Can't bear the wait? Maybe this will help

•   Meet a Bear. Kicker Robbie Gould (right) and cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. (left) will sign autographs from 1 to 3 p.m. today at Gurnee Mills mall, in the Show Court near Entry G (near the JCPenney outlet). The line forms at 10 a.m. Autographs are $30; photos, mini-helmets and footballs also will be sold.

•   Chow down. Dinkel's Bakery, 3329 N. Lincoln, is baking its bear-shaped rye bread (complete with little orange-and-blue scarves) for the first time since 1986. They've also got Bears cookies and cupcakes and will make a special-order Bears cake if you call the night before -- (773) 281-7300.

•   Take a Soldier Field daydream. With a panoramic poster of Soldier Field from www.allposters.com in your work space, you'll be mentally transported to the 50-yard line.

•   Baby baby. Offspring considerate enough to be born before the big game deserve a Bears cotton sleeper -- $17.99 online at www.sports authority.com.

•   Kick off. Actually, flick off -- with the Bears Finger Football Game, available at www.kbtoys.com for $34.95. It's endorsed by, well, Packers quarterback Brett Favre, but it's all Bears all the way.

•   Hot dog it. Get your favorite pooch a "paw-ty pack" of Bears helmet- and football-shaped doggie treats at Off the Leash Pet Boutique, 4955 N. Damen.

•   Boogie down. Now's the time to memorize every last verse of the "Super Bowl Shuffle." For the complete lyrics, go to chicago.about.com.

The Picasso has already put on a Bears cap, but today, the horses in the Bowman and Spearman statues at Michigan and Congress will be wrapped in cozy blankets with the Bears logo.

Next week, the Goodman Theatre will begin a blue-and-orange light show in its window front at Randolph and Dearborn. Already, Bears colors have lit up the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, the Sears Tower, John Hancock Center and Merchandise Mart.

On Tuesday, the dinosaur skeleton outside the northwest corner of the Field Museum will get fitted with an orange-colored Bears jersey. By Wednesday, the lions in front of the Art Institute will strap on their new Bears helmets.

The city has also put up banners recognizing Chicago as champs of the NFC on street poles along sections of Randolph and LaSalle streets and Washington Avenue.

Stephanie Zimmermann, Dave Newbart