Before Officially Starting

QueRiquita wrote: So, I may be a bit bummed that we have everything except a working connection between the keyboard and computer, but I am happy to make the following comments about our 'pre progress' progress.

1) Kaelie (9 months old), LOVES 'banging' on the keys. she'll stand in front of it and pluck away, while shaking her head and 'ahh ahh ohhh ohh ahh'ing to the 'beat' lol. it's cute. i really should attach a camera to the inside of my eye so that it's ready to film when she does it.

i think she is going to be quite the musician. at this age, joey loved running around and took months before he started 'dancing'. kaelie, on the other hand, has been moving and shaking to music for what seems like 'forever'. i will say, on his behalf, that it wasn't until he saw a music video of - was it beyonce or shakira - that he was compelled to make his way over to try and grab the screen. fortunately, there was a table in the way, so he ended up just gyrating his hips hoping to dance along lol.

2) as for joey now 30 months. we've been playing a variety of lr music instruments, different songs, kinderbach, your child can discover, which also has pitch clips, tune toddler, as well as having him overhear me practice warm-ups. i've noticed that he'll correctly sing out the letters on the lr 3-note sessions (i'm wondering if this is similar to what is being planned for lmu). anyway, the funny thing is that recently he's been telling me to stop singing lol hmmm you think i'm off pitch? you think i should stop singing if i am? personally, i don't. i tell him that it makes me happy and that if he wants to join, he can, but that it's not nice to ask me to stop. yes, i want him to 'get it' when it comes to music, but i also don't want him to be a music snob. there's more to music and dancing than having it sound and look perfect, imo, and i want both of them to learn to appreciate self-expression, even if it's not quite up to their standards, or those of others. so yeah. we'll see how he progresses.

an exciting thing happened yesterday, that i almost didn't even notice - makes me wonder how many things they do that i truly don't notice! i put a toy piano on the table while he snacked and watched his video. here's the link www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&biw=1264&bih...p=21&ved=0CEgQrQMwAQ . i bought it over a year ago (wish i had known about sm back then, but better NOW than later, at least). anyway, he was hitting the notes in order, including half steps, up and down. it may not sound like a big deal, but to me it was, especially because we haven't done any true 'sessions' with him yet (darn usb/midi cables that don't work!). it impressed me because to me this was an intentional playing, rather than just hitting whatever. and more so because it was from memory. does anyone else get mom-guilt and feel that they should be better trained, or doing more, or offering a better situation? yes, i know that when compared to others, it seems like we're doing quite a bit, but still, i'll catch myself falling into it now and then. maybe because i've been waiting soooo long to get this going and feel like we're 'wasting precious time'. i just have to keep telling myself to not stress it, enjoy the process, and pass the love for learning ... not the stress of not

you guys were right - i need to take more time to do longer posts to vent it is cathartic - thanks!

QueRiquita wrote: Agh I feel like screaming .... Crying ... Both *sigh*
After this last post, I spoke with someone who has a working midi cable and uses soft mozart with the same keyboard that we have. so, I ordered her same style cable. Great. Well! Low and behold, no! It finally arrived today and when i went to go load it, i cant! We dont have the program anymore! Aghhhhhh! Why? Well, shortly after ordering the cable, our NEW computer broke. Well,fortunately we were able to return it for another. Of course,while juggling the kids, the hubs was helping me and returned the computer, WITH the disk installed and USB key still attached! I'm not realizing it until way later when I am trying to set it all up again. I already called the store and yelled at them for not checking the computer before sending it back to the manufacturer! Oh, I could cry but don't have time ... Taking the kids to their Japanese playgroup now. I'm wondering why this has been a three month ordeal and if it is time to give up. Will think about it today and decide. Synthesia is free. Maybe I should just do that. Sigh. Thanks for reading my rant. Smile.