dada.

kj's loud pronouncement of dada: "daddy" or "doggie"? that is the question around the house right now, as gus graces our presence for a few weeks. well, both are welcome in her world! ;)

tot time.

this morning kj & i moseyed over to the community gym that hosts regular open play times for toddlers. (aka, "tot time") it's a generous & productive offering for those of us with kiddos who want to run but aren't skilled enough to run through the 6in of snow still covering the ground. this morning in particular, kj spent a fair amount of time on the slide. it gave me flashbacks to when she was crawling around that same gym floor at about 9mo, and i was watching the "big kids" waiting in line, climbing up the steps & sliding down all by themselves. i thought we'd never be there. and yet, there she was today, all smiles (& static-y hair) in all her climbing & sliding glory. it was a sight to behold. ;)

crowned.

king & queen?
i can't even remember which nursery rhyme song from music class prompted the making & wearing of these crowns, but crowns were donned nonetheless!
(and don't you just love the accidental scepter & the hand raised in acknowledgment of the crowd?)

communication.

dear lord, thank you for

ball
eyeball
bubble

bread
cheese
pear

nanna
poppa
dada

dog
duck
doll

outside
touchdown
vroom-vroom

up
down
no

book
night-night
bath

AMEN!

dolly.

kisses & hugs are in order for kj's beloved dolly!

hot water.

appliance number three to need repairs in the johnson home this winter? the 16yo hot water heater. repairs in this case = full replacement. and relocation. and sooner rather than later.

well, cheers to our neighborhood plumber/mechanic/generous fellow who gave us the better part of our day to get us back up & running. and cheers to nj who labored beside him and is now versed in hot water heater installation. hopefully we can pay it forward someday & help someone else with an emergency water heater fix.

and really, when i start to think about all the other things that could fail in this house on a moment's notice, i am thankful it's only been three things this winter! and oh so thankful that we currently reside in a warm home, with hot water and cold food.

fridge.

daddy & kj had a big task this week: fixing the fridge. thanks to uncle dan's diagnostics, nj pinpointed the trouble at a broken heating element (part of the fridge's self-defrosting system). he replaced it, and wa-lah! we could bring our food back into the kitchen rather than storing it in a cooler on the deck (lucky for us we had zero degree weather to keep our food frozen! another plus to living in MN...). you can see in these pics that it was a small space for nj to work in, but just the right size for kj to utilize her handy little baby-sized pliers... thank goodness for helpful little girls!