Why don't people think?

So three people assumed she was a boy today. I never really minded the fairly frequent "how old is he?" comments that presumed gender on the basis of a blue or green stripe on what appeared to me to be fairly gender-neutral clothing. Likewise the "He's so cute!" that always went along with a particular turquoise t-shirt and yellow shorts ensemble I dressed her in on occasion.

But today had me baffled. Because she was wearing a navy onesie with a frilly, shirred collar trimmed in white, so you couldn't miss the little ruffles around her neck. And her pants, which may very well be the cutest garment EVER CREATED, were sherbet-hued with embroidered butterflies and flowers and pixies for all I know, little flared calf-length legs with a baby pink ribbon belt. They were so girly I never would have picked them out myself, but they were hand-me-downs I'd fallen in love with.

But these morons see blue, their brains seize up and they spout "does he sleep the night?" despite the fact that a baby Quentin Crisp would have rejected that particular outfit as too fey.

And yeah, they mean well. But why don't people think?

Baby Sounds

She's six months old now and babbling away. She does a lot of "bahbahbah" and "dadada" and luckily for my ego has recently added "mamama" to the repertoire. Its not like the dada stuff was directed at her dad or anything, nor does the mamama seem any more addressed to me than her toes, but still, I was starting to get a complex.

She also frequently shouts out to "Nginge!" (pronounced "ingingay" should you be interested in playing along at home...) We're not sure, but think she's supporting a largely unknown candidate for a Kenyan cabinet position. It definitely sounds like Swahili at any rate.

And when she's upset about some perceived slight, she makes a pathetic little whimper that sounds exactly like a sound Lassie used to make. I'm not talking about the sharp BARK BARK BARK Lassie employed when trying to impart the exact location of the well into which Timmy had clumsily fallen. Remember that one? Timmy's dad would listen for a few seconds and then say "What girl? You say Timmy and the Murphy girl are playing doctor in the O'Shaunessey's hayloft? And that Timmy's losing but doesn't seem too upset about it?" Not that hyperexpressive BARK. It's this other little whimpery noise -- a "hmmm, hmm, hmmmmmm" that the tot makes when angling for sympathy.