My son was two weeks old. I remember pacing the dimly lit nursery--the noisy room air conditioner barely audible. Alex was screaming and no one--not me, my husband nor my mom--could settle him. I ran and grabbed a CD a fellow Baby Bunching mom had given to me as a baby gift. She assured me it was one of the better baby music CDs out there, and as I put it in the CD player I prayed it would work.
He continued to scream and I started to cry. Until the song "It's Alright" came on, and its cricket sounds in the background finally calmed him down. It was like magic. He stopped. I don't know if it was the song or the way the song made me feel as I held him. But I stopped crying and he stopped crying and that become "our song."
I carried Sara Hickman's "Newborn" CD around the world with me--twice--when Alex was little. When I couldn't find a CD player, I would sing the songs. (This included a 6-hour plane ride.) Instantly he'd calm down. The entire CD is filled with sweet renditions of classic songs and some of Sara's own. We loved the CD so much that for Alex's first birthday, we bought her second children CD "Toddler," which was equally as beautiful for young kids. We actually listened to it in the car yesterday.
As soon as Anna made her appearance, I introduced her to the CD hoping this would again be the magical CD. And it was! She loved the songs but didn't make a connection with one particular song like Alex did, which was fine. I loved the idea that he and I had "our song." For her first year, we would listen to it as I nursed her late at night, and it still had some magical quality to it. Anna's song came around later and even at the age of three, I'm still singing it to her.
Because I'm so fond of the CD, Sara Hickman and I are giving away both the "Newborn" and "Toddler "CDs as a special Baby Bunching package. It makes a great gift for Baby Bunching moms since each child gets his own CD. A onesie with the child's name is included with the CD and will be sent from her directly. Here's what you have to do: Tell us about a special song you have with your child or one you had with your mom. I'll take responses by Nov. 3 and randomly pick a winner.
Back when my first son was a newborn, and long before I ever even imagined that I would someday be a mom to three (and two 18 months apart at that!), we were dealing with the world of 'colic.' Who knows what it really was- all we knew was that the little dude cried for hours and hours and hours and hours on end, throughout the night and day. Luckily for me, being a HUGE Barenaked Ladies fan, they had just released an album and were performing the single, "Pinch Me" on every single late night show that there was in 2000. So, my little guy and I danced and rocked out night after night as BNL performed what I dubbed 'our song.' :)
Posted by: morninglight mama | Oct 28, 2008 at 02:38 PM
I am not a baby buncher (my son is almost 3 and is our only so far) but thought I would share "our song" story. While I was pregnant with Daniel, James Blunt's first CD came out (you know, the high pitched "You're beautiful...") and I really liked it. I listened to it when pregnant and quite a bit during my maternity leave with him. At some point James Blunt was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live and when Daniel would get fussy I would dance around with him to one of the two performances from the show. I would keep the episode queud up to the right spot and whenever we needed him, he was there. I can't remember exactly when I ended up deleting the episode (sometime in Daniel's second year), but I remember it was very sad to know it didn't have the same effect it once had. Haven't listened to the CD in a long time, but may have to get it out tonight and see if how Daniel responds now.
Posted by: Rachel | Oct 28, 2008 at 04:01 PM
I'm not a baby buncher but I do have twin boys so I feel the baby bunchers' pain! My grandmother used to sing me a song when I was little -- Cielito Lindo -- and I will never forget singing "Ay, yay yay yaaaaaay...." with her at the top of my lungs.
Posted by: bonggamom | Oct 28, 2008 at 04:42 PM
I sing "You are my sunshine' to my son right now and he loves it. I don't usually sing him to sleep every night but now with preschool daily, he gets tired enough about once a week to want to be rocked and sung to... and I love it. I treasure it because he, as with every little one, grows up so quick.
Posted by: BananaBlueberry | Oct 28, 2008 at 05:13 PM
I'm so glad that CD worked! "It's Alright" was always my favorite song on the CD. Jack always felt, "You are my Sunshine" was HIS son and Grace has claimed many ... first, what she called the "Hmmm, hmmm song" from Cinderella (so this is love, hmmm), then "Moonshadow" by Sara Hickman. These days, "Brown-Eyed Gird" by Van Morrison is HER song.
These days when they can't sleep because they are too excited or have watched one too many Goosebumps episodes, they request that I leave their radio on the classical music station as they drift off.
Posted by: Jane Kovacs | Oct 28, 2008 at 05:47 PM
We tune to static. Very early one we discovered that music excites our daughter so much that it does nothing to calm her, it just gets her MORE AWAKE. Ya know, like "let's sing and dance" awake.
She does relax to the dull white noise of FM radio static however.
Posted by: Jon | Oct 28, 2008 at 05:52 PM
Funny you should ask...The Husband hates all of the songs I've had for each of my babies!
Bito calmed down quickest to Poison, "Talk Dirty to Me." But only if I was singing it, not the actual song itself!
For Cupcake, it was "I'm On Fire" by Springsteen. You know, "Hey little girl is your daddy home..." Nice, huh?
BabyMuffin prefers The Indigo Girls, "Closer to Fine." He likes it if I sing or if it's on CD.
Posted by: Wife and Mommy | Oct 28, 2008 at 06:04 PM
"You Are My Sunshine" was my mom's song with me, and has become my song with my baby boy. And actually Sara has a beautiful version of this song on one of her CD's (I forget which one).
Posted by: Holly | Oct 28, 2008 at 08:03 PM
While "You Are My Sunshine" and "Twinkle, Twinkle" are the nightly bedtime routine, my girls have very different musical tastes. The preschooler has a soft spot for "The Rainbow Connection" (as sung by the Dixie Chicks) and the baby is only truly calmed by... the Cornell alma mater. Thank goodness the hubby and I both know all the words!
Posted by: kim | Oct 28, 2008 at 09:22 PM
My special song was one that my Grandma always sang to me.. "A Bushel And A Peck" by Doris Day. I remember her singing it to me my entire life, even in my teenage years. She died in 99 so she'll never meet my kids but I sing it to both of them to help me remember her.
I also sing Alison Krauss "When You Say Nothing At All" to both kids. I love that song.
Posted by: Casey | Oct 28, 2008 at 10:36 PM
Don't count this as an entry, my kids are too old for this, but we loved these CDs way back when. Oh, happy memories. This is a great giveaway!
Posted by: kim/hormone-colored days | Oct 29, 2008 at 12:05 AM
I didn't know the words to any actual lullabies to sing to my son after he was born so I would sing "Silent Night" to him. It never failed to soothe him. As he got older I sang it less and less as books replaced singing. I was quite surprised however when I began singing it to him out of the blue one evening when he was about two and he began to sing the entire song. He knew all the words by heart! It brought tears to my eyes and "Silent Night" remains very special to me and my first "baby" who is now 9 years old.
Posted by: Lisa | Oct 29, 2008 at 10:04 AM
I'm not eligible for the drawing, but I'll play anyway. : )
Ours is Suo Gan on Susie Talman's Lullabies for Sleepy Eyes CD. It was like magic with all three of my children. This will always be one of my absolute favorite CD's for all the memories it brings back of rocking with all three of my babes. For them too, I think - even as big kids, when I play it for their baby brother, their ears perk up.
Posted by: Cara Fox | Oct 29, 2008 at 10:35 AM
I have so many songs I like to sing to my girls, but one my 2.5 year old daughter LOVES is 'Bushel and a Peck.' We put on the Guys and Dolls soundtrack and listen to the raucous voices of the Hotbox Girls, and dance our hearts out. When we sing on our own, she'll sing back to me the part "about yoooooouuuu" and I feel like we're in some kind of mommy/daughter Fame episode! I'm smiling right now!
Posted by: Elizabeth | Oct 29, 2008 at 01:44 PM
My now-4 year old had awful colic, but she always calmed down when Daddy would sing Holy Water by Big N Rich. Its a sad song, about domestic abuse of all things, but she loved it.
I always sing one of my Grandma's songs. I don't know the name, but it goes "You must've been a beautiful baby/ Must've been a beautiful child/ Must've been a beautiful baby/ Cause baby, look at you now."
Also, my littlest babe loves - I mean LOVES - Bob Marley. My 15 month old rocks out to Wyclef Jean on a regular basis too.
PS feel free to add me to your blog roll... thanks for the comment! :)
Posted by: Ninja Mom | Oct 29, 2008 at 01:49 PM
The artist/CD (I guess it was an 8 track really) with my mom was The Beatles. I remember being little always having my dad plying the beatles records at home; but, the best memory was with my mom. I would sit in the backseat of her brown Datsun B210 (what I thought back then was just the coolest car ever), and it was also pre-carseat days. I would sit on the floor with my blanket, toy and a snack and I can clearly remember the song "Love Me do" playing.
With my son (16 months) expecting the second. My mom gave me the Rockabye baby lullaby renditions of the beatles. My son's not so into that as much as he is into the Rock-a bye baby lullaby rendition of Metallica and Bob Marley, something to be said for "Enter Sandman" around a 3am feeding. Since the earley days I have also purchased the Roackabye Baby renditions of Nirvana, The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, NIN and The Eagles.
Posted by: Oli's mom | Oct 29, 2008 at 02:10 PM
For both my babies (3 & 2 yrs) "our" song is one that started out as "Oh my darlin' Clementine" and as I sang it night, after night, after night, the tune became a little more lullabye-esque and the words became "Oh my darlin' little baby, oh my darlin' little baby bug/Mommy loves you, oh so dearly, mommy loves you oh so very much!/Mommy loves to kiss and hug you tight, Mommy loves her baby all the time/Oh my darlin', little baby, little ba-by boy (girl)!" Now it's just known as "Oh B'Darlin'!" and I still sing it many time every night.
I've never had a kid music CD, but I'd love to get this set for my two little babies! :)
Posted by: Breana | Oct 29, 2008 at 06:41 PM
When I was a little girl, my mom always sang the same three songs to me when I had a bad dream or couldn't sleep. I remember so well how she would sit on the edge of my bed and rub my back while singing "A Long Long Trail," "Bye Bye Blackbird," and "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes."
My mother died suddenly last summer, just a few weeks before my daughter was born. Those first few months of motherhood were such a bittersweet time for me, and I found that singing those songs to my baby girl helped me to create a connection between my daughter and her grandmother even though they would never meet. For many months, I cried every time I sang to her, but I know I will always continue to sing those songs to her, and now to her new baby brother.
Emily Faulkner
Mom to Hayden (14 months) and Charlie (1 month)
Posted by: Emily Faulkner | Oct 29, 2008 at 10:34 PM
My almost 13 month old loves the Theme Song to the TV show "Big Bang Theory". So much so that we had to download it on Itunes. He loves when the show comes on or when we play it on the radio. I'm eager to see what will make the new baby tick!!!
Kristi
Mom to Max (13 months) and baby B (due 4/11)
Posted by: Kristi | Oct 30, 2008 at 07:05 AM
Being out of touch with the hip new baby scene, I found myself singing Guns-n-Roses, Bon Jovi, and other such terrible karaoke songs to my newborn son. Thankfully, I found Sandra Boynton's Philadelphia Chickens book and CD. The song I sing to my son every night is the Silly Lullaby song, which goes:
Go to sleep, my Zoodle
My Fibble-dee-fitzy foo.
Go to sleep, sweet noodle
It's time to say Ah-choo.
The chickens in the bath tub
The closet full of sheep
The sneakers in the freezer
Are all drifting off to sleep.
So go to sleep my Zoodle
My fibble-dee-fitzy foo.
Go to sleep sweet noodle
The owl is whispering "Moo."
I love the whimsical lyrics and it has a very sweet tune.
Posted by: Laura Nash | Oct 30, 2008 at 11:36 AM
When my son was a baby he developed some colic symptoms (screaming constantly for hours...in the middle of the night...11 PM to 3 AM. It nearly drove my husband and me insane. All the rocking, bouncing, swaying, walking only helped for a few minutes. Once I started singing "Hush Little Baby" to him, he stopped crying immediately. If I stopped singing, or switched songs, he would start crying again. It was bizarrely magical. And at least my hubby and the baby could get some rest, while I sang away the late night hours.
The other song that has fond memories for me of my childhood is "Lemon Tree." My mother sang it to me well into my youth at bedtime and it still calms me to think about the tune and hear the words.
Great memories...thanks for reminding me.
Posted by: Allison | Oct 30, 2008 at 12:11 PM
I don't really know what this says about both my son and my parenting style. But to this day, his favorite song is "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall. The humorous part comes from the fact that he calls is the "no, no" song. Take it for what it is worth, but he loves that song, and I guess I must say "no, no" enough to reinforce his affection. Now my daughter, she loves "who let the dogs out." In fact, it will wake her up from a nap if she hears it (you wouldn't think that would happen to often, but somehow it does!) and since she is learning sign language, when she hears the song she just pants and pants like a dog since that is her sign for dog...very funny indeed!
Posted by: Blake | Oct 30, 2008 at 02:45 PM
My son's song is called "Ponyboy" ("Ponyboy, ponyboy, won't you be my ponyboy?"), which I learned from my MIL. He loved being bounced along with the rhythm. When my daughter came along, I was trying to find a different, "girl" song, but she also loves "Ponyboy." I think it's familiar to her from all the time I spent singing it to her brother while I was pregnant with her.
Posted by: Jenny P | Oct 31, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Gosh, there are so many! My oldest is particularly fond of "The Rubber Ducky Song" from sesame street. But the one she has been asking for over and over lately is "Over the Rainbow."
My babies are fond of the main theme from "Aida." I don't know any of the words, but the tune just cracks them up.
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