- What are Little Girls Made Of?
- What are little girls made of, made of?
What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice, and everything nice,
That's what little girls are made of.
What are little boys made of, made of?
What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy dog tails,
That's what little boys are made of.
--Anonymous
Guess which I'm having? A month ago, when we had the ultrasound that was supposed to let us know, baby was feeling shy and uncooperative, and no amount of poking and prodding would get it to turn over and show us what we wanted to see. Today, though, the Doctor got a good view and says that he's 90% sure it'll be a girl (the other 10% being due to the general disclaimers about ultrasound images are fuzzy, and some kids develop differently, etc, so he's as sure as anybody can get reading an ultrasound). So we're having a baby girl!! Yay!! This'll be the first girl grandchild for my mom since my brothers all seem to favor making boys.
I'm very excited. I've had the feeling all along that it would be a girl, and it's nice not to have to rearrange my thinking. I also recently brought home all my old toys (to get them out of Mom's way), and most of them are girl-centric. finally, girls are just so much fun to dress with in ruffles and lace and twirly dresses, etc. I recently took Peter shopping for clothes, and he just doesn't care enough to make it any fun at all.
I'd probably better talk about the poem, too. Let's see...well, as much as people would like to pretend that there are no gender differences, little girls and little boys really are different. I was babysitting a 2 year old boy the other day, and all he wanted to do was climb up on things, jump off them, kick balls, etc. At one point, we went out in the back yard where he found a stick and a rock, and was happy sitting and knocking them against each other. I left feeling amazed at how very obviously BOY-ish he was.
But I'm having a girl!! Yay!! Hooray!!
Congratulations! It’ll be nice for Mom to clean out some of the girl clothes she has been hording.
ReplyDeleteDavid
YAAAAAY! Baby girl! Congratulations, Karen and Peter. I was hoping somebody would get around to that before it came to be Rachel's and my turn. All that pressure! But now we can rest assured that nobody will really care what gender babies we have. :P
ReplyDeleteHappy happy day!
-Steve
I just want to say that, as much as we will love having a granddaughter, we would have just LOVED another grandson. Especially one as funny, creative and cool as the 5 we have.
ReplyDeleteLove Mom
Woohoo!!!! We're so very very very happy for you! And I was hoping you'd have a girl too. It really will be a boon to mom's baby clothes collection. I'm sure you'll do fabulously at outfitting your daughter with all the necessary frills and lacy-ness she desires.
ReplyDeleteLove, Heather and Sam
PS-- I know it's early, but, do you have any thoughts about names?
PPS-- I've always wanted to name a daughter Anna, and if I ever have one, she'll be named Anna. You're welcome to use the name too, just so long as you know you run the risk of your daughter having a cousin with the same name.
I think you should name her Pearlene.
ReplyDeletePEARLENE? You could also name her Brunhilda, Maleficent or Cruela,
ReplyDeletebut why torture the kid, she has enough to live up to being the only
grandaughter;
I'm excited for you two too!! Hope she continues growing and being
loved, as long as life is.
Congratulations! I know you've been wanting a baby for a long time.
ReplyDelete--
Mike Stay
Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteDouglas
I vote for Catherine of Russian fame.
ReplyDeleteRandy
My mom Katherine (Kathey) already has a Katherine (Kate) as her only grandchild so far.
ReplyDeletePeter
congratulations Karen. I think Hulga is a good name. :)
ReplyDeletelesli
Thanks for all the suggestions! As Peter said, we considered some variation of Catherine, but thought it would be a little weird to have that be the only name on that side of the family. I've also known for years that Heather has claimed the name Anna, and so I wouldn't dream of stealing it.
ReplyDeleteWe're leaning towards Elizabeth Anne for several reasons. 1.Elizabeth is my middle name which I've always liked. 2. Ann is Mom's middle name. 3. Anne of Green Gables gives us the spelling I like. 4. Nana's full name was Anna Elizabeth Holmquest (but I can't put Anne first because of reasons already mentioned). 5. Both are names of English queens. 6. It fits my requirements for the humane naming of babies--everybody will be able to spell and pronounce it. 7. There are plenty of ways to make nicknames out of it, but it doesn't necessarily need a nickname. 8. It sounds pretty, and has a nice rhythm: Elizabeth Anne Ahlstrom.
We're open to changing our minds if the whim strikes us when the baby is born, but this name really does have a lot going for it.
-Karen
I was drafting a letter suggesting that name when you wrote this!
ReplyDelete-Mike
Wahoo! I like Elizabeth Anne, too. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteKate is quite fond of sticks and rocks as well. More sticks than rocks.
I always liked Hannah (Grandma Ahlstrom's name), but it's become so popular the past few years. Actually I have a secret desire to name a child "Mercy Hannah" (have you heard the story about the child who was born during a river crossing and named "Merciful Deliverance upon the Rappohannock"? ) but I don't think Doug would go for it.
Oh, and I am just cracking up at the comment about Peter not being fun to take clothes shopping. :)
ReplyDeleteRappahannock. Spelled that wrong.
ReplyDeleteGreat minds think alike
ReplyDeleteI love it. You're right-- it does roll off the tongue nicely. My vote's in. I hope you don't mind my calling her Lizzie Bennet every now and then.....
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! I like the name too. A middle name will also keep her from getting confused with the other Elizabeth Ahlstrom, who luckily goes by Betsey. She keeps getting all the neices with her same name--Kate's middle name is Elizabeth.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, so glad to hear. I've been bursting with excitement.
Love you both!
I have a friend (since you mention Anne) who has a Matthew and a Marilla, and also an Elizabeth that she calls Libby.
ReplyDeleteCONGRATULATIONS! We are so excited for you. It was SO fun reading all those posts. I like the name too. You're right that Elizabeth can have lots of nicknames. I once knew an Elizbeth who was called "Bitsy." Helena didn't mention that the poor little girl who was born while her parents were crossing the Rappahannock was a relative, and the river was in flood stage. They were so relieved to have made it safely that they named her Merciful Deliverance Upon the Rappahannock Churchill, and called her Mercy Hannah. Hm-m-m, I wonder how much of that is really true, but it must be--it's in the Churchill book--or at least I think it is. :-)
ReplyDeleteLove ya!