Nell's Birthday

How old are you? Four
What makes you happy? Giving Daddy squishes
What is your favorite animal? Pandas!
What is your favorite thing to eat? Cupcakes
What is your least favorite thing to eat? Hot and spicy peppers
What is your favorite thing to do? Wrestle Daddy
What is your favorite TV show? Little Einsteins
What are you really good at? Making bead necklaces
What is your favorite Movie? Sofia the First
What is your favorite color? Pink and Purple
What is your favorite song? You are my Sunshine
Who is your best friend? Evie
What do you and your mom do together? Bake cookies
What do you and your dad do together? Wrestle
Where is your favorite place to go? To Target
What is your favorite book? Peanut Butter and Cupcake
What do you want to be when you grow up? A momma. A ballerina!

Once upon a time I wanted to do little birthday interviews with each of my kids. I found a cute template and went to a lot of trouble to make Reid's when he was 3. Which was probably way too young. I did the interview again when he was four, but never filled out the template. Last year (Reid 5 and Nell 3) I didn't do one for either of my kids. So ... here's to reviving that goal! No fancy templates, no set questions. This way there are no obstacles that make me avoid the whole thing. I really just need a basic little getting to know you interview for each of my kids -- a snapshot of their life as they turn a new age.

We measured Nell the morning of her birthday (Reid's idea). She weighed 50.5 pounds and was 42 inches tall. She wears size 6X or 7 clothes. Earlier this week she asked me if I knew who her real best friends were. When I replied "Who?" She quickly said "Reid and Coraline" and that is the truth. She is such a good middle child.

She is also hilarious. I wish I wrote down all the funny things she says each day. She's always got me laughing. Of course, some just have to do with the moment and her mood. Monday morning Reid was still eating breakfast when he saw his bus go down our street (my fault). This meant he had to brush his teeth, pack his bag, and get his shoes and jacket on before the bus flipped around in the culdesac and made it back to our door. Nell ran to the front room and (almost excitedly) shouted "damn it! damn it!" as she swung her hands around. In the moment, it was hilarious. She also frequently requests that we "smell the air" and discover the stench of her fresh farts. This is always said with pride, a twinkle in her eye, and a soft giggle.

On her birthday, when Ben finally came home for dinner (at 6:30) and asked Nell how her day was and she replied, emphatically "Yummy!" Even as we laughed, I don't think she noticed her mistake. She was just so excited to finally dig into her PB and Jelly Crepes. That evening we decorated for Halloween. I made the kids hold off until her birthday. I honestly think she was as excited about the Halloween stuff as she had been about the celebration we had over the weekend. When she woke up on the morning of her birthday she was sure to put on her Halloween shirt and immediately asked me to start reading all the Halloween books we'd gotten from the library the day before.

Last weekend we went to the Green Bay Zoo and had cake and presents. She was cracking us up there too. When I gave her a quarter so she could get some hay pellets to feed the sheep she looked down at the shiny coin in her hand and shouted "They eat these?" But the funniest part of the day was when she ran away from the peacocks. They were her favorite animal and she really wanted a picture with them, but when one crossed her side (with a good 3 feet to spare) she took of running and shouting. She didn't stop until she came to a wall (about 20 feet from the rest of us). Even the other parents around us were laughing.

Being Black Bears, checking out the Red Pandas and the Tamarin Monkeys

Checking out the Penguins

Reid with the Red Foxes

The thing I love about this Zoo is feeding the giraffes. I talked it up to Nell for weeks. She was so excited, until it was actually time for those long giraffe tongues to take the witchazel leaves out of her hands. She dropped the leaves, twice! And after that she was ready to go home! Reid on the other hand, was over the moon excited about the experience. It was fun to hear him gab and gab about how cool it was.

(video of feeding giraffes)

Back in Oshkosh we went to Red Robin and then came home for cake and presents.

She was in heaven when she found the Lego set she wanted, an Elsa dress she'd been asking for, and so much more. The best part of the weekend though, was having Grandma Szilagyi around to celebrate it all with us. Grandpa was in Utah for business, and we sure missed him!

She had a very good birthday week and we all loved celebrating our special Nelly Belle on several different occasions. She is such a blessing to our family. She provides lots of giggles, loves, and happiness.