Today is the day of days, the morning of mornings, where Dan and I go to participate in the time-honored tradition of having an ultrasound past the 20-week mark to see if we can catch a glimpse of our baby’s leeeeeetle tiny gonads… and also, like, see if it’s healthy and stuff.
I was telling the kids on Tuesday that Daddy and I were going tomorrow for a test where we’ll see how the baby is doing and hopefully find out if it’s a girl or a boy. They were ecstatic. Laylee wants a girl but will settle for a boy, as long as it’s a baby. Magoo originally said he really wanted a baby sister but now that the day of knowledge is at hand he’s hedging his bets, saying he wants a boy OR a girl.
Laylee says, “No Buddy. You have to pick one. A boy or a girl?”
And he says, “Yeah. I want a boy OR a girl.”
I thought I’d have a wee teaching moment with the kids so I said, “The ultrasound doctor just looks at a picture of the baby and can tell what gender it is. How do you think you can tell if a baby’s a boy or a girl just by looking at it?”
Easy, right? Especially for little kids obsessed with all things bodily function who live in a house with a very open mom who let them bathe together until a couple of months ago. Not so much.
“Ummmmm,” Laylee stalled, “Their hair?”
I informed her that baby boys and baby girls have pretty much the same hair as each other. She came up with a few more guesses. I think one was height. Something about how the baby was moving. So I thought I’d invite Laylee onto the clue bus by dropping a major hint.
“The baby’s all naked in there. When the doctor looks at a naked baby, how do you think he can tell whether it’s a boy or a girl? What’s different about a boy’s body and a girl’s body?”
She squinted her eyes and moved her pursed lips from side to side.
“Iiiiiits personality?” she ventured with a grin and a shrug.
Yes. When the doctor sees little Jimmy’s personality bobbing around in there, he’ll definitely let us know.
Ahhhh, I love that kid. She’s the one with the personality. I’m almost considering pulling her out of school and taking her with us tomorrow.
