Waking up from my musical hibernation

I don't know what's wrong with me (OK, I admit it, I can think of at least five things that are Wrong With Me) but it's been a very long time since I've played trumpet.

But I talked to some trumpet players in town and they said that nearly everyone in the Community Winds have had a time (5-20 years) where they put the horn down and came back to it. So they won't make fun of me.

And for a long time I thought it would be too hard to play with Calvin around. Because I'll wake him up if I play when he sleeps, and when he's awake he's always trying to get my attention. When I have a babysitter I usually want to make the most of it by writing, particularly if I might get paid for what I'm writing (because it's refreshing to know that I'm making more than the babysitter every now and again).

Anyway, I started practicing the other day and Calvin loved it. He was entertained. I played a song he likes from Fraggle Rock. Then he wanted to play. I think if I start to play my biggest challenge will be that I'll have to fight over the trumpet with Calvin.

But either way, the Community Winds is rehearsing tonight and I'm going.

Dance! Run Run Run! Upsiedown!

Calvin's 21 months right now. At certain times of the day, he likes to sit down with a book. But he has so much energy right now that it seems like times when he learns the most is when he's running around, playing and dancing. That's why I love the music classes that he's in. He learns a ton of words and songs, and gets to play with other kids. Here he is at Music and Movement, and the Mesa Public Library.

Next week we're going to join a tumbling class at the YMCA.

A Quilt to Remember Grandma and Grandpa

Ever since Mom died I've wanted to make a quilt using her clothes, so that I could have something that was soft and cuddly to remember her with. Once my sisters and I went to the store for supplies and were planning to have a sister quilting club. At our first quilting meeting Melissa had big plans, but was mainly chit chatting. Katie was incredibly efficient, making a ton of perfectly matching squares with the measuring/cutting device that she bought. I was more of a gimp, and cut out several lopsided squares using a CD case, while trying to fend off Katie's curious cats.

I don't know whether Katie and Melissa tried again. I managed to sew two of those squares together and realized that I am a terrible quilter. But I love my parents and I wanted to have a quilt that I could give to Calvin. So I took all my fabrics (my moms bathrobe and pajamas, my dad's pajamas and a shirt, a dress that mom and I made together and a sarong that they brought home for me that time they went to Jamaica and a dress that I wore to my mom's funeral) to a local quilting shop and told them my ideas. And here is the quilt!

It says "Grandma and Grandpa Audette Love You."

Finger Painting

I've Got a Dinosaur on My Head!

I just bought the CD, I've Got a Dinosaur on My Head, by Peter Apel, and we really like listening to it in the car.

"I Once Had a Balloon (But then it Popped)" is a work of genius, because it captures how psychotically attached little kids can be to their balloons, even though balloons aren't around forever. In the song, Peter tuns balloons into a poignant metaphor or mortality, while still being hilarious and also taking time to throw in an extended fart noise. Kudos!

The other songs are fun, and about simple subjects that kids relate too, often performed with silly voices and sounds. It's a great CD for kids!

Bossy Bear

Bossy Bear, by David Horvath, immediately got Calvin's attention. I read it to him once, and he immediately wanted to hear it again. Just like the David Shannon's books, Calvin loves characters who are being naughty. This book captures the kind of brattiness that toddlers can dish out, using language that's fun to say out loud. After hearing it once Calvin was already saying "Bossy Bear" and "gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme!" and "faster!" (I know, it sounds like the books going to warp his personality and turn him into a brat. But, he was already being a total handful today, so at least he can have words for it). Bossy Bear learns that if he bosses everybody around nobody will want to play with him. In the end he learns to make friends with a little turtle.

David Horvath and his wife, Sun-Min Kim, are the creators of those Ugly Dolls that I've seen in so many stores and wondered about.

Albuquerque Children's Museum

Children's museums, in general, are a gift from God. Last week, when we were driving home from Carlsbad it was essential that we stop by the Children's Museum in Albuquerque to break up a long car ride.

Calvin's favorite phrases these days are "Touch it!" and "Want it!" and "Climbind" (which means I want to climb up on that). He's learning by running around and getting into stuff, and this museum was designed to accommodate him.

We started out just following him as he explored. He went into an area where kids could build things with pipes, and he took a pipe and used it as a walking stick for about twenty minutes. He tried to jump into the fountain, but we didn't let him. Then he went outside and climbed a set of stairs. There was a playground outside, and I think he has a real complex about slides. He thinks he's supposed to enjoy them, but he's usually to scared to go down them. So he says "slide! Weee!" and points to the slide, but won't go down.

Eventually we ended up in the tot room, which has a two foot ramp that he used as a slide. It also has a ton of books, boxes of blocks and puzzles, and clear pipes that go from one end of the room to the other. Kids can drop little whiffle balls into the pipes and watch them travel across the room.

It was fun.