Andrew's First Music Class

This week Andrew went to his first toddler music class, which is held at a church not too far from our house. The first of many classes to come (I'll try not to over do it and turn into one of those moms that make their kids attend a million activities a week)! I was really excited to see what he would think, and I was happy to have him get out of the house and socialize a bit. When we first arrived, and I put him down, he started crying. I think it was because he thought we were going to be outside, and I disappointed him by making him come inside the building. At the time, I thought he thought I was going to leave him or he was overwhelmed, but he did the same thing today when I took him to the conservatory. He loves his outdoors time!

The woman that teaches the class is really, really nice, and was very welcoming to me and Andrew. It turned out that we were the only new people, and most of the adults and kids were familiar with all the songs already. The class was way more regimented that I had in mind, but it works out for the best so things don't get too chaotic with so many little kids. I had this picture in my mind of a very casual atmosphere where we listen to music and play instruments. The first 15 minutes or so, the teacher sang songs and they have hand gestures or movements that go along with each song. We used the shakers for one song, and then all the kids got to choose one instrument at the end for a particular song. The teacher said that it is okay for the kids to move around, but she didn't want any running during class. If kids start running, act out, etc. she asks that you go in the hall to re-group. I was getting more nervous by the second, because expecting a toddler to act a certain way is like trying to train a cat or something. They have a mind of their own! Fortunately, Andrew was very shy this time around and sat quietly on my lap. I think every kid had a meltdown at some point in the 45 minute class, so it looks like it is pretty expected. At about the half-way point, the teacher brought out a parachute and let the kids run underneath it. This immediately brought Andrew out of his shell, and he ran underneath the parachute smiling and laughing. From that point forward, I could tell he felt more comfortable. He even did some of his infamous spin moves to one of the songs. The only other time he cried was when we had to put the shakers away after one of the songs was over.

We got to take home a CD of the 25 songs in the program, and Andrew and I have listened to all the songs every day since we have gone to class. I'm hoping that by the time we go to class next week, both of us will be much more familiar with the songs, which will make it more fun. This last time, I was about 3 seconds behind mumbling words, because I had no idea what was going on.

Below is a video of him playing his instruments and there are even a few pelvic thrusts in there. :) We have been watching the toddler music channel and playing his instruments. Everything is going well here until the TV takes a beating.