Holla Back Boy

I have always been a singer. I'm pretty sure my parents have told me on more than one occasion that I sang before I could talk. My mom can sing very well, as can my grandmother, so it was a pretty good bet I would inherit that ability. I remember as a small child singing all day long. Mom kept the radio on during the day, of course it was always on in the car, and she sang all the time so I did too. Once, several years ago, we found an old tape at my grandmother's house that had a recording of me singing to an old Dolly Parton song. I couldn't have been more than 5 years old. My paternal grandfather nicknamed me Dolly D 'cause I loved Dolly and singing so much. My friends would marvel at how many songs I knew all the lyrics to - and would listen intently to me in the car to make sure I got every word right. It was just what I did; my "thing" I guess.

In grade school I took choir for 7 years. Add to that 2 or 3 years of voice lessons and then in college I majored in Music Education with vocal emphasis. I even did a semester of grad school for a master's degree in Vocal Performance. Suffice it to say I love to sing. I can't say if I am any good, really it's all a matter of opinion, I just pursued it in school because it is what I know, and seemingly it came easy.

I don't sing as much as I once did. If I am being totally honest it really depresses me. I thought I had been given a gift for more than just singing nursery rhymes and abc's. I really always thought I would be singing professionally somewhere, but for right now I guess I am ok with where I am vocally.

Kiddo, on the other hand, has always been a dancer. His first nickname from me was Boogie. I would sing to him as an infant and he would squirm and wiggle and smile - now that I think of it, he danced in utero as well. Hubby and I were at church one morning when I was about 7 months pregnant and the special music had a couple of trumpet solos. When the trumpets would play, Kiddo would squirm and punch and kick and when they stopped he would still as well. It was quite amusing. Anyway, from a very young age I would sing to him and he would dance. He has just recently really started singing - thanks to the Baby/Little Einsteins DVDs we have. He can sing the theme song for Little Einsteins almost word for word! One of his favorite episodes involves one of the character's love for balloons and she sings a song about it. Kiddo often runs around the house singing "I love balloons, I love, I love balloons!". It is so cute because sometimes he will insert the name of something he's playing with. "I love Nemo, I love, I love Nemo! I love Mommy, I love, I love Mommy!" The funny thing is, he has never really sung in the car, much less enjoyed the radio. He always liked it better if I turned the radio down and sang Old MacDonald.

So today we were coming home from the grocery store. I had the radio on and that new Avril Lavigne song came on. What is the name of it..."Keep Holding On"... I think it is from a movie coming out - anyway, Kiddo starts rocking out in his car seat! He's shaking his head and moving his arms and siiiiinnnnnngin'! Except he doesn't know the words so he's singing "Ieeeeeee Loooooove Ballooooooooons!! Ieeeeeee Looooooove Balloooooooons!" :) :) SO CUTE! I am cracking up at him - then the next song comes on. It's Gwen Stefani's "Holla Back Girl"*. He starts rocking out even more, rappin' to the beat and when they got to the bananas part - by the third time Kiddo was spelling B-A-N-A-N-A-S right along with them. Oh my goodness I almost drove off the road I was laughing so hard! I guess I can thank her for teaching my son to spell his first word! I didn't think he could get any cuter, but he really topped it today.

Even funnier, he left the house dressed like this...

Perhaps I do have a future rap star on my hands!

Until,

D :)

*I only put the link to the video because some might find it a bit offensive.