What's in a name?

Annie has taken to calling Nellie "Nellie Rose," or more precisely, "My NeNe Rose." So all day long, it's, "Where my NeNe Rose, my Mommy?" and other such Annie-isms. Very sweet.

On a different note, Nellie now has two different books about cowgirls (Every Cowgirl Needs a Horse and Nellie and the Bandit--both fun books) in which the main character's name is Nellie. Which makes me wonder if it's a country bumpkin name...? Oh well, we're keeping it!

Oh, and baby brother does not have a name yet, not even close.

Skype

Our babysitter got married Friday and for some reason wanted to take this week off. So after driving to Kalamazoo for a classroom observation, I came home to relieve Kevin and had to Skype in to two hours worth of meetings. The first hour went pretty well--it was only my local boss and co-graduate assistants and Annie pretty much just sat with me. The second half when we met with the Berkeley group via Polycom, I wisely muted our end. Very wise. I listened to the meeting with one ear and to Nellie with the other. This is about how it went:

Wow, are you Skyping? Who are you talking to? Is that Miss Jerilynn? HI MISS JERILYNN! Is Zion [Jerilynn's 8-year-old son who is kind enough to play with Nellie sometimes] there? Is that Zion's daddy talking [actually Niral from California]? Is Zion's daddy there? Who is that lady talking? Did she just say hypothesis? I know that! That's from Sid the Science Kid! Who is that? Bob? Your boss? What does boss mean? Hi Bob!

At some point, there was this annoying tapping noise that I thought was the headboard banging against the wall. Eventually I realized it couldn't be that--it was a woodpecker! Darn thing moved to the other wall and I could see it out of the window. So I went to shoo it away and told Nellie to tell me what the group was saying. When I got back, she was yelling at the computer.

SORRY MISS JERILYNN, BUT MOMMY DIDN'T HEAR WHAT YOU SAID, SHE WENT TO GO YELL AT A WOODPECKER!

So, so thankful for that mute feature.

Kid stats

After birthdays, we had well-child checkups. As usual, the girls are tall--Dr. Luginbill tells me that research suggests there is a 100% chance they will be taller than me--and otherwise there's not much to report! The appointment itself was pretty uneventful, except that I had intentionally planned all three of our appointments early in the morning so Kevin could come along, then he had early morning duty. But the girls brought along their doctor kits and were generally charming.

Annie at 2--

• Height: 2' 11.5"
• Weight: 24 lbs. 3.2 oz.
• Completely potty trained (except for diapers at night) by August, which is largely due to Nellie's help!
• Still loves her blankie and pacy, although the days of the pacifier are few. I hope. I am planning to send her to Emily's Pacifier Detox Center very soon.
• Has seriously the cutest little voice I have ever heard. I wish I could just bottle it up and keep it forever. Yes, we have a video camera, but have you ever tried to get a 2-year-old to say something at just the right time? Part of it is that she says the cutest things. For instance, she calls me "my mommy" and Nellie "my NeNe." As in, "did you see that my mommy?" or "where's my NeNe?" or "is that funny my NeNe?" That last one usually involves her doing something to impress Nellie, like dropping her fork on the floor or saying "poo-poo." She also picks up on silly things Nellie says and then repeats them very seriously, like calling me Mrs. Bologna every time she thanks me for something. She has very good manners, but it's always "thank you, Mrs. Bologna" or "sorry, Mrs. Bologna!"
  
• Counts to 20, knows the alphabet.
  
• Her favorite songs are "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Mean" by Taylor Swift (don't ask) and she loves to sing.
• Her favorite movie is Mulan.
• Mostly she just really, really loves Nellie.

Nellie at 4--

• Height: 3' 6"
• 38 lbs. 12.8 oz.
• Recognizes all and writes almost all of the letters in the alphabet. She is very interested in learning to read and spell words.
• Has a mind for song lyrics--she is constantly making up new songs that actually have rhyming lyrics or tell complicated stories, and she can repeat songs she's only heard a handful of times. Which makes me very cautious about what music we listen to!
• Is in a very helpful stage--love it!! Her favorite way to help is giving the dogs baths out in the backyard. It can occupy her for an hour--a quiet, peaceful hour. I definitely think 2 and 4 is easier than 1 and 3 so far.
• Refers to everything in Grand Ledge as Papa John's. That is, "Papa John's playground" and "Papa John's library" and "Papa John's McDonalds." Because, of course, we're living in Papa John's house.
• Is still very energetic, very silly, and very stubborn. She wore the same four dresses all summer (though at least 50% of the time she was in only underpants or a bathing suit), and I am nervous about transitioning to constricting fall clothes.
  
• Still prefers any kind of meat or vegetable over any kind of sweet. This morning for breakfast we had sausage, french toast, and strawberries. She ate one strip of french toast, a handful of strawberries, and three sausage links. Annie, on the other hand, has a sweet tooth like her mom. She spit out her two bites of sausage but ate an entire piece of french toast.
  

Birthdays! And thoughts on turning 30.

In the close-knit Wernet side of the family, we have lots of close-knit summer birthdays:

Jamie - June 21st
Annie - June 24th
Lisa - July 6th
Nellie - July 11th
Sarah - July 30th
Robynne - August 10th

I got to be first, and it was a big one--30!! Kevin threw a great party at Pam's house on Gull Lake. I hovered over weather.com all week hoping for no rain, and the storms stayed away! We had lots of fun--so much fun, in fact, that we decided to move the girls' birthday party from our house to Pam's to recreate the fun the next weekend.

I took the girls to Francis Park the morning of my birthday

Annie and I in the cold lake at my birthday party

And Kevin took me out for dinner. I did not eat that whole piece of cake.

Annie's birthday was nice because it gave us a great chance to celebrate Annie! We filled the living room with balloons and opened presents in the morning, then went to a Lugnuts game in the evening. And of course, we ate cupcakes. :)

Trying to get Annie excited about her big present--a doll highchair.

Balloons! And Nellie in her underpants (big surprise)!

As the wonderful parents that we are, we like to make sure our kids know that they're special but not that special. Just kidding. We do like to have shared birthday parties for the girls, though. Since so many family members were taking European vacations this year, we had a Wernet party with a Pooh theme the weekend of Annie's birthday, and a Princess and the Frog party for the Wacyk side the weekend of Nellie's birthday. I would call the parties successful (aside from the really gross Greek yogurt veggie dip that I served--I definitely should have tried it first), because the girls were generally good-natured, remembered to say thank you, and didn't have any tantrums. Really, can you ask for more?

Nellie at the Pooh party

I cut the cake while Annie dug her fingers in it--which I later realized

Most beloved present--princess pool

Princess and the Frog party

Nellie's favorite present--Rapunzel

As the title suggests, I am now going to pontificate on being 30. Actually, it will be brief, because I really don't mind. It is a little strange--I mean, am I going to have to start doing new medical tests or something? That makes me feel old. But otherwise, it was just a pretty normal birthday and really--I've always wanted to be 30. In fact, I remember telling Kevin very early in our relationship that I would like to date a 30-year-old (I was 19) because he would be better aligned with my preferred lifestyle (think pajamas and movies on the couch by 8:00, not going out to parties at 11:30. 11:30!! People are crazy.) What a weird thing to tell a guy you're dating! But it was and is true--I love babies and minivans and I was ill-suited to the college life. Of course, here I am back in college, but that's another story. ANYWAY, the point is that 30 could be harder, but I have everything I always wanted when I imagined turning 30--husband, 2.5 kids (quite literally), a house, I'm working on my Ph.D (actually much sooner than I had imagined), and I'm often in my pajamas by 8:00. No minivan yet, but maybe by 31?