The Birds and the Bees

So, Avery is REALLY into babies.  Like, REALLY into them and she takes the idea of playing with her baby dolls to a whole new level most days.  For example, the other night, we were eating on the deck, so we were getting dinner on the table and told Avery that she had a few minutes until dinner was ready.  At the time, she was sitting on the bench in the kitchen with 2 baby dolls and explained to me that "she wasn't sure if she was going to have time to eat because her babies were just being so fussy!  So, she had to sit with them to calm them down a bit before she came to dinner."  And, sure enough - she did.  She took them both over to the living room, put the burp cloth on her shoulder and burped both of them until they "stopped crying."  She was then ready to eat. 

So, not only is she into playing with her baby dolls, but she is also very into the whole concept of just being a mom.  For example, she is VERY in touch with the whole concept of nursing and talks about it frequently. My initial reaction is to kind of shy away from the topic, but I don't, as I actually do want to support his and would like for her to know that nursing is the best for the baby (am I really saying these things about my four year-old daughter????).  However, we did have to have the conversation that maybe we should just talk about these things at home, as she informed me the other night that, as they were playing house at daycare, her friend Thomas said he was going to feed the baby and Avery explained to him that he couldn't because he "doesn't have boobs."  Awesome.

Well, as you can imagine, all of this interest in babies has led to the obvious and most nerve-wracking question a parent can be asked...

"Mommy, how do babies get into mommy's bellies?"

Oh god.  I was not at all prepared for this question and was hoping it would be a good couple of years until we were asked it.  And, I most certainly wasn't prepared with a response that is appropriate for a 4 year-old!  So, my answer was...

"Well, when Mommy's and Daddy's fall in love, they get married and then they have babies." 

To the point, yet very vague all at the same time.  And, note the fact that I very purposely included the "they get married" part of the equation.  Well, a few days after this discussion, Avery came up to me and told me:

Avery - "Mommy, I have 12 babies and they are all driving me crazy because they just won't go to sleep!"

Whitney - "12 babies?????  That's a lot of babies!"

Avery - "Well, I know.  But, the pretend Daddy and I got married and we stayed at the wedding for soooo long that I ended up with 12 babies in my belly!"

All I have to say is thank the lord that it doesn't really happen like that.  My parents can attest - given the length of time Josh and I stayed at our own wedding??????  They would be grandparents to at least 20 babies at this point....