Bienvenue au monde, mon petit!

[imwalde]

My cousin just had a baby. A boy, named Emile. (Papa is French, and plans only to speak French with the skidoo. Lucky punk.)

I only have 3 first cousins, and she's the first of all us grandkids to breed, so my family is all abuzz.

So, this kid, he's my ... first cousin, once removed? Is that right?

Going to see the new baby on Sunday, and I promise to be honest about if he is frog-like or alien-like or actually cute.

Comments

[calendae.livejournal.com]

I've always heard that your cousin's kids are your second cousins. Or is that your kids would be their kids second cousins? I'm never sure. I don't think it actually matters.

[meghatron.livejournal.com]

Removed indicates a generation level skip. So, your 1st cousins' children are your 1st cousins once removed and vice versa. However, your children are your 1st cousins's children's 2nd cousins. Their respective children are each others' 3rd cousins, and so on down the line. Each new generation of children becomes once (twice, thrice, etc.) more removed from you.

[imwalde.livejournal.com]

OK, that makes it easy to remember. Thanks!

[niennah.livejournal.com]

Aw, lucky kid getting to be bilingual! That's so great. Emile is a gorgeous name.

And yes, first cousin once removed. I have about 60 of them so I can definitely guarantee it. *g*

[imwalde.livejournal.com]

I really like Emile, too. I am a teeny bit worried for him when he gets to middle school that people are going to tease him for having a girl's name, because Emily is überubiquitous and Emile is almost unheard of in the States, but he'll be able to mock the other kids in two languages, so he'll probably be fine.

[jenelope.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the new cousin! I love the name Emile. There's good-looking young actor by that name (who I always think is related to Judd Hirsch, but isn't). If your cousin's husband was any nationality other than French, I'd suspect that he'd eventually cave on the not speaking any other language to Emile. My cousin's Lebanese husband made the same proclamation about his first son, but was soon speaking English (partly because my cousin doesn't speak Arabic). The kids speak both English and Arabic, but Wajdi tends to speak a mixture of the two to them. However, the French are rather persnickety when it comes to language.

I bet the baby's adorable. Newborns are tricky, but I think most babies are cute in their own way.

[imwalde.livejournal.com]

He was the one in Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, right?

Heh, my cousin doesn't speak French (although she said she wants to learn) so I do wonder how well he'll be able to stick with it.

In the meantime, I bought a bunch of baby books in French when I was in Paris for the baby, so at least I know he'll hear some bedtime stories in French.