Music

Wow, what a difference a new teacher makes.

We started Mateo in a very popular music class last semester. It's a national program and the Portland affiliate has something like 900 families participating. That's a lot for a city this size. Literally almost everyone we know who has a kid goes to this music program. We tried it for the first time this past fall. He seemed to like it okay, but we had a brand-new teacher and I think he picked up her on lack of confidence or something. The classes involve a lot of singing and movement and dancing around, but he never wanted to leave my lap or my arms. It ended up being a good workout for me, because I carried him around through all the movement parts, but pretty challenging for our little guy.

This semester, we switched class times and got into a class with a much more experienced teacher. One of Mateo's good buddies is also in the class. We had our first session today and I can't believe how well it went. He spent the first few minutes camped out on my lap, but then was up and running. He ran around and played and explored some musical instruments and giggled and generally had a great time. (He even held onto his good mood after a rather spectacular collision with his buddy, in which they crashed into each other at a full run.) It was really amazing to see. I had a lot more fun, too!

When we got home, he wanted to talk all about music class and the kids in the class and how he got to use a shaker. Even when he was nursing before his nap, he popped off to say "music class" over and over. I love it! I think we're both looking forward to the rest of the semester.

(My grandma gave Mateo this semester of classes as his Christmas present, so we just wanted to send out a big thank you to her. It looks like it will be a really great gift!)