life and death in the mind of a two year old

m has been talking a lot about "her baby sister" (we have not confirmed the gender, so i am hoping she is not devastated if she is wrong)
some days she proudly tells people that her baby is in my belly, or will pull up my shirt before going to bed to whisper something to her sibling
i don't know how much she understands about the reality of when the baby is actually here, but i know that despite whatever challenges it presents for her, it is also the greatest gift erk and i can give her.

we have also been talking a lot about family in general. she has so many cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents that sometimes i quiz her on who is related to whom. "¿quién es la mamá de papá?" (who is your dad's mom?) that one is easy for her. but one day she realized we had gone over all the combinations except for one and she asked "who's papá's dad? where he?" i explained that his name was pop but that he had died - like chloe. i don't know how much she remembers her dog chloe who passed away last spring. she seems to have some sense and memory of her. "oh" she responded.

weeks later she brought up papa's dad again. this time more out of the blue. she asked "pop is with chloe? they playing baseball?"

maybe. the truth is i don't know any more about life and death than she does...