Annie goes to work

Annie has been begging me (every time I leave) to go to work with me, since Nellie had to come to campus a few weeks ago after I picked her up from camp. So today was the day; I had a quiet day until my meetings started so Steph dropped her off after VBS (which the director is graciously letting her go to even though she just turned three.)  She was just going to come for lunch, but I decided she'd probably be fine to go to my meetings since - unlike others in the family - I knew if I told her she needed to be quiet, she'd be quiet.

Well Annie was very serious about the whole thing. She carried her Leapfrog laptop, Merida doll, Rainbow Dash pony, and blankie into the building saying, "I am so late. I have so much work to do today." We shared a chicken pesto sandwich, apple, lemonade, and a cookie, worked on our computers for awhile, then headed into three hours of meetings. Annie played with her dolls and read books for about 45 minutes, then climbed into my lap with her blanket and slept for the next two hours. On our way out, she sighed, "I worked a long time. I am so tired."

I could get used to working like this. :)

Donald has teeth!

Well, a tooth, which I discovered when I was feeding him tiny pieces of Cheerios today. I'm relieved--hopefully this explains why he's not sleeping more than a couple of hours at a time and is grumpier than usual. No one is more excited than Nellie! I would post a picture, but you really can't see it even with his big smile. You'll just have to believe me.

Number Slumber Party

It was Nellie's idea, honestly!

Like the good Wernets that we are, we commemorated the day with a pinata

Cake! I feel like I should say that Alli was there, too, just not in these pictures!

Second breakfast - cereal picnic

Watching their "growers" grow

Update

It was a noodle restaurant.

More kid stats

Two months ago I made well-child check appointments for all three kids, back-to-back. Seemed like a super idea at the time. When it actually came time to leave the house, I was less sure. But we discussed proper doctor's office etiquette on the way there, and things went remarkably well! Here are the basics.

Nellie: 42 lbs. 11 ounces, 44.5 inches. Can do a "spin hop" on one foot, which she demonstrated for Dr. Dave. 86th percentile for height, 70th for weight.

Annie: 30ish lbs, 38ish inches (I'm reading this from a graph). 65th percentile for height, 30th for weight.

Donald: 19 lbs, 12 ounces (which puts him at two pounds more than Annie when she turned ONE, and four pounds less than Annie when she turned TWO), 28.5 inches, 18.5-inch head circumference. 84th percentile for height, 80th for weight, and...wait for it...99th for head circumference. In the words of the great Kevin Wernet, "we grow 'em sturdy, and we grow 'em smart." My mom brought us some 12-18 month clothes, and they fit great.

Oodles of Noodles

Tonight, while I was putting DJ to bed (Kevin's at a camp overnight), the girls got out a bag of tiny star pasta that I use in soups and threw them around the living room. Yes. All over the furniture, covering the floor. I still have no idea while they did it. I asked several times, but got no answer. In their defense, I think my moaning, "why would you do this?" dejectedly and crazy eyes probably scared them a little. Luckily, vacuuming was actually on my post-bedtime to-do list.

While I vacuumed, I started thinking. I had a long time to think, because our poor vacuum wasn't really up to the task of sucking up thousands of stars. The thing is, I'm sure the girls (Nellie) had some perfectly rational reason why noodles should fill the room. A surprise party. Blasting through outer space with stars flying by at lightning speed. And really, it must have been really fun. To be honest, a teeny tiny part of me kind of wanted to reach my hand in the bag and toss some little noodles.

I mean, right?

Nellie's Birthday Interview

Are you excited to be five?  
YES! [Takes a break to squish a bug.]

What kinds of things do five-year-olds do?   
Don’t cry if they have a bloody nose.  Do the monkey bars by themselves a hundred times. Go under water to the bottom of the sea.

Who is your best friend?   
Everybody in the whole wide world.

Who is your favorite person to play with?
Annie.

What do you love about Annie?
She can do really silly things! [The girls start giggling and making funny faces.]

What kinds of things are you good at? 
 Hugging! Catching butterflies and fireflies. Feeding birds.  Taking care of DJ.  I like to read.

What do you want to be when you grow up? 
 I don’t know yet. 

What’s your favorite song?   
Jesus Loves the Little Children

Favorite movie?   
Tangled

Favorite book?   
My Rapunzel book

Favorite color?   
Every color.

What’s your favorite thing to play?   
Playing on the playground. Playing on the swingset.

Is there anything else you want us to know about you?   
I love my mommy. I love my daddy too, and my little sister, and I love Jesus, and DJ.

Annie's Birthday Interview

Are you excited to be three? 

Yeah.

What are you excited about? 

I’m excited to have my four birthday.

What kinds of things do three-year-olds do? 

Play with babies and stuff and things. And they like to play with animals at the zoo. Zebras, horsies, dinosaurs, hippo, alligator, and that is that.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A pony.

How do you get to be a pony? For Halloween! 

What are you going to be for Halloween? 

A pony. Rainbow Dash.

What’s your favorite color? 

Purple. How do you do an interview? What did you say “oh” for?

Who is your best friend? 

Nellie. 

What do you like about Nellie? 

That she’s four-and-a-half. And that she’s my best sister. And my big sister and she helps me not be scared.

What’s your favorite book? 

The Ariel book with the two babies.

What’s your favorite movie? 

Ariel movie. And Aladdin movie.

What is your favorite song to sing? 

A Whole New World and the Ariel song.

Is there anything else you want me to know about you? 

That I’m not going to be crazy tonight. I’m going to be [makes snoring sounds and pretends to be asleep.]

New car seat fit for a three-year-old!

Waiting to open presents! She was genuinely surprised to find out there were presents.

Rainbow Dash costume from Nellie

Classic mom-kid-cake picture

Best. Day. Ever. Pinkie Pie AND Rainbow Dash!