Bo making the Christmas rounds

Continuing a tradition that began with Bess Truman, First lady Michelle Obama visited the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, reading " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas" to patients, parents and caregivers.

Here's the complete article in the Washington Post written by Robin Givhan.

What set apart this event from that of Truman's or any of the other subsequent first ladies was Obama was accompanied by her two daughters — Sasha and Malia — and Bo, the first dog.

According to the WaPo, this was Bo's first formal appearance since his arrival at the White House was unveiled.

The girls worked the velvet rope line, where children sat on chairs and cross-legged on the floor, along with Bo, who seemed as interested in a baggie of treats brought along by the girls to keep him on his best behavior as he was with the toes of a young man in a wheelchair. Bo, by the way, was looking particularly festive in a red and white jingle-bell collar.

Unfortunately, Givhans reported that Bo began barking at Santa Claus. He — Bo, that is — settled down as Santa moved out of his sight lines and Obama began reading the holiday poem.

Not for nothing, I covered the Holiday Hunt at Locust Grove Sunday in the Town of Poughkeepsie. Children — and adults — were invited for a "treasure hunt" in which they had to find certain words and phrases from the poem, attributed to Clement C. Moore.

According to Ursula Morgan, Locust Grove's director of public programs, scholars now believe that Moore only published the poem and it was actually written by the mansion's first resident Henry Livingston Jr.