Today we bundled up, braved the crazy crowded Metro and went to the Smithsonian Kite Festival. We met up with two other families from our church and flew our kites next to the Washington Monument. Aliyah loved watching the kites and even flying her own Elmo kite–that is until she figured out that she might fly away herself! She started saying “Ahyah up up up?” then threw the kite string down! I remembered that she has a book that a little girl buys too many balloons and floats up into the sky!
We took our second family road trip this weekend to see our old friends the Buffkins in Williamsburg. We had a fabulous time together! I think we actually did like 3-4 Easter Egg hunts. Too much fun. I’ll fill in more details later–I figure it’s better to get the photos up soon. Check them out here.
So Aliyah has been exposed to tons of music already. She’s heard Beethoven, Chasing Furies, Zappa, Rush, Evanescence, and tons of classical stuff as you could imagine. In the car, we listen to radio and CDs and identifying the instruments and types of music. She surely has preferences. When she’s heard enough classical (which happens quickly) and she wants to listen to something else, she dances in her seat and says: “Tsss, Tsss else??” Tsss Tsss is one of her sounds for music…I guess that’s something best understood in person. She is always happier with heavy beats and loud guitars! One of the all-time favorites is a Norwegian band called Lumsk. This I think is very cool, because while it’s rock, it’s got a professionally training vocalist and really haunting chromatic melodies.
For several months she has been able to recognize a couple of instruments like flute, drum, and oboe. But yesterday, we were listening to some Diana Krall (jazz singer) and she pointed to her ear and yelled out “BASS!” I guess I always thought that the low pitch would be harder for her to hear. How cool is that? I am so happy that she likes these kinds of music–and I didn’t even need Baby Einstein to do it!
With all of that said, Aliyah still may not be able to distinguish good for mediocre music! Yet, she doesn’t seem to mind very much. Here is a video of her head banging!! to Farmer Ted’s Banjo!! Neither Jonathan or I are responsible for teaching her this! Anybody wanna fess up??
