On being a big brother soon, by Wally Ben

My mommy is having a baby.

I just went with mommy and daddy to mommy’s doctor and I got to hear the heart beat. It sounded like this: Wheoo-wheoo-wheoo, but you have to make the wind come out of your mouth when you make that sound.

I felt really important to go to the doctor with mommy. When she went to the bathroom to pee in a cup, I sat in the waiting room with daddy. Since I wasn’t sure if everyone else waiting knew what was happening and I could hear through the door, I decided to announce to the room to be sure. “Mommy peeing.” “Mommy washing hands.” “Mommy almost done.” Everyone was glad I was there.

At first when mommy asked me if I wanted to have a baby brother or sister, I said, “Sure, Kellen!” or “Sure, Stella!” But mommy said that my cousins already are taken, so we have to have a new baby. That’s sad because I really like those guys.

Sometimes mommy asks me where the baby is, and I point to her belly. Sometimes I point to my belly, too, because it is a little round like hers. But she says maybe that’s just all the graham crackers and pretzels I ate. But I say, what does she know? Maybe it’s my own baby. So she can have hers, and I can have my’s.

I think I get it, though. Mommy has been reading me a book called, “What’s Inside” that my Cousin/Auntie Mary told her about. I call it “Mommy’s Belly” book. I lift page flaps to see what’s inside a suitcase, and a present, and even a TV. And then a page shows a baby in mommy’s belly. Tonight when mommy read it, I showed mommy a “string” that connected the baby to the belly. Mom said that was the biblical cord. I think string is easier to say.

On the last page, it shows a boy like me holding a baby when the baby comes. I like that book, because maybe that will be me. Maybe I hold my own baby sister or brother one day. Mom says I have to wait until April. I don’t know when that is, but I hope it’s not far away.