leyla grace: My Little Drummer Girl...

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. -Plato

Thanks to my parents, I grew up learning to appreciate music... Although if you ask them, there are only two types: classical... and the church variety! {WINK} I remember BEGGING to buy my very first cassette tapes. Which ones, you ask? MC Hammer, Wilson Phillips, and Paula Abdul! {HA!} Hey, I was like 11-12 years old! =) I bought them from the Wherehouse Music Store on Spring Street in Long Beach. For my LB peeps, do you remember this store next to Penguin's Frozen Yogurt? I swear I listened to You Can't Touch This, Hold On, and Forever Your Girl over and over again until I had them memorized. I sang along with the tiny little lyrics that they used to print on the tape inserts until they would fall apart at the perforations and would have to tape them back together...

Sadly, Leyla will probably scoff at cassette tapes the way that I make fun of eight-tracks.... and Mike's mustache and curly hair in the 80's. "Well, hello Mr. Kotter!"... but that's a whole different post altogether. {HA!} One of Leyla's favorite activities is to turn on her Hello Kitty CD player in her room and dance/jump around. Not by herself, of course... Mama is required to join too. One of Leyla's first gifts was a music set that fits into a clear drum. Inside are drum sticks, a tambourine, maracas, a "trumpet", a whistle, and cymbals. When we first got it we joked, "UH OH... let's get a lifetime's supply of Excedrin ready!" {HA!} It's definitely one of Leyla's favorite toys and I love her enthusiasm for creating different sounds and rhythms. Most recently though, she likes to belt out Happy Birthday at the top of her lungs while creating a crazy and equally loud drum beat. Her wacky concert makes me happy... because it is simply a pure expression of herself and her joy...