Sweet photo of baby napping with Santa goes viral


1 photo
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — There's no better place to nap than on Santa's soft, bowl-full-of-jelly belly.

Just ask 6-month-old Zeke Walters, who fell asleep in line while waiting to visit the big guy at the Eastland Mall in Indiana last week. His parents, Donnie and Kelli Walters, thought about taking their baby home and returning when he was awake, but Santa wouldn't have it, according to Yahoo Parenting.

"Santa came over and said, 'Please stay and keep him asleep,'" Donnie Walters told Yahoo.

Santa — who has 33 years of experience under his belt (or, in this case, his suspenders) — lay across his big green chair and asked Zeke's parents to lift the baby out of his stroller. They placed the baby right across Saint Nick's chest — somehow managing to keep him asleep. In his other arm, Santa clutched his trusty book "The Night Before Christmas" and closed his eyes to join Zeke in the land of slumber.

If the ensuing photos don't put you in the holiday spirit, nothing will.

Walters posted the images of his son's nap with Santa on Facebook, and they've since gone viral over multiple social-media platforms, including Reddit and Imgur. The original Facebook photo has been liked and shared hundreds of thousands of times since Thursday.

"It's been just amazing, the response we've gotten to it," Walters told the Huffington Post. "I'm getting messages from all over the place."

Walters, a stay-at-home dad and disabled Army veteran, said he has no idea how the photo spread so quickly but that the response has been overwhelmingly positive. People seem to be as moved by the sweet interaction as he was.

I can't believe how adorable our son's pictures with Santa came out. After falling asleep in line waiting, Santa asked...

Posted by Donnie's Daddy Daycare on Thursday, November 26, 2015

"Of the 22 million views and the numerous amounts of comments, there hasn't been anything negative said," he told Huffington Post. "Everybody is just so sweet and so kind and saying how it's their favorite picture."

This isn't the first time this particular Santa has made headlines. Last year, 3-year-old Gracie Lynn saw him eating a meal alone at a local restaurant and decided to give him some company by joining him at his booth, according to WFIE News.

Photos of that interaction went viral, too.

Photos

Related links

Most recent Family stories

Related topics

Family
Jessica Ivins

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast