Sylvie's First Words

Wow, where did the time go? Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and all that. Holidays with small children turn out to be rather busier and much less relaxing than they used to be. They're a lot more fun, though.

During the past couple of weeks Sylvie has learned to say "goo gir" ("good girl") and has begun to sit upright on her own for extended periods of time. We have to surround her with pillows, though, because she has not yet grasped the concept of breaking one's fall with one's arms -- when she tires and falls over, she inevitably smashes her head on the floor. And if that happens too often, well, she won't progress much beyond "goo gir." I feel a little guilty about the "good girl" thing, actually. I guess I've said that phrase to her a lot. When perhaps I should have been saying "smart girl" or even, I don't know, "you go, girl!" I'm worried I've already impeded her development as a strong feminist by valuing pleasant behaviour over her intellect or her brawn or whatever. At least her first words weren't "pretty girl." Which they very well could've been. I bought her a party dress for Christmas:

And those are black velvet Mary Janes. But they won't stay on her feet. None of her shoes do, and I take that as a sign that there will be no glass slipper stories for her, thank you very much. She will stand on her own two (chubby and delicious little) feet.

Here she is in a nice tough bear suit:

Come to think of it, maybe her first words were "grr grr."

She looks so much like her father there, it's hilarious. I have a baby picture or two of his I must scan and upload.

Comments

[Tonya]

Wow, Sylvie is an early talker, and sooooo cute!

Will's first words were "get down", at the age of about 11 months. I had repeated the words to him over and over when he sat on the edge of a bed one day and I tried to get him to flip onto his stomach to slide down. He stared at me intently, and then repeated my words back to me. But did not get down. He didn't talk again for 7 months!

[Kerry Clare]

I struggle with "good girl" too and can't figure out why I can't stop saying it. That she's a girl also shouldn't be part of every exclaimation I make about her, but I just can't help myself. Perhaps the alliteration is just too appealing?

Sylvie is so cute. This is such a good age, isn't it? I now understand why I wanted babies in the first place.

[Susan (Chicken Spaghetti)]

Stef, she's, what, six months old? Wow! Good girl. That's so sweet. And what a sweet face.

Junior's first word was "hey," and he used it to summon old ladies to his side at the grocery store. (It was more a sorority girl hey than a Sopranos hey.) Later he ask them, "What your name?" and they'd tell him. Marilyn. Phyllis. Barbara.

[kittenpie]

Oh, how I LOVE the bear suit! Gah!
But the dress is lovely, too.
I find myself trying to rememebr not to say "good boy" to The Bun, too, and usually get as far as modifying it halfway out of my mouth to good JOB instead. Frankly, I'm too tired to worry as much as I should about it, I think!

[Steph]

Susan, she'll be seven months on the 15th. Love the "Marilyn. Phyllis. Barbara." story.

KP: Bear suit = Gap.

Kerry, yes, she is the best accident I've ever had.

Tonya, so funny to think of Will that small. It all happens in the blink of an eye, doesn't it?

On the topic of "good girl" my friend Nela sent me this note, which I thought was funny:

"First with the good - obviously this is a label and you should avoid labels. How about commenting on the progress instead? 'I see improvement in your ability to grasp this motor skill!'

And the girl issue. Ideally you should use gender neutral terms. Call her 'child' or 'person.'

Which begats 'excellent motor skill progress small child! Continue to improve your skills as a person!'"

The only problem is that this would be rather a mouthful for Sylvie's first words...

[cheryl]

Oh! I put my daughter in a brown bear suit for her first winter! I personally LOVE brown on my red headed girl, but after too many boy comments I added a pink bow above one bear ear. The bow can be removed should the next babe be a boy, and the grandparents don't flinch at the unisex bear suit anymore! Memories!