The Songs We Sing

D.R. and I have been singing to the babies since they were born, but the fun thing about the age they're at now, is that they clearly respond more to some songs than to others. It's been so interesting for me to reflect back to the songs that were sung to me by my Mom and Dad and remember my personal favorites. I have found myself subconsciously singing these tunes to my boys... and interestingly enough, they seem to be the songs the boys prefer, as well.

A few of their favorites:

If I need a song to calm the boys down, I usually go with "Oh Shenandoah," which works wonders with little Dex, or "Hush Little Baby," which Jax seems to really respond to. It must be the repetition in each of them, as they are quickly lulled to sleep by both songs. I remember Dad singing "Oh Shenandoah" to us as children... and remember both Mom and Dad singing "Hush Little Baby."

There are also the changing table songs.... fun songs with happy melodies that make the boys smile. "You are my Sunshine" and "I'm a Little Teapot" are two favorites... though we've made up our own set of lyrics to the teapot song. :) It's fun for me to remember my Grandma Grimstad singing "You are my Sunshine" to us as little children.

A fun song that I have no recollection of my parents singing to us, but that we stumbled upon in one of our attempts to distract the boys and make them laugh was "Rock Around the Clock." They love it. Strange, but true. They especially like it if we pat their backs and dance with them while we sing it. So funny.

We play a lot of music in our household, as well. It's been especially fun for us to see which albums the boys seem to respond to. There's a multitude of soothing CDs we listen to... everything from Lullabies and classical to Enya. However, the boys absolutely love listening to Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows, Billy Joel, Howie Day, Keane, Ben Folds, Jack Johnson and Sarah MacLachlan. These are fun experiments for me... interesting that they happen to love some of my all-time favorites. :) Ultimately, I think we're raising two little music fans, which is going to be especially fun.