music for the miss (or, how to ruin classics)

one thing i'd really like to pass down to emmi is a love of music. music is a big part of my life, and i hope it becomes a big part of her's as well. i think it's working, because lately emmi's baby talk has taken on a singsong kind of sound. i'm hoping i can steer her in a similar direction as kathy and me, but i'm pretty much preparing for her to be into whatever the boy-band-hannah montana-bieber flavor of the month is when she gets old enough to care. this hasn't stopped me from trying though. i found the rockabye baby series, which is lullaby versions of everything from nine inch nails to queen to guns n' roses. (if you have a baby and have not heard these yet, stop reading now, go to itunes and listen to them. you'll thank me later). i've also sung to her, everything from erasure to black sabbath. i always wondered why i can remember lyrics from a song i once heard in 1987 - this is why. i have become a human baby jukebox.

sometimes i even make up my own lyrics. some are pretty simple: for instance, i seriously think she's going to grow up thinking the ramones sang 'emmi is a punk rocker.' some are a little more elaborate. and with apologies to judas priest, gary numan, talking heads, and the beatles (sorta) here are some of her favorites:

'poopin' after midnight!
cryin' til the dawn!
screamin' til the morning,
then I'm gone!'

'here in my carseat, i feel safest of all, i can lock all my doors, it's the only way to live, in carseats!'

'psycho baby!
qu'est que c'est
fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa better crawl crawl crawl crawl crawl crawl crawl away!'

'there was a band who had a drummer and ringo was his name-o. r-i-n-g-o…'

eat your heart out, weird al.

the ball popper (or, how to eliminate fringe career choices)

so kathy found this video on youtube and became enamored with this toy:



the first thing i thought of is that it reminded me of a pick 4 lottery ball machine. in my head, i flash forward and think emmi will have a career as the girl who reads the winning numbers (it's sorta show business right? how did yolanda vega get that job anyway?) needless to say, we went out and got the playskool busy ball popper.



well, as you can see, we not only managed to traumatize emmi, we successfully ensured she will cower in fear at 9pm every night during the lottery drawing. a career in calling bingo is probably out of the question as well.

p.s. the ball popper is now in the closet until further notice.