everyday.

our winter fun this month has included lots of drawing, crawling, climbing, moving feet while upright (lj!), shoveling, sledding, signing new words like eat & all-done (lj!!), crawling on mommy, and carrying babies around. plus playing with & feeding our kind & trusty timeshare dog, gus. and a bonus first-time-ever nail polish job by daddy! just good old, everyday fun...

snowbirds.

we hosted the little learners again today with a lesson about birds in the wintertime. we read 'stranger in the woods' and talked about the birds that stick around here in the snowy northland, what they eat, and what they sound like (thanks to cornell's ornithology website). we decorated paper snowmen with all kinds of bird food & had a sensory table full of birdseed. if only we had a little birdie to clean up the floor after all the fun was done! ;)

haircut.

lj's first haircut, courtesy of grampa! of course electronics & (many) clowns were involved... but surprisingly, no tears (though mommy thought about it after she saw what a big boy he looked like with his new "do!").

highchair.

this highchair has hosted a couple of generations of babies by now. here is a photo of my first opportunity for cramming chocolate cake in my mouth, with the highchair as my supporting actor. and below that is a photo of lj's first meeting with chocolate cake, same highchair. like mother, like son, like chocolate.

family.

being together with family is probably my favorite part of the christmas season. and we were surrounded by so much family this year, it made my heart sing. i am so grateful for everyone who made the effort to be together this year, wagners & johnsons alike (though this post will mostly showcase the wagner part of the celebration). we love you!!

highlights included several visits to great-grandma's place, opening gifts, giving homemade gifts, sledding & eating icicles, cupcakes on new year's eve, celebrating grampa's retirement, rub-a-dub-dub three kids in a tub, "hot cheese," being a big, joyfully noisy crowd, playing, playing, oh, and more playing together. ;)