Music Appreciation

Spencer has it.  He brought out his instruments this morning, and wanted to play with them with me.    He conducted most of the songs showcased in "The Wonder Pets Save the Bengal Tiger." 

 I asked him to stand by his instruments and "look at Mommy," so he giggled uncontrollably and ran towards me.  Then, I'd put him back next to his instruments and repeat the command.  Again, explosions of giggles, as he ran at me as fast as he could.  You can see, I managed to get one (poor) shot.  He was pretty proud of himself.

The drum stick has been given new life as a conducting baton, as seen in--you guessed it--"Little Einsteins."  Below, you can see him conducting with his left hand, while making his (own personal) sign for the word "help" with his right hand.  He signed "help" the exact time they said the word on the movie.  He also said it.  It doesn't sound like "help."  It sounds like "he--ump."  And it's staccato.

Also fascinating this morning was the tambourine made to resemble a caterpillar.  When I told him it was a tambourine he corrected me repeatedly with his own version of the word caterpillar.  So, we decided to go with that.  He had initially dragged all his instruments into the kitchen, presumably because that's where I was stationed at the time.  He put the caterpillar tambourine on his head and balanced it perfectly for about ten seconds.  I cheered and rooted for him, and told him, "Wow, that's hard work!"  He was extremely proud of himself and handed the tambourine to me.

In retrospect, I realize that he wanted me to balance it on my head; however, at the time I concluded that he OBVIOUSLY wanted me to play a little something for him to show him the "right" way to use it.  So, I broke out my own personal version of "Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man" that I have vague memories of watching a hippie sing on a Nick at Nite commercial many moons ago.  Spencer was mildly amused but asked for it back in the middle of my rendition.  No applause.

It quickly became apparent that we'd veered from his agenda.  He brought me into my room (where he prefers to watch movies these days), and then he climbed on my bed and asked for me to do the same.  Then, he came over and balanced the caterpillar on my head.  Oh, clearly!  What's the fun in playing the tambourine when you can make your mom balance it on her head?

I did pretty well if I do say so myself.  It slipped every now and then, but he was always right there to assist me in returning it to its rightful spot.  

He would walk over and check on me every now and then when he wasn't singing with the Wonder Pets, conducting with his baton, or throwing himself into my pillows.  Taking pictures of it all was harder that you'd think.

So much to say behind that paci and those sparkling blue eyes.