Swimming on a cold day

I'm not sure why the film quality of these videos isn't very good. I'll have to work on that. In the meantime, enjoy watching Katie showing off her swimming expertise!

SNOW!!!!

Our first major snowfall. Katie's first use of her snowpants. SNOW!!!! Of course the downside of the snow was that it took Mom an hour and a half to get home on her normally speedy 20 minute commute.

Dad is out of town so we had to rush this post up to keep him company while he's away. We miss you!

Christmas Excitement!

Tonight we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo, where they are decorated for Christmas. It was a beautiful night, and the lights were wonderful! We discovered upon arriving that Santa was receiving visitors in the Lion House, which was exciting. Unfortunately, we may have cut our Santa visit a little too close to bedtime...

In case anyone was wondering where Katie got those beautiful blue eyes... (click on the picture to make it bigger)

Inside the Lions House, there was a little Santas Village set up. Katie's favorite part was the dog, which she really wanted to climb in and pat.

Then it was our turn to meet Santa. Katie has gotten very proficient over the past week, at answering the question "What does Santa say?" with "HO HO HO!!" But she mostly just stared at this strange man in the red suit.

A picture with Mom and Santa is okay, but not as fun as looking at the dog in Santa's village. Also, it turns out that Santa is a skinny guy with an English accent.

Then it was time to sit on Santa's lap! Hmm. Like we said, perhaps a bit close to bedtime. Who IS THIS GUY? GET ME OUT OF HERE! (But look at those cute new winter boots Katie has)

Last, Moose and Caroline got Indy a very nice Christmas gift, which she's enjoying a lot more than Katie enjoyed meeting Santa.

Christmas decorating

We put up our tree after we got home from Thanksgiving, and forgot to post the pictures! Also featured, Katie's first pair of pigtails.
She was an excellent helper, helping Daddy put the star on the top of the tree.

Thanksgiving

We had a great time in Indiana for Thanksgiving - Katie got to play with Great Grandma (Tutu), Grandma and Grandpa Henn, Grandpa Penna, Cousin John and Aunt Juliet and Uncle Tony.

Trying to get a picture of her sitting still is becoming increasingly difficult, but we gave it a try! Katie even got a special bottle (we're trying to move to all sippy cups) with Tutu. We especially like the sequence of Katie, John and Tutu taking a photo together.

Fun Weekend (Splashing at the Children's Museum Part II and other assorted excitement)

We went to the toy and game fair this weekend at Navy Pier (home to the Children's Museum and lots of other fun stuff, including bargain basement $23 parking), and Katie had a fabulous time. We got to look at lots of games, see Christmas decorations, and even go inside the real Oscar Mayer Wienermobile! As for the Children's Museum, we'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Then we did a little work. (Katie says, Who Me?)

After that, Katie also discovered the one cabinet in the kitchen without a child lock.

Splashing at the Children's Museum

A couple of weeks ago, Mom went out of town for the weekend for a squash tournament with Aunt Anne. Dad and Katie had a great weekend, and Grandpa Penna came to visit for a day. Everyone had fun at the Children's Museum, especially Katie, who, rumor has it, needed an entire change of outfit after these photos were taken.

Last, we thought a picture of Katie sitting still was remarkable. Now, let's see if we can get her to smile while sitting there.

OK, maybe that's a little too much to ask...

Oh well, nevermind!

Halloween!

Katie had a great time on Halloween. Her playgroup had a costume party, and then we came home and Katie passed out candy to trick or treaters. Her favorite candies were the Mike & Ikes and Hot Tamales, because she could shake them. She became quite good at dropping candy into peoples' baskets.

Our neighborhood was overrun by trick or treaters - we ran out of candy after 500 people, and gave up! There were probably over a thousand kids out there. That's what we get, living in a safe neighborhood full of close-together homes. It was a lot of fun, looking at all the great costumes. Katie was the cutest (well, also the only) lamb.

The couch picture didn't work very well because the lamb (ahem) kept trying to dive off the couch

With our neighbor, Anna Kate, a VERY cute bumblebee. Too bad I couldn't get both of them in the picture at the same time!

Pre-Halloween Festivities

Katie has been very busy preparing for Halloween! First we went with a neighbor and her daughter to a HUGE Halloween benefit. Katie got to wear her costume, which she didn't seem to hate. I will have to upload a picture later because those are on our other computer... Stay tuned for an exciting update!

Then, on Saturday we went to the Lincoln Park zoo for Halloween fun, and Katie wore her Gopher cheerleader outfit. She even got to ride on the merry go round with Mom, which was pretty awesome. And on a White Bear who went up and down, no less!

On Sunday we went to a Spooky Singalong at the local music school, which may actually have been the highlight of Katie's young life. She LOVED it, and clapped and danced and sang her way through the concert.

She got so into it, that finally Mom took Katie down to the stage, so she could really be part of the action. Of course that meant trying to keep Katie from actually getting on the stage. You'll note us on the bottom left of picture below.