Bitty often asks me out of the blue what certain words mean. Because of his language difficulties, he doesn't always pick up on "context clues" and he has a strong preference for concrete, easy-to-visualize explanations.
I do my best, but my walking-dictionary-on-the-fly skills sometimes fall short.
Bitty: What does "born" mean?
me: You mean like when babies are born?
Bitty: When I was born.
me: It means you came out of my tummy. Babies are in their mommies' tummies before they are born.
Bitty: I was in your tummy?
me: Yep
Bitty: Did you eat me?
(groan, HOW did I not see that one coming?!)
me: No, honey, babies grow in their mommies' tummies and when they are big enough to be born, they come out of the tummies.
Bitty: I don't want to go in your tummy.
me: That's ok, because you're already born. You've been out of my tummy since you were a little baby.
Bitty: Was I born?
me: Yes
Bitty: So I not in your tummy anymore?
me: No, you're a big boy now, way too big to be in my tummy.
Bitty: Do mommies eat da babies? To put dem in da tummies?
me: *NO*, no one eats the babies, they're in the tummies to grow.
Having been through some of these discussions w/ Cuddlebug and Bearhug, I had my explanation all ready to go as to how babies get IN and OUT of tummies, but he wasn't having it (after all, when you're convinced you already know something, who needs mom trying to explain it to you, right?). So I tried to change the subject.
I had a lightbulb moment yesterday when I realized that his coming to that conclusion probably had something to do with this little chat earlier that same day as we were eating lunch:
Bitty: Does my tummy have a mouf?
me: No, the food goes from your mouth, down to your tummy.
Bitty: Where does da food go after da tummy? to da WEE-WEEEE??
(yeah, I'm sure the elderly couple behind us enjoyed that little anatomy lesson, lol)
Two completely unrelated topics in my mind, but in hindsight I guess I can see how he put two and two together... :/
He's asked me about it again a few times since then, at random moments:
Bitty: Mom? I don't want to be in your tummy.
me: I know, don't worry you're not going to be in my tummy anymore.
Bitty: Because I was born, was I?
me: Yep.
Bitty: Are you gonna eat me? To put me in your tummy?
me: NNOOO, no I'm not.
I'm thinking maybe I should have dh add a little biology to the mix for his summer homeschool lessons - to illustrate the difference between the digestive system and the reproductive system. Maybe the visuals will help.
In the meantime, I just hope he doesn't decide to start asking questions like that the next time he sees a pregnant woman (sigh).
