Budding musicians

We have a lot of musical instrument toys in our house. This is not a surprise since Chad is a professional drummer. It is a little surprising, however, that at 4 months old, Elliott is already a very proficient maraca player! She must be exceptional! Just kidding. But seriously, this small maraca is one of Elliott's very favorite toys. I think she likes the nice soft shaky sound, and also the "chicken leg" shape. Sadly, this morning the maraca jumped up and bonked her on the nose! She was so upset.

Elliott and her maraca on a better day.

Abbey is a bit more serious about music- no instrument eating allowed! We did two semesters of Kindermusik classes where her teacher would often say, "Perfect!" about her beat-keeping skills. (Had to brag a little there.) And she remembers song lyrics after just a couple times of hearing them. Of course, she is 3, so sometimes her interpretation of the lyrics is interesting, like when she sings "The B-L-E-L-E, yes that's the book for me, I stand alone in the word of God, the B-L-E-L-E." She also narrates what she is doing to the tune of songs she knows. (I would give an example of this, but it actually drives me a little crazy, so I can't remember any specifics.) Abbey likes to distribute her instruments to each of us and have us sing together. For some reason it's often Jingle Bells, regardless of the season, so if you ever have a hankering for holiday sing-a-longs, just stop by!

Abbey demonstrates proper left-handed triangle playing technique.