The Little Music Man

Music plays a big part in our life at Maison Noah. We listen to a lot of The Beatles. It's important to get the kid interested in the basics and work out from there. Plus for some sadistic reason the boy actually likes me to sing to him and The Beatles catalog is great fun f or me to sing along. We have "Please Please Me," "Revolver," "Rubber Soul," "Magical Mystery Tour," and even "1" in heavy rotation. We also enjoy the cable Music Choice channels. Party Favorites plays an odd assortment of every song you might hear at a wedding DJed by the Pros. Even if you hate the songs I guarantee you can sing along. We also enjoy Retroactive and Light Classical - but we might need to branch out soon as the playlists have grown tiring. And of course we have some Baby Einstein and Baby Genius CDs - because no one would buy a CD promising to give their child subpar intelligence.

This weekend my mom brought Noah two new CDs by Fisher Price - "Dance, Baby, Dance" and "Baby Boogie." I was a bit worried when I first saw them - assuming it would be earth shatteringly horrible, as much music designed for babies often is. It isn't half bad. Actually I have to admit I've been enjoying them though Noah barely pays them mind. They are in fact instrumental dance remixes of songs like "Mary Had a Little Lamb," "Hush, Little Baby" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." I never quite imagined enjoying a cheesy techno version of "Baa Baa Black Sheep," but damn - it's pretty bumpin'.

Yesterday Noah received the LeapStart Learning Table from Mark's friend Steve and his family. Right now it's a bit too advanced for the boy, but that didn't stop Mark and I from taking it out of the box and spending at least a half hour playing with it ourselves. It uses music to teach a bunch of skills not unlike how to start a dotcom and how to file for bankruptcy. But thanks to last nights tutorial Mark and I now know our alphabet and how to scat.