My Private Investigator

Em is a little fascinated by private parts these days.  This is certainly not abnormal toddler behavior, but I still find it somewhat uncomfortable at times.  Her shirt won't even be off for two seconds before she's trying to tune in Tokyo and I've caught her more than once doing some serious exploration on the potty. 

Tonight she noticed something new...  I was in the middle of changing Jacob's diaper when Emily ran into the kitchen then returned with her stepstool for a better view.  She was stunned.

"What... is... that???"
"What?"
Waiting for toddler comedy...  This should be good.

"THAT!"
Pointing and staring in utter confusion.  Where's my camera?!

My friends and I have talked about this moment.  What do you call it when they ask?  Pee pee?  Boy parts?  My personal favorite:  "Pieces and part?"  A few moms I know used the accurate terminology.  I'm just not cool enough to be OK with my kid using penis and vagina in everyday conversation yet.  I went with the safe answer.  "Those are Jacob's private parts."  Emily was studying him at this point and then began to tell me her observations aloud while I finished the diaper change.

"My private part goes up and down like this." (Drawing imaginary line between her legs)
"Uh-huh."

"His goes out.  It's out like this." (Finger puppet. I'm bursting with giggles at this point)
"Yep.  Boy parts and girl parts are different."

That was explanation enough... for now.  I'm sure it's just a matter of time before the questions and commentary start rolling in.  Likely in public, of course.  This will be the next hot topic.  Right now she's all about questioning bathroom behavior.  For the record, I have no idea how many times her preschool teachers use the bathroom each day.  I went with 5.  Please don't ask me about their private parts!