Lost in translation

I got a good lesson today in the literal nature of toddlers. We have a Berenstein Bears book called "New Baby" which I've been reading to her. I loved these books when I was little, but I did notice that either this wasn't one of their best adventures or my tastes have changed because it's, well, a tad weird. Papa Bear takes the Brother Bear out into the woods one day to chop down a tree and there informs him that there will soon be a new baby in their house (which Brother Bear has no inkling of despite Mama Bear's enormous mid-section). By the time they're back from the woods, by golly, there's a NEW BABY right there in the house (about the size of a toddler, mind you) and already with the ability to playfully pop Brother Bear right in the nose. Perhaps in bear country this sort of gestation/birth scenario is quite plausible but in humans, not so much. We all joked that Kate was going to have quite an impression about the birthing process, so we shouldn't have been surprised when she looked at me this morning and said, "I go outside and new baby comes," and "daddy go outside and new baby comes." I told her it wouldn't be happening today because the baby had to spend more time growing in my tummy, to which she demanded that I pull up my shirt and "show her baby." I showed her my belly and she looked at me as disparagingly as a toddler can and said "can't SEE baby, take off skin." All day long, she kept telling me that the new baby was coming when she went outside, so I guess the Berenstein Bears made more of an impression than any of my explanations did. She cleared things up a bit at bedtime, when she looked at me while I was reading to her and said, "new baby go outside. Not now. Cook longer." Hmmm, sounds about right to me!