It's a ............. (Drumroll please)............

wonder the doctor can make out ANYTHING in these ultrasound pictures. The five of us went to see the OB (who is fast approaching "cupcake status" in my eyes) and he went over as much of the baby as he could to determine if anything needed monitoring, further testing, etc. So far...so good.

The kids were less than thrilled with the quality of the ultrasound photos and despite my earlier warnings about "listening to the doctor" and "being respectful," Emma stated "It looks like a frog." In her defense, that particular shot did sort of resemble a .... OK, frog.

He asked them if they wanted to know if it was a boy or girl. They all nodded silently (hard to enunciate clearly when you have dum-dums stuffed in your mouth - I think it is the doc's subtle way of keeping them quiet).

When he announced it was a BOY, all three of them were suspicously quiet. No sobs or loud complaints from the girls - no fist pumping "YES" from the boy. Hmmm....not what I expected.

So, on the way to Dunkin' Donuts for a celebratory something, I asked all of them "How did the doctor know it was a boy? No response.

"What do you think he saw that made him think it was a boy?" Finally - Grayson's eyes lit up. "I know - the baby had a Power Ranger action figure!" Nope. Well, sort of.

I tried one final tactic to clarify this important distinction. "OK - when you take a bath - what does the boy have that a girl doesn't have?" Silence in the car for a moment - then Emma's face got all scrunched up - like when she sees a mushroom. "EWWWWW." I knew she'd gotten it.

"The doctor can see the baby's _________?" "Yes," I say, feeling relieved that I hadn't completely failed as a parent.

"You mean the baby is naked in there?" Sigh.

So - it is a boy - healthy looking so far - we are very excited - and obviously have some educating to do around here =).

By the way, if you can't decipher the picture - I'll describe it to you as the doc did to me. "On the left is the buttocks. Top and bottom are the legs. In the middle is "the brain." Or, as Claire puts it, "the wenis."