A New Addition?

Nope, not pregnant. But if Aiden were in charge of it, I apparently would be.

About a week ago he came to me and said, "Mommy, I remember when the baby grew big in your tummy". It was a short conversation - mostly just discussing how large I was while pregnant.
A few days later, he asked me why daddies couldn't grow babies in their tummies and give the babies babymilk (babymilk was the term we used with him through the nursing time with Nathan). It had been a long and not so great day, so he didn't get much of a response from me. He seemed fairly satisfied with, "Because they can't", but I know he wanted to know more.

Then yesterday there was the big bombshell from him. I was making dinner and he comes waltzing into the kitchen like there's nothing to do.... He stands there looking at me and I said, 'Yes, Aiden?". He says, "I think you need to grow a baby in your tummy again, mommy". All I could manage was a small, "Oh...". He continues to stand there staring at me while I'm not saying a word, mostly trying to figure out what to tell him. He then says, "I'm a really good big brother". Oh, my melting heart.

I asked him if he wanted another brother or if he wanted a sister. He thought for a minute and said, "I just want a baby...". Nathan heard this and pops over. "Baby?", he asks. I wondered what Nathan would make of this, so I asked him if he thought we should have a baby. He sits down and pats himself on the tummy. "I'm the baby", he says. That's what I thought. I didn't imagine Nathan would be as keen to the idea as Aiden seems to be.

There are a few babies that are younger siblings of the kids from his class and I've been told that he's always very interested whenever a baby is brought in. I'm a little surprised that he's decided he wants another sibling and I honestly didn't expect to have to deal with this already. I guess John was around this age when he decided he needed a sister, but I hadn't really prepared myself on how to answer Aiden's questions and requests.

How do I tell a four year old that we don't feel like it's something that's going to happen anytime soon and possibly never again? Certainly not now since we barely have enough room for the four of us. And Nathan's birth was pretty traumatic. I don't have much of a desire to go through that again. While I'm not ruling it out completely for the future, John and I feel like our family is complete. I guess a change of heart could happen and maybe Aiden will be a driving force behind it. But right now, I need to learn how to answer his request better than I am currently. He doesn't seem to be happy with the answer of "Not now" that we're giving him. Yikes.