Author: Carrie Spritzer

Dancing it up

We love music and our daughter does too. You’ve seen videos of her playing the xylophone, drums, and metal bowls. But you haven’t seen her dancing… Until now!

First up, some background.

In the past year I’ve exposed Miss Leyba to a variety of genres such as opera, blues, jazz, dance, techno, reggae, classical and hip hop music. Heck, when I was pregnant I listened to that stuff too, so make that the past twenty-one months!

I draw the line at country though; I can’t bear listening to it. And no one should be forced to listen to music they hate. I am having visions of Miss Leyba discovering country music in her tweens and blasting it in her room just to spite me. Hmm… Maybe I should delete this paragraph?!

Most recently I have been focusing on music that we can sing along to. Yes, Miss Leyba hums along with me. Sometimes she even starts humming and I can tell which song she is humming, so I start to sing it. She’s that musically inclined. She’s going to grow up and be a rock star. Or a physicist. Ahem.

Anyhow, one of Miss Leyba’s favorite albums right now is Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music. We dance to songs like Captain Vegetable, Monster in the Mirror, and I Love Trash, but also a bunch of famous songs rewritten by the folks at Sesame Street to be more kid friendly. We’ve been listening to songs by the Goo Goo Dolls, Destiny’s Child, Melissa Etheridge, Paul Simon, Madeline Kahn (oh, she cracks me up!), and many others.

At one point we let Miss Leyba watch these “music videos” on the Sesame Street website when she was teething or upset and needed a distraction. We’ve since cut out all internet time for her (except for Skyping with the Grandparents and Aunt Laura), so now she gets to hear the songs instead of watching them. There’s nothing like a child sucked into a video program to make you rethink things. Suddenly even 15 minutes a day seems like too much for David and I. We may rethink things in a couple of years, but for now it’s banned.

But she loves her Sesame Street friends, so this CD seemed like a good compromise (and the library had it!).

I was going to post a video of her dancing to a Bert and Ernie song, but I took a few videos of her dancing to songs from this album, Runaround Kid, which is fantastic for kids of all ages and we highly recommend it! Anyhow, these videos were WAY better than the one I planned on posting… so here you go!

Warning: Miss Leyba is so adorable in the following video that you may be overwhelmed with cuteness. Watch at your own risk. You’ve been warned.


Leyba Dance Party from Carrie on Vimeo.

We Heart Breastfeeding

Miss Leyba has been breastfeeding approximately every two hours for almost a year now. I thought I’d do a little tribute post about the joys of breastfeeding.

So here is my list.

Why I Love Breastfeeding:

1. Endorphins. It’s like running a marathon with zero work.

2. It’s easy. I just have to eat well and drink plenty of water.

3. It’s free. I am eating a bit more now than before, but certainly not that much more than I ate when I was pregnant.

4. Endorphins.

5. (As Sarah says) It’s the ultimate convenience food. There’s nothing to pack up or remember. I can do it anywhere, at any time, with zero planning or prep work.

6. It feels good. Really good.

7. Did I mention endorphins?!

8. Heck, yeah, it’s addictive. (See above.)

9. I get to read while she’s eating (if she is asleep). This year I have read so many great books while MissLeyba was breastfeeding. (I’ve started a mini-list over there on the right; see recent reads.)

10. It’s so good for my daughter: for her health, for her comfort.

11. Breastfeeding is the ultimate way to sooth her when she’s upset. (See above.)

12. She loves it. It’s possibly her favorite activity.

13. It gives us an opportunity to cuddle together.

14. I finally get to use my breasts for their intended purpose. As a biologist, this is HUGE.

Here’s to breastfeeding Miss Leyba for about a year more. I’d like to continue as long as she needs, but we have another baby to grow… one of these years!

Weaning Miss Leyba is going to be such a bitch. The girl loves her warm delicious milk.