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RECENT MEMORABLE ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN THE TODDLING DUDE AND “MEI” (WARNING: EXCESSIVE DOTING FATHER CUTENESS ALERT)

“Mei” is the toddling dude’s word for music. He’s crazy about it.

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Today, at the beach, dancing to the tune of the ice cream truck. He’s allergic to milk and its derivatives, and he’s too young to know what he’s missing, but he loves that ice cream truck.

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At the zoo the other day, in the butterfly tent, string quartet music from the Haydn-Mozart-Beethoven-Schubert period was playing (I *think*). Very, oh, I liked it, despite the cheesy arty movie quality of it -- or maybe because of it (I liked it a LOT) -- though I wished the string quartet had been LIVE. Anyway, after a slow quiet movement, the beat picked up & the toddling dude started dancing. Not all of what we now call classical music was originally made for us to sit our butts down for.

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The toddling dude thinks all small plastic gadgets should emit music, since so many toys do. “Mei?” he says questioningly, having picked up someone’s calculator.

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At my parents, my mom turned the dial of a tiny “boom” box to the local NPR station, which was playing Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun.” The toddling dude held the radio on his shoulder and swayed.

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Not exactly a music story, but it took place at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. Along with being crazy about music, the toddling dude loves dogs. The unamusing comedian Wavy Gravy, one of the fest’s MCs, dressed like a clown and walked with a plastic fish at the end of a leash. The toddling dude saw this man walking by with something on a leash and took off after him to pet the dog. He sped away from where we had been sitting & I had to get up & chase him as he rounded a corner behind a stage. When he caught up with Mr. Gravy, his disappointment at not finding a dog at the end of the leash -- oh, it was sad. Mr. Gravy thought it was funny that a little kid chased him only to be disappointed, and he had no real friendliness or sympathy.

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Several weeks ago in the car, hearing Aretha’s “Respect,” and the background singers chanting “Hoo,” the toddling dude thought they said “Boo” and started playing peek-a-boo in his car seat. “Boo!” he said.

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Almost every day he asks for “bah” or “bo” or “bow,” his word for piano. He sits in my lap and I plunk through children’s song books. He requests the songs he likes, which he recognizes by the pictures illustrating them. “Sailing sailing, over the bounding main” is a favorite we share. On songs with “la la la” choruses, sometimes he sings along.