Music Man

I've always told Chris that I want at least one of my children to be musical.  I don't care if they play an instrument, piano, or sing, but I want music in my house!  Well, I think Brooks just might be that kid.  My music man ... in a lot of different ways.

He loves to listen to music.  All kinds.  Hawk Nelson and other punk rock varieties. Classical (or violin music as Brooks calls it). Marching bands (Wisconsin, of course!)  The wiggles (yes, we listen to the Wiggles).  And he has an amazing ear to hear the different instruments in the music too.  Kid can pick out an oboe out of an entire orchestral piece.

He loves to learn about music.  I picked up a book from the library that describes all the various instruments in the orchestra as well as several composers (or "confusers" as Brooks calls them :)  I can't even count how many times we've read through that book and listened to the CD that came with it.  And I know all kids have their different interests, but folks are a little taken back when he can tell you the difference between a violin and a viola, which instruments are in the wind and brass sections and, most impressively, can pronounce "glockenspiel" correctly!

He loves to play music.  Chris set up his keyboard a few weeks ago and Brooks "plays" it almost daily.  He'll plunk around, playing with the different sounds for sometimes over an hour.  He even figured out how to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" all by himself.  He makes instruments out of anything he can find - a kitchen funnel is a horn, the kitchen table is his drum, and his sunglasses are his tuba.  Not sure how that last one works, but ... whatever.

So because he obviously loves music so much, I decided to surprise him and take him to the orchestra!  The South Dakota Symphony has a youth orchestra and their spring concert was this last Sunday.  I bought tickets, we dressed in our "fancy" clothes and headed to the orchestra.  He loved it!  My only regret was that  since everyone was sitting on the same level, we couldn't see all the different instruments in the orchestra - just he violins sitting up front.  But he still enjoyed the music and he was particularly thrilled to see the double bases (his newest obsession) in the back.  I wasn't sure if he'd make it through the whole concert,  but with a small intermission and a bag of snacks, he did great and sat the whole hour and a half!

And to remind me that he's still just a three year old boy, the first thing he told Daddy about when we got home was the cookie he ate at the reception afterward! :)

My handsome date and I