we are not a family who will raise our children listening to “the itsy bitsy spider” or any other “kiddie songs.”  not in our cars.  not in our house.  not in the magoo’s bedroom.  nope.  sorry to burst anyone’s bubble.

ps- grandparents of the magoo, feel free to sing and play whatever kiddie songs you want when you are in possession of the magoo…  ”what happens with the grandparents stays with the grandparents.”

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paul was deployed for the last 3 months of my pregnancy with jackson.  being the classic rock fan that he is, i made sure that while paul was gone, i played “his music” for the inutero magoo, which meant as much skynyrd, zeppelin and clapton as possible, just to name a few.

jackson still has an affinity for skynyrd, but being a babe born in jacksonville, florida, i expect nothing less.

needless to say, jackson came out of my lower abdomen (yes bitches, i had a c-section, hate away) gracing us with his tiny dancer of a presence.

what began as simple arm and hand movements has evolved into full body convulsions and spinning when he dances.  this happens in the car, at home, in restaurants…  anywhere there is good music (i use the word “good” very liberally).  he absolutely loves shaking his head back and forth, allowing the abundance of curls on his head to dance themselves.

it’s the happiest of times…

when we moved from jacksonville, florida to annapolis, maryland in january, we drove 10 hours with a little magoo and an enormous dog.  i drive a little VW hatchback.  paul drives “the dad car” (a tahoe).  he had red in his car for the majority of the drive…  i had the magoo.  and yeah, we split up the drive over 2 days because i’m a pansy like that.

anyway, whenever jackson started to fuss on the car trip and i knew we had however many miles left until we were going to make a pit stop, i’d pop in coldplay’s “viva la vida.”

it never failed, during our first family road trip to our new home, coldplay was the magoo’s sedative of choice. perhaps it’s the majestic use of the instruments… chris martin’s calm yet compelling voice… the combo of the two, i dunno. but it worked.

since then, coldplay has become the magoo’s fave band by far. any time “viva la vida” comes on the radio, the feet start goin (usually causing him to fling off his crocs in my face) and the head gets shaking back and forth in a rhythmic motion… the curls flow and swing… it’s a beautiful sight.

a few months ago, i was cruisin around the blogosphere and one of my faves posted this fantastic masterpiece… “love story meets viva la vida” by jon schmidt.

and suffice to say, the magoo was sold… as was i. not a musician at all, i find myself amazed with the delicate craft that musicians possess.

before jackson was born, paul and i often found ourselves enjoying a few glasses of wine (me) and a few beers (him) and we would just listen to music together. it’s taken us a long time to incorporate that back into our couple-hood because of course now we’re running after the crazed magoo.

finding music that excites all of us is something that makes my heart want to sing. it’s awesome. there’s a bond in it.

and what i am just now realizing is that there is something about coldplay and kids… because just this week, the ever so famous heather armstrong of dooce.com posted this incredible dance routine performed by her 5 year old daughter to cold play’s “viva la vida”…

So She Thinks She Can Dance from dooce on Vimeo.

and now thanks to not only chris martin, but precious leta (armstrong’s daughter), this is all the magoo wants to do….

magoo dancing with leta

magoo spinning with leta

mesmerized while rockin electric guitar pj pants on his head