Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Songbird

You may have heard that babies like to be sung to. Or rather, they like to hear singing. I'm not sure if it matters if they're the focus of the singing. Cubby is no exception. Singing will sometimes make him quiet if he's mad.

And sometimes not, but we're focusing on the times it works here.

Luckily for me, I have an unending store of song lyrics in my head. The space that should be filled with useful information like A.'s Social Security number or my PIN for that one bank card I hardly ever use is instead taken up with all the words to the Alaska State Song, a.k.a. the Alaska Flag Song ("Eight stars of gold on a field of bluuuue, Alaska's flag may it mean to you . . .).

This is not a marketable skill. Except now I have a baby to sing to. I knew I was cataloging all that useless stuff for a reason. Songs I have serenaded him with so far include:

1) The Rose
2) The Sound of Silence
3) The aforementioned Alaska Flag Song
4) Scarborough Fair
5) Amazing Grace
6) A Life Uncommon (a Jewel song)
7) The Absence of Fear (also a Jewel song)
8) Good Mother (Terri Clark)
9) Remember When (Alan Jackson)
10) Silent Night

I'm sure you get the idea. I like to think he's impressed by my incredible voice, but I suspect I could sing the jingle from the Hamburger Helper commercial ("Ay yi yi yi, we've got two new Mexican flavors . . .") and Cubby would listen. It's nice to have an undemanding audience.

12 comments:

Serial Swooper said...

Commercial jingles are more my thing.

1) Oreos - Ice cold milk and an...
2) Bologna -- My bologna has a first name...
3) Hot dogs -- Oh I wish I had an Oscar Meyer weeeeiner...

I could go on but I'm starting to reveal the fact that my kids eat garbage foods so I'll leave it at that.

Anonymous said...

You can't go wrong with Jewel.
Lucky cubby.


word verification tachot


bless you

Anonymous said...

In her early days, Sadie was a big James Taylor fan. Now she likes the stuffed elephant who wiggles his legs and sings the A-B-C song. Hm.

jean said...

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. It never failed. 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall was less so.

Sara said...

Who knew you were such a Jewel fan? You should learn Songbird by Fleetwood Mac for good measure. Of course, I always sang Beatles and Paul McCartney tunes to my nieces and nephews. Another song for you to learn: I Will by The Beatles. The Pie and I used to sing it all the time; she memorized it because I sang her to sleep with that song all the time. Beautiful song, and I wept when I heard Paul sing it at one of his shows! Made me miss my Pie.

Susan said...

Wonderful! Made me tear up remembering how I used to sing mine to sleep with, "Dream a Little Dream of Me," by the Mamas and the Papas. Lucky Cubby, indeed. BTW, he's beautiful!

Unknown said...

My daughter loved the Hokey Pokey.

FinnyKnits said...

Just think of the diverse musical knowledge he'll take to his first day of kindergarten - he'll be the envy of all the kids.

All the kids that want to move to Alaska, anyway.

Alicia said...

At least there's a songbird in the house!

Tami Bami Wami said...

Hmm wonder if my mom sang to me? I was born deaf so not sure if she did or not.

Stacey said...

Children learn things better if they rhyme or are set to music. Keep it up.

Anonymous said...

I thought it was 3 New Mexican flavors.