The Music Man

Sorry for the unplanned hiatus, but we didn't foresee the number of waking hours that we have spent since Christmas watching the Music Man. Jeremy's fans know that he latched on to Julie Andrews in his first months of life, and reveres The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins. Liza Minelli, Patsy Cline and the ballads by American Idol runner-up Katherine McPhee have likewise captured his rapt attention. So, for Christmas, Santa delivered a copy of the Music Man DVD to our humble abode. Not even Santa was omniscient enough to predict what would happen next.

On Christmas morning, after watching the entire movie, Jeremy asked to see the marching band scene again. And again. And again. We stopped counting at 26 times. Seriously. I shudder to think how often our boy has watched the movie in the last 25 days. If it was VHS, it would have been stretched out beyond its limits by now.

Jeremy is absolutely captivated, enthralled and intoxicated by this musical. But don't get me wrong. It is not passive. He matches the percussion riffs on his drums. He conducts the imaginary band along with Professor Harold Hill. During the parade scenes, he grabs the nearest stick and marches around the house with the impeccable, proud form of a drum major. He is even memorizing the choreography and dancing along with the ensemble. It is truly remarkable. And infectious! We spent the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend with eight friends at a vacation home on the Russian River in Sonoma County, and by the end of our stay, every one was humming the Wells Fargo Wagon song and stepping out to Seventy-Six Trombones.

Jeremy's OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Drumming) syndrome is proving to be educational, too. Even though we have been to the California Railroad Museum here in Sacramento 5 or 6 times, I never saw the display celebrating the 1920 Union Pacific Railroad Marching Band until today when Jeremy spotted it from across the exhibition hall and drug me over to it. First, he gesticulated wildly at the band uniform on the manikin. Then, he pointed at the big, vintage percussion instrument, and yelled, "Dum!" The smile on his face was worth a million bucks.

Aside from the musical immersion program, Jeremy has been busy learning and laughing. The Christmas and New Years holidays were full of happy gatherings with all sorts of family and friends. Mommy Barb baked about 10 pies, Mama Nay gave the play room a face lift (new paint and base boards) and Jeremy demonstrated his total appreciation by devouring the pies and dancing in his play room. As of late, play dough consumes a significant portion of Jeremy's waking hours. And he has decided that he likes sleeping with his mommies. He still humors us by going to sleep in his bed, but it's a rare night that he doesn't ask to come join us by 1am or so.

Steadily, steadily Jeremy is expanding his vocabulary. Just today, he added "star" and "circle." And this week marks fairly consistent use (with gentle reminders, of course) of "thank you" and "please." He also is now happily smiling for the camera!!!