Change of Tunes

Hooray, we're switching our musical gears away from the Putumayo Presents: Gypsy Groove and toward some classical music. Don't get me wrong, Gypsy Groove is a wonderful CD (as all the other Putumayo CDs we've bought so far). But when your little one listens ONLY to this one CD over and over and over and over and... well, you get the picture.

And so, I'm very happy to present Mr. M's new favorite CD (and book) - My First Classical Music Book. It was love at first sight for both of us. The illustrations are awesome and the text is easy for the little one to understand and for me to translate. And then there were all those musical instruments! Oh, and of course, an hour-long CD (69 minutes, to be exact) was an instant hit with both of us.

Here's how it's going so far:

• Day 1 - read the book 3 times at the store and 4 times after returning home. Listened to the CD in the car and at home.
• Day 2 - looking at pictures of and naming all the instruments. This led to an impromptu parade around the family room with Mr. M alternating between his toy drum and a pretend trombone.
• Day 3 - have you ever heard Offenbach's Can-Can? Of course you did. But what about Can-Can accompanied by a not-quite-3-year-old on toy drums? Well, I did and it wasn't nearly as bad as my dancing to it.
• Day 4 - after reading about Bach and listening to the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Mr. M asked for paper and pencil. When I asked what for, I was informed that it was needed to "write down music". Ok, makes sense. After much scribbling, Mr. M told me that he wrote "loud organ music" which I thought was pretty cool.

Now I'm looking for more activities to add to the mix (other than dancing and drumming). It'd be cool to do some kind of "meet the orchestra" or "instruments zoo", where kids can see each instrument up close (and even try them). Will look for local events!