Chicago: Shopping Afternoon

If I could sum up the whole of our trip to Chicago in one picture, this is the one I'd choose ...



Little B did this nearly every time we crossed the street. Between the crosswalk signals changing, the masses of people coming at him, the wind in his hair, the sounds of the city, and all the other sights to be seen, my kiddo was high on life. He even did this the next day when the weather turned cold, wet, and horribly windy! It reminded me that no matter the weather, the fatigue, the whatever, life is still wonderful, still beautiful. Seeing his hands rush up into the air lifted my soul and made me laugh. And seeing him so excited just to be, made me proud to be his mom.



He also did a lot of this ...


... because there was so much to see! Most of the time we had no idea what he was pointing to, so we just guessed what we thought he'd be getting a kick out of.



We shopped up and down Michigan Avenue on Tuesday, putting my trusty Merrills to the test, and ended up at Legoland for our last stop before dinner. On the benches near the Legoland store are Lego humans set up to keep you company, so Baylor decided to try one out.

At first he was curious about what the strange man next to him was made of.

Then he just plain got a kick out of it!

I have to say, I was a little grossed out by the Lego dude as he was dusty beyond belief, but I decided to just let it go and be cool with it ... as long as Little B didn't try to eat the guy's coat or anything.

After a lovely dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (if you go, you MUST try Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake ... it is so incredibly delicious!), we made a quick stop at H&M and then headed back to the hotel for a little R and R.

We played around in my mom and sister's room for a while, then I left to get our room ready for us to hit the hay. Apparently this is what happened while I was away.

Mom introduced Baylor to blowing bubbles.

And he really enjoyed touching them.

Then they snuggled for a sec.

And then my mom realized that his hands were all sticky, so she decided to take him to the sink to wash them off. And he decided to hop in.

She brought him down to me, sans pants, with a dripping wet mess of khaki in her hands. Ah, the joys of being an oma.