "another Audrey" (favorite doll) and wanted to tell Santa she could go to the North Pole to help him make presents.   She was excited and pretty patient.  A cute little 15-month old boy ahead of us discovered he was no longer shy and persisted in trying to hug Grace, but our girl played coy (or more like Lucy to Charlie Brown's football) and dodged little Gabriel every time.  Finally, just as we got close to Santa's big chair, Gabriel burst out crying at the sight of Santa.  Grace ran forward and gave the little guy a nice hug.  He was all smiles then, at least long enough for one good pic for his parents.  Then it was Grace's big moment.  She said "Santa!" and ran forward, scrambling into his lap.  And then....nothing.  Just like the Easter Bunny in 2008, or the Santa later that year.  Silence.  She stares off into the distance, looking as though she had just eaten a raw frog.  Finally, she climbed down and came to us.  "I didn't feel like talking," she explained.  That's okay, Santa knows.