iMom

If you spend enough time with the Madster, you will quickly realize that the girl loves her some music. In fact, this week, she finally learned the word, music--mu-uk--and she does use it in context, asking for the musical lamb figurine on her dresser during diaper changes and rushing over to the CD player to have some of her mu-uk played. (Oh, and don't even think about pushing the buttons yourself. It will only end in a meltdown...)

In general, we're all for a love of the musical. We're more than happy to play her CDs, sing her songs, and we've enrolled her in a second Kindermusik course this Winter/Spring. However, lately, she's taken it a little too far. Miss Thing has decided that Mommy is an iPod. Not only does she almost constantly request her favorite songs (and loudly refuse to hear anything else you might feel like singing), she also requests them in "inconvenient" places. For instance, the last two times I've picked her up from daycare, she's greeted me with a hug and a request for Ernie. This also happens almost every time we go somewhere in the car, in restaurants, and this evening, in the grocery store. I've tried explaining that everyone in Aisle 3 does not want to hear Elmo, but she's pretty insistent. (I didn't sing in the grocery store. That's just not a place I'm prepared to go.)

So, in honor of Maddie and her mobile musical tastes, here's a sample playlist:

1. Ah-bo (Elmo's Song)

2. Ehw-nee (Rubber Ducky)

3. Up uh buh buh (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)

4. Bussss (Wheels on the Bus) (Complete with some phrases and actions. Adorable!)

5. Wo Wo (Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

6. Koo Koo (Little Bunny Foo Foo)

7. Yawk (Rock-a-Bye Baby)

8. Gawk Gawk (the Rock Chalk chant)

If you start to sing something she doesn't want you to sing, she'll yell "No, noooo" at you, and don't be surprised if she changes her mind mid-song, especially if she's asked you to sing "Ehw-nee" (Five bucks says she'll ask you to sing Ah-bo instead).

And finally, not because they're related but because someone asked, here are a couple of pictures from our trip back to Washington this weekend: