How old is Sunny Baudelaire in the beginning?

[doetwin]

Sunny is referred to as an infant, but her explicit age is never stated. Sunny starts walking in TVV, and most babies start walking by the time they're a year old. However, the hole with sunny being under a year old in the earlier books is that she's very aware of what's going on. Based on the translations Snicket gives us, she's almost as knowledgeable about their situation as her siblings. In TEE, she climbs up and down an elevator shaft, without Violet and Klaus having the slightest concerns that she'll fall. It's possible that in terms of walking and talking, she's a late-bloomer. What's your understanding of her age?

[Sophie Baudelaire]

Honestly I don't think her numerical age really matters, mostly just that she's very young and unusually intelligent for her age

[Dante]

I think it's simply that Handler didn't know much about babies, so Sunny's abilities are just whatever was most interesting. It's worth noting that she is basically just a McGuffin in TBB, though, quite useless, and simply sits around getting passed between cast members; it takes from TRR onwards for her to become more active. I'll take all the swordfights and elevator-climbing in the world over a Sunny who's just a glorified rock.

[Hermes]

I don't think you can take her abilities as definitive; as Sophie says, she's unusually intelligent for her age. When we reached this point in the Great Reread, I asked at what age children normally start to walk, and one 667er said her second niece did not walk until she was eighteen months; I decided to treat this as Sunny's age, since it better fits all the events she was involved in before the fire. (If we allow six months for the first half of the series, that would make her just one year old at the time of the fire.)

[Charlie]

Depends:
In TBB idk
In the beginning of Sunny Baudelaire she was exactly zero years old
In the very beginning Sunny and probs the Earth didn't exist yet
Hope that helped!

[gliquey]

Most babies should walk before the age of 18 months. The problem here is basically that (from TRR to TVV) Sunny seems to be younger than that, because she can't walk, but she also seems older than that, because she understands everything that's happening. The boring answer is simply suspension of disbelief: it's partly intentional because it's funny, and partly just because Handler doesn't know much about small children. The only other answer I can think of is that Sunny has some sort of movement disorder like cerebral palsy (which could also explain her speech), which would mean she could be a little older than 18 months, but there's no medical condition that can explain Sunny's ability to understand everything that happens to her and her siblings as well as she does.

[Charlie]

Feb 20, 2016 13:23:45 GMT -5 gliquey said:

Most babies should walk before the age of 18 months. The problem here is basically that (from TRR to TVV) Sunny seems to be younger than that, because she can't walk, but she also seems older than that, because she understands everything that's happening. The boring answer is simply suspension of disbelief: it's partly intentional because it's funny, and partly just because Handler doesn't know much about small children. The only other answer I can think of is that Sunny has some sort of movement disorder like cerebral palsy (which could also explain her speech), which would mean she could be a little older than 18 months, but there's no medical condition that can explain Sunny's ability to understand everything that happens to her and her siblings as well as she does.

um but heaps of kids aren't walking at 18 months... Not to be rude but I don't think your point here is very valid? Even though babies find it difficult to communicate bc baby, they understand most things pretty well? Like idk she's a perceptive kid who can't walk yet

[lorelai]

I'd say a year old at the start of the series, and just turned one at that, to explain why her birthday is the only one we don't get. And I agree with the majority that she was a late bloomer when it came to walking. Plenty of kids don't conform to the typical timetable for baby development, and if I were Sunny, I wouldn't want to walk in a hurry. Look how many bad things happen to the people she meets prior to TVV who walk. I'd just work on being a lighter sleeper, so that if someone ever trried to stuff me in a birdcage again, I could either bite them or scream.

[Eponine]

I agree with that. I also think Daniel Handler didn't include any real life "facts" about babies, but just made his character the way he wanted her made, without thinking of reality. (Somebodies probably already pointed this out, but in case not...)

[J-Bird]

I'd place good money on a wager that she's 0-3 years throughout the books. Based on, you know, evidence and stuff. Anyone ever heard of Constance Contraire?

[Eponine]

Yes! From the Mysterious Bendedict Society! I love those books- I read them when I was younger (though I just recently re-read them), and was really mad when I learned that she was actually young.

[J-Bird]

So someone else has heard of the Mysterious Benedict Society! Good series, and I remember thinking it was ridiculous how young she was.

[Eponine]

Yes! I literally threw a tantrum when I read it, hahaha. But it was actually pretty cool that she was so little, because of the major PLOT TWIST.

[Dante]

The character in question in The Mysterious Benedict Society was explicitly exceptional, so I hope Sunny does not come off worse in the comparison. It's possible that the Baudelaires' privileged upbringing might have seen Sunny not find herself in need of attempting to walk very much, though when it comes to biting and later cooking, she's clearly large strides ahead.

[J-Bird]

I didn't get the sense that Sunny came off worse in the comparison when I first thought of there similarities. Constance may be academically advanced and a better walker for her young age then Sunny, we have seen that Sunny's thinking, cooking, and yes, biting prove her not too dull.