Notes about notes

As a music-lover that knows just enough to have strong opinions, but not enough to blog about them (wink) with a toddler who seems to have super-good hearing and a love for music (and lots of opinions), I am jotting this post. It's one of those that's more for me -- to capture a few things that made my heart happy today.

Rocking out to Pandora

At morning snack, he pointed to my shirt and said, "Beatles!" I said, "Yeah! We know some Beatles songs like 'Here Comes the Sun.'" He said, "Here Comes the Sun, Daddy!" Josh said, "You like that song, buddy?" And Gavin said, "Yeah!" (I didn't mention "Twist and Shout" because when he hears it, he says, "Beatles yelling." He's not a fan of yelling in real life or in music...unless he's doing it.)

From "Do-Re-Mi" (Sound of Music), he has memorized the sound of the interval Sol-Do, which occurs prominently at the end of the song. The song came on Pandora in the car, and he said, "At the end, they're gonna say 'Sol Do!'"

They were playing Latin music at the restaurant at dinner. He was dancing pretty hard in his little seat. Then he said, "At the end, they're gonna say 'Sol Do!'" Then he smiled. Such a joker.

Then while we were eating and talking and listening, he said, "They're playing drums." I affirmed him, and thought about saying, "And guitar," just to help him continue to develop his ear, but then I told myself to just take a breath -- he's two. Then, I kid you not, two songs later he said, "They're playing drums...and guitar!"

See, I told you it was for me. But if you enjoyed sharing it with me, well that's cool, too.

Every Age is the Best Age (?)

I've probably mentioned it in an earlier post, how some people told me every age is the best age (and how some other people laughed at them). At this point (26 months into my first child), I'm not sure who's right, and the optimist in me wants to believe the former. That said, it's actually hard for me to imagine it getting better than this!  ... Oh -- did I forget to tell you to get our your air-sickness bags for this post? Okay, well get them out, but even if you're a cynic, don't stop reading yet. Later, it will be so much more satisfying to point and laugh when you're armed with this ammo.

Things are far from perfect, but I am loving this age. Two. Yes, I said it. I'm actually starting to feel a little sick to my stomach right now because I know that 27 months, 30 months and so on are going to look very different than 26 months. My mom tells me "terrible threes" were much more a part of my toddler existence than "terrible twos," so, if he's like me, I may have a long time to wait for the other shoe to drop. No matter what may be ahead, I am enjoying these moments so much. It's hard for me to imagine more back-to-back cuteness and hilarity than we are having right now.

It's been a while (too long) since I wrote a what's-happening-now post, so summarizing is out of the question (too much). Instead, here are snippets. I hope they bring you some joy.

I love his inflections! They are sounding more and more like (exactly) the way we say things (scary) and less like baby robot talk (monotone phrases). The inflections, oh the inflections! And he sometimes helps us with our "lines" if we're not playing our part correctly (for those of you just tuning in, he's the first-born of two first-borns...) For example, if we help him when he wants to do it himself, he'll say, "Oh! I sorry!" which means, "Mom, Dad, I'm sure you're so sorry you just pulled my jacket off when you should have known I wanted to do it myself. Put it back on, and I'll struggle with it and eventually ask you for help but feel like I did it myself, and then everything will be okay!"

He is starting to comment on what he's doing. He'll be walking around, "Doo be doo be doo," and then say, "Singing a song." The other day, he was playing close by while I was getting ready, and I heard him say under his breath to himself, "This'll be funny," as he set one car on top of another.

He is making huge strides with both gross motor skills and singing. Since it's my blog (not my husband's), I'll start by describing...the singing! This is where I wish I had been blogging more often. The progress in his singing over the last few months has been so fun to watch. It's amazing to me how he's gone from singing most of the words to "Twinkle Twinkle" on the same monotone pitch to now singing all the words to several songs and sometimes even matching the up and down of the pitch. A few days ago, I was singing, "She'll be comin' 'round the mountain," and he started doing the echo he's heard on some recordings, just out of the blue. Love it! A week or so ago, he made up his own song:

Old MacDonald had some food.
E-i-e-i-o
With a yummy, yummy here and a yummy, yummy there...

So, on to gross motor skills. He is "all boy" in this department, (and I am beginning to visualize/dread the day where he scales his crib through sheer will power). In fact, after climbing a challenging structure at our playground, he said, "Gavin is a big kid now." Here are his latest physical toddler feats:

• He is consistently walking the wide beam at our toddler gym with no hands.
• With his feet on the low bar of the uneven bars and his hands on the high bar, he can swing down and hang on the low bar without going kersplat.
• He is starting to use his feet to do things: close the door, pick up a book, etc. He thinks he's pretty tough.
• He is climbing up ladders and other bar-type structures, mostly without giving me heart-failure.
• He just loves running, climbing, jumping, and he is always thinking of his next cool trick.

Gavin walking up the mat backwards

Recently during open gym at our little toddler gym, he got really into passing the ball back and forth with his friend's dad (with his dad standing right there...nope, the all-around athlete/soccer player didn't get his feelings hurt AT ALL). Even though, playing with his own daddy would have been ideal, we were both pretty excited that he was willing to go back and forth with anyone. Prior to that, most ball play was strictly solo despite our best efforts (as in, "Look, guys. I threw that ball, I watched where it landed, I analyzed its every move. Touch it and my day will pretty much be ruined...and so will yours"). Don't worry, Josh didn't stay emotionally injured too long. The next day they were playing ball together. All is right with the world.

Okay, so is anyone else's kid obsessed with fake crying? We just ended a pretty long phase where he did it a ton! And most of the time, he wasn't necessarily trying to manipulate us; it was like he role-playing or something. Sometimes he would just start fake crying for no apparent reason. Then he would look at me and say in a pathetic tone, "What's the matter?" meaning, "Ask me what's the matter." I would oblige and he'd say, "Gavin crying," in that same tone, complete with cracks in his voice and everything. Whether real or fake crying, he would love to watch himself do it in a mirror. Just our family? Anyone else? 

He is just starting to get into make-believe. A blessing because it is a milestone. A challenge because doing puzzles is so much easier than following a toddler storyline! With make-believe, and with everyday encounters, I hear him using our conversational styles and phrases. At dinner, he asks Josh, "So, how was your day?" or "Have a good work?" Sometimes, he'll ask Millie (our dog) if she had a good breakfast (whether she's moved from her bed yet or not). He tells one of his little bears, "C'mon, let's go over here." Absolutely needless to say, I'm loving it!

I leave you with this. He's discovered the magic of the phrases "Mommy lets me" and "Daddy lets me" if he's been told "no" by the other parent. (He doesn't have the pronoun thing down yet, so it's actually "Mommy lets you" and "Daddy lets you.") The funny things is, usually, he's telling the absolute truth. (Sometimes daddy is surprised by what daring tricks mommy lets him do. So then we pow-wow and decide on the best [united] course.)

The dead give-away that Gavin is probably NOT being truthful? He puts on his most earnest, desperate face and uses his favorite catch-all: "Grandpa lets you."

Of course he does(n't), Sweetie. Of course he does(n't).

Big Week

It's been a while since I've shared some of Gavin's accomplishments and activities. I have a running list going on some scratch paper, and I can feel that it is about to get lost, so here's what's going on with us.

Gavin did his first real jump at the beginning of this week. He had been doing the knee-bend/toe-raise thing for a while, but recently I could tell that he was ramping up for the real thing. It's not the biggest milestone ever, but I really wanted to be there when it happened, and I was. And so was Josh.

At the beginning of this month, we were blessed to run away for a few days to visit some of our dearest friends. They have almost-seven-year-old twins (a boy and a girl) who sing constantly. Their repertoire is a healthy mix of Disney tunes and praise songs. While we were there and after we came back, Gavin would mumble a few notes and then say "song." Too cute! Well, today after a combined birthday party for his cousin and uncle, he sang "Happy Birthday." It was super close to being exactly right. He left off the last line, but, man, it was good. He sang it "to Grandpa" even though only Josh and I were there to hear it. We were SO proud!

A week that started with jumping and ended with singing...Mommy and Daddy are pretty excited. Here are some other things he's being doing over the past month or so:

• These days, most things are classified as: so fun, so yummy, zoom or pet (like I want to pet the goose). He thinks it's funny to get it wrong as in "helicopter -- so yummy" or "race car -- pet."
• Oh, and Daddy taught him "so messy" in a gravelly voice. Gavin thinks it's hilarious. I'm pretty sure that's going to come back to bite us sooner rather than later.
• Sometimes he suddenly becomes excited about where we are. He puts both hands in the air and says the name of the place, usually park, restaurant or home.
• He can almost count to twenty in English (that pesky fifteen) and to ten in Spanish (darn that nueve). He understands which numbers are bigger (for the most part) as evidenced by the following conversation: Mommy: "Two more Cheerios." Gavin: "Eight more? Nine more? Tennnnn!"
• He has held up one finger to signify the number one for a long time, but today he held up two fingers and said, "two." That will come in handy since he is almost two.
• He is always experimenting with something, and lately he'll say something in a normal voice, like "Daddy's car," and then try it without final consonants, "Da-Da Caaaaa." Of couse, he likes it when I repeat it and usually tries it a few more times after that.
• He first said, "I love you" about five weeks ago, but now he says it often. Love!

Here are the current love tags (see blog intro):
Honey Bear, Snuggle, Snuggle Bear, Silly Guy, Pumpkin Pie, Sweetie Pie, Baby Boo

Gavin's Playlist

My sweetie loves him some music. He listens intently, and he always has. I can remember as early as four months watching him in the "music trance" as we still call it (at 21 months). For Gavin, music can be a source of comfort, calm, fun, silliness and motivation.

For a long time, we subsisted on Toddler Pandora (with the exception of the Beatles Lullaby CD that he falls asleep to), but let's face it. Pandora can be glitchy or slow and requires wi-fi, which means in the middle of nowhere, in a basement or on a plane, you are out of luck. As much as I love free, I finally purchased some of our favorite songs and want to share Gavin's very own playlist with you, along with--in true blogger fashion--my opinions about why it's fabulous.

In no particular order...Gavin's Playlist

Johnny Bregar's entire Stomp Yer Feet! album which includes great blues-y versions of "If You're Happy...", "Bingo", "Alphabet Song", and lots more.

Elizabeth Mitchell's versions of "Freight Train", "Little Bird, Little Bird", "Peace Like a River", "Shoo-Fly", "This Little Light of Mine", "You Are My Sunshine", and Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds." I especially love "Little Sack of Sugar" and "One Day, Two Days..." because the lyrics remind me of an enamored, sleep-deprived parent just overflowing with cuddles and smiles due to pure baby cuteness -- kind of like how the love tags started with Gavin (see blog intro). Her voice is pure but not too sweet. Plus, she often has cute babies singing or talking in the background which Gavin loves. "Car, Car" will be my next download from her.

Sandra McCracken (wife of Derek Webb [now solo artist formerly of Caedmon's Call] and folk rock singer in her own right) put together the Rain for Roots project with several of her friends and released Big Stories for Little Ones. Spiritually-meaningful lyrics put to real music. I sometimes listen to it when Gavin's not around--especially track 2.

"Down By the Bay" from the Campfire Sing-Along album by Orange Sherbet and Hot Buttered Rum. A children's song with scat singing. Worth it.

Someone named Ukulele Jim does my very favorite version of "The Wheels on the Bus" (the things I have opinions about now as a mom are kind of ridiculous and rather exhausting, and yet...) It's another one with cute kids singing along, so it's one of Gavin's favorites.

Bob Marley's "One Love/People Get Ready"

The Beatles' "Love Me Do" and "Hello, Goodbye"

Switchfoot's "More Than Fine" -- I just had to. (Love them)

Caedmon's Call's "The Only One" (People get smarter when they listen to Caedmon's Call)

Raffi's "Down on Grandpa's Farm" (Gavin's current favorite), "Bananaphone" (pure silliness), "He's Got the Whole World", "Octopus's Garden", and "This Little Light of Mine."

"You've Got a Friend in Me" by Randy Newman (from Toy Story). Though I love Disney songs, Gavin is not quite into the drama and orchaestral fullness of them. However, he does love this one.

"All I Want Is You" by Barry Louis Polisar (from the Juno soundtrack) -- I may never have picked it if not for Toddler Pandora, but it became a favorite of Gavin's, and we like dancing to it.

If I decide to spend more money, I'll definitely be adding a Jack Johnson and a Frances England or two. 

Now it's your turn. What song(s) would you add? What's your child's current favorite?