Graham's Symphony

Mark my words. Graham is going to be musically inclined. My little man sings and coos to me like a little bird, or sometimes like a little dolphin baby. He loves the sound of his own voice and takes great pleasure in chirping to himself in varying intonations, as if he’s trying to find his favorite melody. He even provides dinner music – a deeply contented medley of "mmm-mmmm-mmmmm"s and "aaaahhh"s as we shovel in the baby food. And then, when he’s had enough, it’s the raspberry – "ppfftt," which started out meaning "I’m done, Mama" but has recently been extrapolated to just about any time he’s feeling displeased: "Get me out of this high chair" or Get me out of the car seat" or "Get me out of my crib" or "No, not formula! I want SOLIDS." For someone who doesn’t know any words, he sure is vocal.

Not only is baby G making noise with his voice, he’s found all the kiddy musical instruments in the house. He won’t leave Cole’s Sunshine Drum alone.

At daycare, his favorite toy is the maraca. He will fight the other little babies for it and shake, shake, SHAKE his little heart out. In fact, he will repeatedly shake or clank anything that might have even the remotest chance of making some noise. Some sounds in Graham's Symphony:

• His fingernails scratching across the lining of his car seat,
• Two of Cole’s building blocks clanking into each other,
• The wrist button on his dress shirt tapping against the kitchen table as he repeatedly slams his fat little hand down,
• The tinkling of his multiple rattles,
• The crinkling of paper as he balls it into his tiny fist,
• The clap of his stackable plastic cups knocking against each other.

I bought him a Little Tykes Piano for Christmas, and he takes it VERY seriously – pounding away like a little virtuoso. And that’s just a warm-up… then he steps it up a notch and steals his brother’s toy keyboard and makes music on that. He truly is a musical little baby.

Look out American Idol 2025!