Sleep Baby Sleep

It's been a week of sleep deprivation at the DJ B household as Miss B geared up for a very big step--her first day of preschool today.

During this hazy, crazy, wide awake pre-preschool week Miss B clung to old musical favorites, particularly her lullabye CDs from Nicolette Larson ("Sleep, Baby, Sleep") and Baby Einstein ("Lullaby Classics"), as well as "A Child's Gift of Lullabyes." She also kept playing my old Belly CD ("Star") and the nature sounds (water bubbling, birds chirping, etc.) that emanate from the Pak-n-Play attachment that is affixed to her crib.

Have no fear. Reviews will resume, hopefully later today, as sleep finally came (nearly a 12 hour stretch) at 8:30 last night.

How about Schubert?

The third album that Miss B chose from the library on Saturday was Franz Schubert's "Piano Sonata in B Flat D960" performed by Leif Ove Andsnes and Ian Bostridge. She initially listened to this as she went to sleep on Saturday night. She didn't make any comments about it, but didn't complain, either. The next day before bed we asked her if she wanted to listen to Beethoven, Anita Baker or Schubert, and she said, "I want Schubert." Now, I'm not sure if she remembered what Schubert was, but it seems to be very acceptable night-time music for our little DJ. I think it's quite beautiful too.

Finger-Snapping Music from Elvis' Gal

The next album that piqued Miss B's interest was Diana Krall's "Live in Paris" release. This was the CD that she put in her boombox after initially rejecting Kronos Quartet. As soon as she heard the jazz vocals of Ms. Krall, DJ B began to dance. She then put her headphones on and started shaking one of her shaker egg instruments. She rocked out to it for awhile, but moved on as it got closer to nap time, requesting her current favorite "mama" Anita Baker.

DJ B gave Diana Krall another listen last night before bedtime. As my husband got Miss B ready for bed, he bopped along to Diana Krall, snapping his fingers and giving DJ B a quick lesson in the art of the jazz finger-snap.

Hooray for Bollywood

On Saturday Miss B and I hit a different branch of the San Francisco Public Library in order to scout out new CD selections. The shelves were tightly packed with goodies and DJ B's picks this week all had red spines. I'm starting to realize that she's drawn to items that stand out, so it should come as no surprise that many of her selections these first few weeks have red labels or spines.

When we got home the first CD that she wanted to hear was the Kronos Quartet and Asha Bhosle release "You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood." Cool! This was the first thing that she's picked during this project that I was super excited to listen to.

DJ B's initial reaction was disinterest, though, and she stopped the CD before hearing even one song, quickly replacing it with another new CD.

Today, I again presented her with the 3 new CDs and she chose Kronos Quartet again. This time she responded quite favorably. She played with her stuffed princess castle, sat in a chair tapping her foot, then put her headphones on and grabbed her toy drum sticks. She proceeded to dance around the house, tapping her drum sticks on various surfaces while singing and dancing. I'm thrilled that she finally got into the Bollywood spirit!

And the winner is...a Lady!

Miss B's third and final musical selection from her most recent library trip was "the Best of Anita Baker." When DJ B popped this CD into her boombox she immediately said, "I want to turn it loud. Wanna dance with me?" She asked, "What is this?" and I told her "Anita Baker," which she repeated for me. We danced for a little while, then she asked for the Christmas CD (from her previous library visit). I swapped the CDs in the player, but then a short time later she said, "I want the mama music. The dancing one." I asked her, "Anita Baker?" And Miss B replied, "Anita Baker."

Since then, she's been listening to Anita Baker pretty much non-stop and playing it very loud. Last night a babysitter came over to hang with Miss B and when my husband and I came home from our date, DJ B was asleep in her room with Anita Baker blaring from the boombox. In moments like that, I'm not sure if I agree with Rhino's description of her sound as "quiet storm R&B," but apparently for Miss B it is an album full of both dancing music and lullabyes.

DJ B Says "No Gracias" to Fonseca

The second CD that Miss B took a listen to this week was Fonseca's "Corazon." After putting it in her boombox she asked to be held in my arms. Super sweet. I took it as a sign that perhaps she was getting a Latin love vibe and since she was snuggling in and getting cozy, I thought that Fonseca might be a hit with her. But, after less than a minute she again wanted to move on to the next selection. We'll try to give this one another listen, but for now the Latin music of Fonseca is the losing album of the week according to DJ B.

Getting Fancy and Rocking Out to Beethoven

This week Miss B picked 3 more CDs from the public library at random (I just hold her up so she can reach higher points on the shelf). As far as I can tell the CDs at the library are simply filed alphabetically, with all genres mixed together, so we've typically ended up bringing home an eclectic mix of styles.

Of the 3 CDs this week, the first one that she wanted to listen to was Ludwig Van Beethoven's Triple Concerto and Septet from the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, conducted by David Zinman and featuring Yefim Bronfman, Gil Shaham, and Truls Mork. On first listen, DJ B previewed the first track for about 30 seconds, then stopped it and wanted to move on to check out her other 2 CDs (she's such a radio music director in training!).

Yesterday we took a second listen to this and she wanted to get "dressed up" (in a fancy princess skirt, sunglasses, and feather boa) to dance to it. She listened to the entire CD and it seemed to be an appropriate soundtrack for dancing around her room in fancy garb. It's not her favorite CD of the week, but it definitely didn't get a thumbs down. As I'm writing this review, she came by and grabbed the CD out of the case and put it in her boombox. She cranked up the volume and is singing "knees and shoulders" (from "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes") while pushing around a doll stroller.

What do you do while listening to Beethoven?