So… kids and music–mine both love it.  Even when they were just ltitle guys… at four months Luka showed a distinct appreciation of Gershwin tunes (Rhapsody in Blue) and has been known to wander around humming snatches of Stravinsky’s Firebird.  Little Einsteins is not a bad thing for the little ones, in moderation, though it does mean that when Luka hears Stravinsky, he flashes back to those LE episodes and starts asking for Daddy’s Matryoshka nesting dolls and talking about Faberge eggs. 

But Luka’s no snob; his other early favorite was The Surrey with the Fringe on Top; I’m sure he just liked the bit about the chicks and ducks and geese, plus, I used to follow Dave Barry’s suggestion of playing “Oklahoma Baby Chicken Hat” by dancing around with Luka on my head while I sang it.  (Dave advised, “This game will teach your baby many meaningful lessons, the main one being that the world is full of deranged people.”  A good thing to know!) 

Leo, far too much the spitter-upper for OBCH, was much more a Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star kind of kid.  In fact, he just fell in love with Marlee Matlin early on, after seeing her signing it in a Baby Einstein video.  He’d giggle insanely whenever she was on screen, sometimes getting so darned excited that he’d have to run away and cover his eyes, still laughing gleefully.

Caveat: our guys never sat and watched TV all day, and we don’t consider ours to be a big-screen nanny, but they do watch enough TV to have been able to make some choices.  Leo really does love watching Little Einsteins, and he likes Yo Gabba Gabba and Go, Diego, Go at times.  Wonder Pets, too, which is fine with me, since I like its songspiel quality.  Mahagonny for kids…  We don’t watch TV that much, though.  Leo’s main TV connection is that it allowed him to find Dan Zanes and Ralph Covert, his favorite music dudes.  Leo seems to evaluate music these days according to its inherent suitability for wild jumping.  Not surprisingly, Leo likes ska, and while his current technique is more pogoing than skanking, his father would probably tell you that’s okay… it’s great sensory input!

Luka seems to have a bit more commercial awareness, though, and knows the band They Might Be Giants from their contributions to Disney Playhouse.  He clearly likes them, and any other music that’s up to their standards, in his estimation, is acknowledged with a knowing nod and the comment, “They think they’re giants.”  I had to laugh at who got the Giants nod today…

I was driving Luka to school and we were listening to a CD of various medieval and renaissance lyrics, one of which was Sumer Is Icumen In–the earliest six-part round with a ground bass.  To Luka, though, it’s ‘The Cuckoo Song,” as he loves to sing along with the refrain, “Sing cuccu, nu, sing cuccu.”   I loved listening to him because he’s so innocent that he doesn’t have a clue that he’s listening to a Middle English lyric closely enough to know exactly where his part fits in…  And then, when the song was over, he said, “Silly guys, they think they’re giants…”