Bellybuttons

Here's a corny joke for you:

Fred: Did you hear about the archaeologists who discovered Adam and Eve?
Ted: No, I didn't. Hey, how did they know it was Adam and Eve?
Fred: They didn't have any bellybuttons.

[Insert canned laughter.]

We feel sorry for Adam and Eve. Bellybuttons are quite the hot topic at our house right now, and they would miss out on all the fun. When you ask Lauren, Drew or Jack where their bellybutton is, they lift up their shirt and look around for it. Usually, though, their tummies are sticking out and in the way and they can't see it. They also like to lift the shirts of each other and enjoy poking away like they found the Pillsbury Doughboy. It's pretty funny to watch them do it; like an odd version of tag or something. Since they often have onesies on during the day to cover their little treasures up, this becomes a really fun game before bathtime when we strip them down to their diapers while we get the tub ready.

They also think it's great fun to lift up the shirt of adults and do this, too. I forgot to warn my mom about this one day as she was babysitting the triplets for us, and it gave her quite a shock. Backing up a bit, I should probably tell you first that they can't say bellybutton very well yet, so they shorten it to "butt." The second problem is that they haven't figured out which side the bellybutton is on. So, imagine my mom's surprise as she had the trio in their cribs, was walking between them to give them a last sip of water for the night, and Jack comes up behind her, lifts her shirt and says, "butt" and then starts poking around on her back. I'm sure she was wondering what in the world are we teaching these kids!? But she was polite and just asked "What was he doing!?"

So, I am hoping that this phase passes, before I have surgery on mine. Maybe I'll keep it bandaged for a while and get them really confused as to where my bellybutton is! I have mentioned in the past that the triplets have what's called an umbilical hernia. This just means that the area where the umbilical cord passed through hasn't sealed up all the way. So, their bellybutton sticks out a bit, but this is expected to heal on it's own eventually. It's a really common thing that happens to preemies. But I think the squishyness of it makes the bellybutton game that much more fun. Ironically, if they didn't have their little umbilical hernias, I may not know that mine needed surgery. I just happened to notice one day that mine was starting to look like theirs. I later mentioned it when seeing my doctor about some other stuff. Unfortunately, it turns out that mine won't heal on its own, though.

Tonight, as I was reading to Alyssa at bedtime, she showed me her bellybutton. It just struck me as I was looking at it, that this was how her body was connected to mine at one point. It was a neat little reminder of the the intimate relationship that we once had, and how that little hole was her lifeline to the world. It's really amazing when you stop to think about it. I will never understand how they form in the first place after you are born. I think it's interesting how everyone's bellybutton looks different., too. Maybe someday instead of looking at fingerprints they will look at bellybuttons, since you don't leave prints of them all over glasses. Nah......... that would probably ruin the storyline of too many movies, huh?
See what I mean about all the fun Adam and Eve missed out on? They didn't even know what a bellybutton was until they had kids!

God bless,
Amanda

This was copied and edited from our previous site on Babysites.