Conversations with a 5-year-old about pregnancy

My niece didn't seem super impressed when she was first told a few months ago that I was expecting a baby.  As the only child on our side of the family, both my sister and I assumed that she was just pouting about having to share attention with a baby at some point.  But then she asked my sister one of those questions that only a kid could come up with.  She asked her why I didn't want to be an auntie anymore.

You can imagine, then, that I felt even worse when I had to disappoint her by telling her that she wasn't going to get the girl cousin that she wanted.  I think I managed to save that one though, telling her that it was good that I was having a boy because then I could keep doing all my "girl" activities with her.  She apparently liked that.

I know.  Give an auntie a break.

By the time I arrived for Christmas, she seemed to have come around even more and was joining in the fun of tossing around baby names and feeling up my belly.  She was lucky enough to catch a few kicks, which she seemed excited about, and of course she had a few questions too.  At one point I was looking at one of my pregnancy apps on my phone, and she was curious about the diagram of the 28-week fetus in utero.  I enlarged the pic and decided to do my part for edumacation, explaining to her that this was what the baby looked like while it was inside me.  She pointed out the umbilical cord and wanted to know what it was, so I explained that it was connected to the baby's belly button and it was how I shared what I was eating and drinking with the baby so that it could grow bigger.

This idea clearly resonated with her, and on a couple of occasions she would comment while I was eating or drinking something, "You're sharing a cookie with the baby!" or "The baby is sharing your water!"  Then, one morning I was letting her play with my makeup as I sipped my one daily cuppa joe.  I caught her looking at me quizzically in the mirror, and she stated, more than a little accusingly, "You're sharing coffee with the baby.  Why would you DO that??"

Way to get a head start on judging pregnant ladies, kid.

Something else that was pretty cute was when she asked whether the baby could hear her.  I said yes, so a couple of times when Chalupa Batman was sleeping and she wanted to feel him kick, she'd press her face right to my belly and intone a deep "WAAAAAKE UUUUUP".  She would also adorably say goodbye to him by pressing her hands on either side of my belly, getting up close and whispering a tiny "goodbye!"

Finally, on the second last day of my visit, she asked the question that we all knew was coming.  I was keeping her occupied in her playroom while my sister was cooking dinner.  Out of nowhere she asked, "How did you get the baby in your belly?  Did you buy it at the store?"  I stifled a laugh while thinking how inadvertently close to the truth she was, and told her that was a great question to ask her mom and dad.