The Musical Mouse

Miss Mouse is cultivating her inner musician this summer. She's been on a serious music kick for the last few weeks. The video I posted of her singing the alphabet song is really just the tip of the iceberg. She also does a bang up job on "Wheels on the Bus" (with many hand gestures) and "Five Little Monkeys".

The latter song was one of those great revelations I enjoy so much. We were hanging out upstairs in my bed the other day and Miss Mouse started bouncing up and down and chanting "monkey, monkey." It took me a while to get it, but then it clicked. "Miss Mouse," said I, "do you want to sing the monkey song?"

Yes indeed. She struggles with the verses, but comes in strong on the "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" edict from the doctor, complete with very stern finger wagging. A video may be forthcoming if I can capture her in the act.

I think this surge of musical interest has been brought on by her weekly music lessons at school. As a special gift from my mom, I enrolled Miss Mouse in a series of "Music and Me" lessons offered by KinderCare. So each Friday, MM and four of her little friends from school spend time with the music teacher singing, dancing, playing instruments, and generally being musical. According to her teachers, she's in heaven.

They send home CDs of the music they listen to in class and I play them for Miss Mouse in the car. This is a great testament to my love for her because they grate a bit on a grown-up ear and she tends to get stuck on a single track and request it again and again and again for entire car rides. As soon as I strap her in, she starts squeaking "Mousie music! Mousie music!" from the backseat. Except she has trouble pronouncing "music" and it sounds a lot like "Mousie magic."

Which is a pretty astute observation, actually. Music really is magic!