Natalie comes from long lines of musicians on both sides of the family, so it’s no surprise that she loves listening to music and being sung to. Even in her youth, she has developed distinct favorites. For recorded music, she prefers The Decemberists album “The Crane Wife.” If she’s fussy in the car, as soon as the first track starts playing, she calms down. On the occasion that that doesn’t work, singing “Five Little Ducks” soothes her more than any other song. The next best songs are “Six Little Ducks” and “Old MacDonald had a Farm” (but the farm must contain ducks!). The girl loves to quack!
The other thing Natalie loves is drumming. Already rebelling against Grandpa Charles’ express wishes that there be “no drummers in the family,” Natalie turns nearly all her toys into drums, and one of her favorite toys is an actual drum (well, an actual toy drum). When she finds something new to play with, the first thing she does is stick it in her mouth with one hand and bang on it with the other.
To expand her musical horizons, I’ve been taking Natalie to a Mommy & Me music class every week for a couple of months now. She loves it! The instructor is a lovely woman who plays the guitar, has all the kids and parents marching around and provides instruments for kids to experiment with. She’s very patient and encouraging—all the kids and parents love her. She’s very good at pointing out how each child participates in his or her own way, even if it’s just walking on the beat.
This video is evidence of what Natalie has learned in music class (and perhaps is foreshadowing that she’ll become a singer like Mom, Aunt Katy, Great Grandma Norma & Great Grandma and Grandpa Wachs):
Singing With Grandpa from nataliecaroline and Vimeo.
She’s got rhythm! I love watching this video!
She really is a singer!! Maybe if we’re lucky and make her feel like the diva she is, she’ll do a little ditty for us on Saturday!