Songs

Gabriel has become accustomed to my singing, and especially to me singing certain songs. It's weird how fast certain songs fell into my repertoire and never left. Some songs have alot of historical value to me, and some just sort of happened.

I sing to him when he wakes up (Good Morning from Singin' in the Rain, Oh What A Beautiful Morning from Oklahoma, Zip A Dee Doo Dah, or It's A Jolly Holiday from Mary Poppins).

I sing to him before naps (I'm Only Sleeping by the Beatles, On the Good Ship Lollipop (which I remember my grandparents singing to me every time I spent the night at their house), The Candy Man, and Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head while it was raining every day) For some reason, nap songs have to have some bounce to them. He goes right to sleep with a little bounce.

I sing to him in the car - whatever is in the CD player or comes up on the IPOD.

I sing to him at night, if Jav doesn't get him right to sleep (humming my favorite Nocturne by Chopin that makes a great lullaby, Stay Awake from Mary Poppins, Walking After Midnight by Patsy Cline, and Till There Was You by the Beatles, and an old lullaby my Mom used to sing to my brother and me, All Through The Night)

When he was three months old, it was just before Christmas, so I would sing every Christmas carol I know to him. My favorites were Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (LOVE that song) and Everybody's Waitin' For The Man With The Bag (very good and bouncy for naps). I can't believe it's almost time to sing those again.

Because I sing the same songs at the same time every day, it puts him in "the zone" to sleep. Lately I've tried to throw some new ones in (Sweet Baby James by James Taylor and a couple of others) and they don't put him in the zone. Maybe I need to add them in heavier rotation until they catch on. I wonder if he will remember any of these, or if he hears one later on in life, I wonder if something about it will make him nostalgic without really knowing why.

I guess the only reason for this posting is so that I will remember. Since Jav took over giving Gabriel his last bottle and putting him to bed about 3 months ago, I had already forgotten about the Chopin lullaby until I listened to my Chopin CD the other day and started bawling. Things change mighty fast these days.