we have an elf on the shelf.  his name is buddy.  for those of you that don’t have children or have never heard of elf on the shelf, let me give you a little background.  an elf on the shelf is one of santa’s helpers.  he or she comes to your house and your child gets to name him or her.  he or she then watches your child during the day and at night they go back to the north pole to report to santa how your child was throughout the day.  the next morning, your child will find his or her elf in a different spot.  also, you can’t touch the elf or he or she will lose their magic. 

buddy first started visiting us last year.  he found john at the ranch last thanksgiving.  john decided to name him buddy (with a little help from mom & dad).  buddy came back again this thanksgiving and john was very excited to see his friend again.  since gillian was a baby last year, john explained to gillian that buddy was “one of santa’s helpers.”  john is also very concerned that gillian will want to hold buddy and snuggle him.  john told buddy “you got to stay up high, cause gilly will want to hold you like a baby.”  we have been very lucky, buddy has listened to john and stay where gillian can not reach him. 

gillian is recognizing him now too.  she says “buddy.”  and points to his location.  before we leave for school in the morning, she does blow him kisses and says “bye-bye.”  last night, we went to aunt trish & uncle kevin’s house for sammie’s birthday.  while we were there, we saw sammie & kyle’s elf “cute elf.”  gillian saw cute elf and said, “buddy.”  it’s a little hard to explain to her that there are multiple elves.

buddy in today’s spot