Pearls of Wisdom

Sam has been asking me constantly "When does baby Peyton come out?"

I wish I could give her an exact answer on that, mainly because it would really help me out to know that exactly myself. She seems just as dissatisfied as I do with my canned responses: "Soon," "Sometime after Valentines' Day," "Near President's Day," or "five to seven weeks." That last one usually merits a well deserved "HUH? What?" I can't say I blame her. How do you explain weeks to a kid who measures time in episodes of Team Umizoomis? (As in, "we will leave for preschool in an hour, that's like two Umizoomis.") I can just picture the look of disdain as I explain that the baby will come in several hundred Umizoomis...

Today, she threw me another baby related monkey wrench as we drove by the hospital:
"So, when baby Peyton does come out...how does that work?"
Uhh....Uhh...hey kid, how about a pony? I decided that given her age she was probably asking more how the whole birth process will effect her, and not necessarily me, so I started explaining that mom and dad would go to the hospital, and when she could come visit and meet her brother, that someone would stay with her overnight, like a sleepover, and that seemed to satisfy her curiosity. Boy, am I glad I didn't launch into an anatomical explanation of the birthing process. Sometimes not having a clue what to say has become my saving grace by preventing me from saying way too much.

The conversations she has been having about the baby with her father, however, seem a lot more fun and a lot less awkward. Tonight, Sam decided to tell me what she and daddy have been talking about, and it was adorable. She told me "Daddy and I talk about what I am going to teach Baby Peyton. I am the big sister."
I asked her what she would teach him, and here is what she told me:
"How to use the big potty and not diapers!" [I sense some coaching on that one from Daddy, who began trying to convince Sam to use the toilet while she was still in utero. I kid you not. It also did not remotely work, FYI. What a shocker.]
"How to roll over.
How to crawl.
How to brush your teeth.
How to read books.
How to play beads.
How to go to preschool." [She just started last week, but she is an expert. She also loves it.]
Then, a little while later, Sam was running at full speed around the family room rug. Sometimes before bedtime, she just goes a little crazy. She was going around and around when suddenly she stopped, got a huge smile on her face, looked at me and said...
"Mom! I know. I am going to teach Baby Peyton TO RUN!" She looked so excited by her "idea." I also have no doubt she probably will eventually do just that, although it will take much longer than she is anticipating. That's a lot of Umizoomis away.
I can not tell you how fun and touching it is for me to watch my 2 1/2 year old girl decide which of her pearls of wisdom she's going to share with her little brother.
Once he decides to come out, that is...which is still a few weeks away. Or like a zillion Doras.