I’m seven-and-a-half months pregnant, which means there’s a LOT of talk about babies in our house these days. Isabelle has learned where babies come from thanks to The Baby Tree by Sophie Blackall and several conversations with us. Isabelle knows that before she was in my belly, she lived in my heart. (See this post from last year for my explanation of where she resided before conception. I must say, my response to her question about “where was I before I was born?” stuck.)
Recently, Isabelle wanted to know how Marc and I met. He told her, “on the computer.” Since that sounded shady to me, I explained JDate to her. Yesterday morning, Isabelle had more questions while we were getting ready for a marathon coloring session.
“Where was me when you and Daddy met on the computer?”
“We met on JDate, Isabelle. That’s a site on the internet where Jews go to meet other Jews who want to have a Jewish family.”
“Oh. Well, where was me?” she asked.
I looked at her and didn’t answer. She smiled. “I was in your heart?!!?”
“Yes, you were in my heart.”
“Was I in Daddy’s heart?”
“Yes, you were in Daddy’s heart too.”
“Where was my brother?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Was my brother in your heart too?” (Keep in mind, even though her brother is still in my belly, she talks about him as if he’s already here.)
“Yes, of course, he was in my heart,” I replied.
Isabelle got quiet for a minute. I could tell a big idea was brewing.
“We were in your heart together, Mommy. We were playing.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet,” I replied. “I like thinking of the two of you playing together in my heart. That makes me happy.”
“Yeah, but it was dark,” she said. I started to worry where she was going to go with this, but she turned it around. “We couldn’t see each other well, but we were playing in your heart together.”
“I love that,” I said drawing her in for a hug.
Raising Literate Humans 
Oh man, her heart statements are tugging at my heartstrings! Need to not cry in my office. Thanks for sharing that awesome conversation!
I suppose I should’ve put a warning on this post! (Though I thought it was just me who would find it emotional.)
Really sweet!
Thanks, Hayley.
You were just given the solid gold nugget for a very touching and beautiful children’s book.
I kinda thought that too, Maribeth. Hearing you say it makes it even more real.
I missed this great news! 🙂 Baby brothers are so awesome. My kids love hearing stories about when they were in my tummy, when they were born, and things we did before them.
Beautiful conversation!
This is so sweet. What a great big sister Isabelle is going to be!
You (and Isabelle) are going to be so glad you have all of these sweet conversations written down. Thanks for letting us enjoy it too. I am sure my children must have said sweet things at that age, but sadly I never wrote anything down:(
I have an app called Little Hoots that I often use to combine photos and things she says. I think I’m a bit more on-top of this because she struggled to talk for so long. I’m just so grateful to be able to chat with her now.
I’m so glad you shared this conversation, Stacey. It’s so touching and simply beautiful.
I love the way Isabelle thinks hard. She is delightful, and your conversations with her are moving. Thank you for sharing them.
Sweet Isabelle, imagining that brother and her playing. I think she’s going to be very excited in about six weeks! Happy times!
Awwww….that’s so sweet! 🙂
What a beautiful moment. One to treasure always.
What a blessing of a story. And your blog made it live on for others to hear. thank you for sharing. (tear, tear, tear)
The heart holds on to those precious moments. What a gem!
I love it when kids speak such profound truth. That’s a wonderful story, Stacey.
Oh Stacey, it takes some quick thinking to keep up with that one! Congrats to you on your wonderful pregnancy! Finally Isabelle will get to “see” the little brother she was playing with in the dark.
Aaahhh, this is so sweet I don’t even know what to say! I have always remembered your other post about how she was in your heart, and plan to tell my baby that when she’s old enough to ask… but this is even better! So adorable!!!!
Oh my bleeding heart! This is seriously so precious. Just love her curiosity and trying to make sense of it all. So, first, thanks for sharing this heartfelt moment with us, and second, this is a picture book in the making! Write it! Wow.
I love the comments Isabelle makes. This one is precious and deserves special mention, Stacey.
Such a fun parent/child dialogue. And I’m so excited for your little family as yourprepare to welcome Isabelle’s little brother. Loved seeing Carol’s pic of you at ILA 16. Blessings as you face these last six weeks!
Thanks, Ramona. It was nice and cool in Boston for ILA. If only the rest of the summer could’ve been that cool.
Nine more weeks!