When I was pregnant I even considered enrolling in a classical voice class on my third trim to add to the concerts and plays which I inevitably exposed her to as I covered for TV. She kicked hard in my womb over Mozart, Jed Madela, and Autotelic. She raved over the Game of Thrones musical score and expressed her excitement with the heavy drums of the battle scenes.
But then I gave birth prematurely :/ It was a miracle that she could utter stuff like "guh"= I wanna burp, "mi"= I want milk, and "goo"= poop early on. Most of our friends who don't have kids wouldn't believe this because we never got to record her early vocabulary on video; they think my husband and I were just hearing things due to lack of sleep. But despite their disbelief, decoding her cries early on helped us A LOT. Thank God. The prenatal musical exposure probably helped in developing her early communication cues. I hope we'll have the same luck with the next baby :p.
She started humming Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the Barney Song at three months. Whenever she gets tired, she would initiate humming Rock a Bye Baby to lull herself to sleep whenever wherever. Really cute... although when does this during homily and she fusses when I don't allow her to latch when she wants to it isn't so amusing :/.
I enrolled in a one-on-one musical theater training class after her basic vaccines. It was just a short two-month course which exposed her to basic chord progression once or twice a week. I took advantage of my K'tan baby carrier while I vocalized and sang popular hits from broadway. I found it easier to sing while I carried her weight. My teacher was happy to note that as early as six months, she could identify the major from the minor chord! She happily carries the tune when it's a major chord and gets fussy when it's not haha!
More recently, we attended a Battig Scholars' Concert at St. Scholastica Manila and the nuns who sat with us were delighted that Leji knew when to clap as part of the audience. I just had to remind her to tone her voice down as she excitedly identified the instruments she recognized from Grolier's Talking English.
"Mommy! Violin!!! violin!!! Big Violin! Daddy Violin! Cello! Mommy, Mommy, laki Cello! Ooooohhh daming guitar! Mommy ang daming guitar! Bakit dami guitar Mommy? hahaha...DRUMS!!! Diba drums yan?"
Hubby was a bit embarrassed by how noisy she was as she pretended to have her own violin (she opened a bottle of hand sanitizer and pretended the tube was her bow) which she conveniently turned into a percussion instrument for Act2. She pranced and danced afterwards and imitated some sopranos by the time they played the AVP before the finale. We really had to take her out and let her sing in the washroom. May the rest of the audience body forgive us. But it was truly a wonderful learning experience for her; thank you Sister Mary Placid for inviting us over.
A few days after, we're blessed to get to attend another musical event. Kuya Ed Manguiat graciously allowed us to watch the UP Singing Ambassadors' anniversary concert with her. Leji excitedly picked her fluffiest dress when she found out that we were watching another "stage party."
It was a trickier event for my two year old because it had longer acts; I had to apologize repeatedly to our seatmates whenever she felt an urge to dance, breastfeed, or go to the washroom during the performances. Part of me wished we could hide forever amidst the curtains near the exit. But I am truly grateful that I get to expose her to such intimate musical functions as these contribute to her self confidence and general appreciation of the world. Hopefully it's all worth it :)
 |
| Leji enjoys the UP Abelardo Hall stage and lights |
0 comments:
Post a Comment