I didn't think I was going to be the mom to teach my kid the anatomically correct words for body parts, and to some extent, I'm still not, but I did recently add "uterus" to Olivia's vocabulary.
Since I'm pregnant, we've been talking for several weeks about a baby being in Mommy's tummy. I was totally comfortable with the "close enough" of that language. It started getting a little muddy last week, though, when I told Pie, after eating something (a marshmallow, I think) that it was yummy in my tummy. That's when she said, "the baby likes it!" I decided at that point that I didn't want her thinking for the next several years that pregnant ladies were carrying their babies in the same place they also carried their half-digested Chipotle burritos and chewed-up broccoli.
"Actually, Pie, our baby isn't really in Mommy's tummy. The baby is in a special place right below my tummy called a uterus. Can you say uterus?" I couldn't help but add that last part because I was dying to hear that funny word in her 2-year-old voice. She didn't disappoint.
"Uterus," she repeated with perfect diction.
We haven't had much uterus talk since then. I still say "tummy" usually, but I feel comfortable enough with it knowing that I told her the real deal.
Last night at the dinner table, Olivia was lightly kicking my knee under the table. "Does this hurt the baby?" she asked. This is a fun game she's been playing ever since I told her to be careful not to kick me in the tummy when I'm changing her, for fear of hurting the baby.
"No, it doesn't hurt the baby," I answered.
She switched to my arm and started pushing on it. "Does this hurt the baby?" she asked again.
"Nope, that doesn't hurt the baby either. Remember the baby is in Mommy's tummy, not my arm." I clarified, though obviously not quite correctly enough.
"No," she further explained to me, "the baby lives in your uterus."