My wife and I both love music. This mutual appreciation for music was one of the things that attracted us to each other.
Our enjoyment and appreciation for music is a gift we hope to pass on to our daughter.
Early on we started thinking of ways we could do this.
Clara C concert
When Allie was still in Olive’s belly, we took her to a few concerts. I guess Allie’s official first concert was when she was minus 3 months old (Olive was 6 months pregnant). It was a Clara C concert. I liked that Allie’s first concert was to listen and support a young artist following her dreams. Clara C is a YouTube musician who grew her fans slowly over time singing covers of other people’s songs (our favourite is Rocketeer) and eventually started writing and singing her own music (our favourite is Offbeat). Olive and I really enjoyed the concert, and hoped Allie did as well – though we were uncertain how much she could actually hear inside her mommy’s belly.
My wife and I often joke that our life is a musical. We enjoy singing and making up random songs to describe our day. Naturally, that started happening with our baby as well.
Shortly after Allie was born, Olive made up a goodnight lullaby that we would sing to her before putting her to bed. Some days, the simple song would calm our baby down and prepare her for sleep. Other days, no amount of singing would seem to work.
We also make up a song that was a prayer before mealtimes. A simple melody to go with the words “Thank you Jesus for the milk, Amen.” Then came a good morning song, which Olive sang to Allie when she woke up early in the mornings.
When Allie was old enough to stand in an exersaucer, we would play music and dance with her. She was definitely amused watching our movements (who wouldn’t find our awkward dance moves entertaining?) At times it seemed like she would dance along, jumping up and down in her exersaucer with us. What fun it was!
Allie plays the egg shaker
The first time I played the guitar for my daughter, she just sat there mesmerized watching me. Later I gave her an egg shaker, which she would occasionally shake along to my guitar strumming (in between occasional attempts of licking and chewing the egg). It was our first duet – we took a video of this special moment (which I secretly hope will be the first of many duets we will have).
Lately we’ve been exposing her to the piano. At first she didn’t know what to do. But after a few times of watching us play, she now knows how to bang on the keys.
It’s been fun introducing our daughter to music. As she grows and matures, I look forward to watching the growth of her interaction with the instruments and music.
PS – Clara C is coming back to Vancouver for another concert on Saturday October 6th at the Croatian Cultural Centre. This time she is teaming up with fellow Youtube star David Choi. You can purchase tickets to this show HERE [this is an affiliate link]. To listen to their music, check our their Youtube channels here and here.
PPS – All the affiliate links on our blog are for products and services that we have personally used and recommend. Our hope is to be able to introduce things that you would find interesting, useful, and valuable. My friend’s business is putting on this concert. I know that he and his partners’ vision is to host quality musicians whose music and performances inspire and uplift people.
photo credit: BokaMokaCoka, Tim Chan