Where Babies Come From

A close friend of mine had a baby at the beginning of September. Naturally, we wanted to meet the new arrival. And, thankfully, we were between colds and other illnesses. (I’d hate to be responsible for giving a newborn her first cold.) We were able to bring Kiddo and make a family outing of it.

The last time Kiddo saw a newborn he was only eight months old himself. This time, he was much more aware of the situation and not quite sure what to make of it. I needn’t have worried he might sneeze on the baby. He was afraid to get within three feet of her.

I pulled out my phone and showed him a picture from when he was a few days old. We reminded him he used to be a little baby too:

As you can see, in the picture, Kiddo was under the bili-light wearing only a diaper. It’s not the first time he’s seen this picture, but for the first time he was much less interested in the fact he was once a tiny baby than he was suddenly curious about the visible umbilical cord. He pointed and demanded to know what that thing was hanging from his belly button.

I could think of nothing satisfying to say other than the straight up truth. I told him was called an umbilical cord and that it was how he ate when he was growing in my belly, until he was big enough to come out. Kiddo was amused by this explanation and we’ve had multiple discussions since about babies growing inside mommies’ bellies until they're too big to fit anymore.

Thankfully, as of yet, he does not seem concerned with exactly how he got out of my belly. Or how he got in there in the first place. Conversations to look forward to.