Funny Erin Insight

I have been meaning to post this for a few weeks, and keep forgetting, but it is priceless. As we are preparing for a new baby in our family, Erin's new cousin, or "cousint" as she used to say, we have been talking quite a bit about how the baby is growing in Aunt Chellie's tummy. I have the Mayo Clinic's Pregnancy and Baby's First Year book, from when I was pregnant with Erin, and it has some great pictures of baby development in the womb, with actual color pictures. I found these and thought it might help Erin understand that the baby was taking time to grow, and when she was done growing, then she would come out, but until then, she had to stay safe inside Aunt Chellie. This was great for a few days, and we had lots of neat conversations. About four days into this, however, I see a look of doubt and confusion on Erin's face. A few moments later, Erin places her hand on my leg, looks into my eyes with a look of pity and consolation, and says, "Mommy, I don't think those are babies in the pictures."

I can see how this might be confusing to her, so I asked her what she thought they were. Again, with the hand on my leg, patting me in sympathy for my mistake, she breaks the news as gently as she can ... "Mommy, I'm pretty sure those are squirrels. It's okay, mommy, but those aren't babies."

Now, I can see why she would say this, as the babies' cords are plainly visible, and their arms and legs are not fully grown. How, though, was I supposed to hold in the laughter??! Well, I couldn't, and although I think Erin still thought I was in denial, she laughed too. What a precious moment in my life! I laughed so hard I cried, and Erin laughed because she thought I was insane! See, there are plenty of joyful moments to outshine the negative ones! I would have to say this is the funniest things she's said, except maybe the time she first saw kiwis and ran into the room holding two of them exclaiming, "Look mom, hairy acorns!"

Yep, it's great to be the mom of a two year old!