Scenes from the Circus: April Approaches

March is quickly passing. Each day brings us closer to meeting the next little member of our circus. The baby is growing well (Mama measured just a bit ahead of schedule at her last appointment) and certainly seems strong and lively.

The little guy is a frequent topic of conversation around here. The girls love to feel the baby move and to speculate about what he'll like -- whether we're talking about what to eat for dinner or where the baby should sit in the minivan. (On a recent trip to Babies R Us, Kathleen seemed confident that the baby would like a set of pink princess toys!) Of course, Kathleen does more of the talking; Madeline just likes to parrot whatever her big sister says.

Last week, Kathleen was sitting on Mama's lap (or what remains of Mama's lap) when she announced, "I really want a little baby."

"Well, that's a good thing," Mama responded, "because in a little while a little baby is going to come live at our house!"

Kathleen scowled for a moment, then turned to look in Mama's face.

"But I want a baby from your tummy named Indiana. . . and you keep talking about naming him something else!"

It's true. Mama has talked at length about naming this poor child something other than Indiana Jones, but she's the only one talking. No tactic has yet convinced Kathleen (or her father) that the baby should be named anything other than Indiana. We've talked about nicknames (pointing out that Kathleen is named Kathleen but called Sissy or Leenie and that Madeline is called Maddie Beth), but Kathleen is adamant that the baby be named Indiana, and not just called that. Daddy has acquired a keen ally in his firstborn!

Daddy and Kathleen were reading a bedtime story a few nights ago about the months of the year. Months are a new concept for Kathleen, so when they got to March Daddy explained that it's March right now. And when they turned to the page about April, Daddy started to explain about what might make April special.

"And in April, honey," Daddy began, "Baby Indy will come live at our house! Mama and Daddy will go to the doctor to take Baby Indy out of Mama's tummy, and then we'll bring Indy home to live at our house."

"But how?" Kathleen asked, "How will the doctors take Indy out?"

"Oh," Daddy replied, "The doctors are really smart and really good at their jobs. They know just how to take Indy out of Mama."

Kathleen frowned again, looked over at Mama working in the kitchen, then pressed on, "But will the doctors have to make a hole?"

Staggered by our three year-old's critical thinking skills, Daddy fell silent. Mama jumped in instead.

"No, honey. The doctors shouldn't have to make a hole. God has worked out a very special way to get the baby out of Mama. . . without having to make a hole."

Mercifully, this satisfied Kathleen.

And since then, Mama keeps thinking: let's hope they don't have to make a hole!