Over the past week or so, Kaya has become quite the vocalist. She's enjoyed music for as long as I can remember her noticing it--she used to, and continues to, ask for certain songs to be repeated, and requests for music to be played, either on the radio or through Geoff's fingertips on his guitar. I can distinctly remember a post that I wrote about a year ago in which Kaya was picking up on the words in a particular song, referencing the topic in our conversation. I'll have to find that post one of these days...
But this week has really been a benchmark for her beginning to sing with us. Last night, for example, Geoff went into her room to serenade her to sleep, and she made a very clear request for him to play "Tinkuh Tinkuh wih Sar, an den Baa-baa back shee", as he often does before bed. As he began to play, she looked at him, wide eyed and bushy-tailed, and asked, "Keh we sing togeduh, Daddy?" After his heart melted, and he assured her that, of course they could, she began to tell him how it was going to work: "Firs time, we sing 'Baa-baa Back Shee, Haya any woh?', then we sing it woudah an woudah..." [Baa-baa black sheep, have you any wool, then we sing it louder and louder].
Tonight, as Kaya requested a couple songs from Mama, I grabbed our video-guy and saw to it that you could get a taste of our budding musician in action. We started the rendition off with one of our bedtime favorites, Schlafliedchen [Little Sleep Song]:
Schlaf, mein kleines Maeuschen [Sleep, my little mouse,]
schlaf bis morgen frueh, [Sleep, til early morn]
bis der Hahn im Haeuschen, [Til the rooster in his house]
ruft sein Kikeriki, [calls his cockle-doodle-doo]
bis der Hahn im Haeuschen,
ruft sein Kikeriki.
Ki-keri-kii.
Streckst du aus die Fuesschen, [Stretch your little footsies]
deck dich richtig zu! [Cover yourself right up]
Schlaf mein Strampellieschen, [Sleep my little cuddle bug]
schlaf mein Liebling du! [Sleep my dear one, you]
Schlaf mein Strampellieschen,
schlaf mein Liebling du!
Kikeriki!
Schlaf, Kindlein, Schlaf, [Sleep, child, sleep]
Am Himmel ziehen die Schaf, [in heaven run the sheep]
der Mond, der ist das Schaeferlein, [the moon, it is the shepherd man]
die Sterne sind die Laemmerlein, [the stars, they are the little sheep]
Schlaf, Kaya, Schlaf.
Schlaf, Kaya, Schlaf!
Der Vater huettet die Schaf, [the father guards the sheep]
die Mutter schuettelt's Bauemelein, [the mother shakes the little tree]
da faellt herab ein Traeumelein, [from it falls the little dreams]
Schlaf, Kaya, Schlaf.
She uttered a pretty darn cute Santa quote tonight, too--I think I'll test out the new Quotable Kaya page and will post it there, should your curiosity be piqued!
This just made my morning! Her little giggle is infectious.
ReplyDeleteKaya's "planning" which songs to sing with Geoff reminds me of a similar situation last Wednesday. We were in the car with Mom and Dad (Grams and Grandpa) heading home from running errands. She said, "Tante, when we get home, can we pway wing awound the wosey, den look at pitchers?"
I was impressed with her forward thinking - planning ahead with her play time with me. We did indeed play "Wing awound the wosey".
So cuuuuute!!!!
ReplyDeleteJules,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing all of that...it continues to motivate me to write more when I know that it's making a difference for others, too. And hearing your little anecdote is really fun, as well. It's awesome to have a reminder that she does, indeed, say it just like you worded it: Wing awound da wosey. =)
And Maman, as always, SO great to have you back in the blogging circle...one of these days, I'll return that email you wrote me!! Until then, awesome to hear your reaction to our little vocal experience here in the states. =)
Tamara
Wow. Chills.
ReplyDeleteThat is just precious! It's so amazing to hear her - not just singing, but singing in German! So sweet!! I don't know that lullaby yet, either. Have to add it to my list of songs to learn asap :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Sara, thanks for sharing! It's fun to see you here!
ReplyDeleteAnd Kate, I appreciate your comment, in that it reminds me of what I didn't even really think about...that I haven't posted much of Kaya actually speaking German, even though she does it all the time. I guess I tell myself that b/c the majority of the readers (I assume) don't speak German, too much video of her active in German won't have the same impact (but I forget about the longevity piece, and the readers like you, who DO understand!). Thanks for the reminder, and for your continued interest in our process. Glad I could turn you on to a new lullaby, too!
Frohe Weihnachten!
Tamara