Little girl, big city.

On Black Friday, Anni and I took Elise to downtown Chicago with my brother. We wanted her to ride on the 'L' and to see the holiday decorations and, perhaps most importantly, to have an opportunity to run around at Millenium Park. For many reasons it's the best city park I've ever seen.
What struck me as we wandered around downtown was how small Elise looked compared to her surroundings. Some of that juxtaposition is captured in some of these pictures. At least that was the attempt.

 Waiting for the Blue Line.

 She enjoyed the ride.

Macy's sure isn't Marshall Fields. The old downtown department store that used to feature impressive, traditional holiday displays now sells out, turning over the windows to clothing and apparel designers to decorate how they want. The result? Elise checked out the first two, then got bored. We did too.

She was wowed by the store's many floors, Christmas decorations and the tiny people seven stories below.

 Beats refrigerator magnets: Elise works on her letters during a break at Macy's.

You can lay down beneath the bean, so we did.

 Guess this is a beaning smile. (Yes, I am lame.) 

If you haven't been to the park, imagine a two-story stainless steel bean-shaped artwork. I don't know squat about sculpture, but this thing easily trumps our own Cherry on a Spoon. The bean -- called Cloud Gate -- is made of shiny stainless steel, which creates cool reflections. Here's me being very unoriginal.

   There is a nice view of downtown from the park. The ladies are overlooking the park's outdoor ice skating rink below the ice.

A bit squirmy.

 Trying to bolt at the aptly named Chase Promenade.

 Running at the Crown Fountain. It's made of clear glass blocks and displays really large images of Chicagoans -- and their big teeth and nostrils. Oh, and it shoots water in the summer.

Ledge walker meets homeless musician.

And then there's this.

Hey, Chuckles.

Colin has only laughed hard at two people -- Anni and Ariane, my dad's cousin. Moments after Ariane sat down with Colin, he got the chuckles. Pretty funny.

How big is your turkey?

Ours is 16 lbs. 15 oz.

It's here...

Saturday morning I was cleaning up some leaves and brush from the yard. 

Saturday afternoon we were debating whether to drive to Anni's sister's house because of the snow and crummy roads. 

Sunday morning we were enjoying the snow.

C-boy at 3 months

Colin -- or Colin Boy, as Elise still calls him -- is 3 months old today. It's also Election Day, so Anni took him and Elise to vote this morning. (Yes, I voted too.)
Anyway, at 3 months he just started to laugh. We missed video of him when he was really chuckling the other day, but the video above gives you an idea of how chipper he is. (Note: Be glad it's Anni, not me, making silly noises with him.)
Besides chuckling, the little guy likes to smile.

Well, aren't you sweet

Colin was having an off day -- maybe Daylight Savings Time messed with him like it did Elise two years ago; seriously, it did -- and at one point he was crying and just generally having a snit as I was holding him.
Apparently it was obvious I was struggling with him because a very honest-sounding Elise suggested what might be the problem:
"Maybe he just doesn't like you."