James doesn’t pay too much attention to the TV. We have it on for a little bit in the morning and evening. He is more interested in phones and computers than the TV. Except when the lottery comes on. In PA, it’s on every night. Whenever the jingle starts, he stops whatever he’s doing and pays attention to the entire drawing. Not sure if it’s the numbers, jingle or what, but he loves it.
Now that James is well into eating solids, eating vegetables has become a bit harder than it once was for some reason. This vegetable lasagna was a bit time consuming, but was so worth it to see his face when he took his first bite. He loved it. Except broccoli. If even a little piece gets in his mouth, he spits it out. He knows if I’ve mixed it in with the pasta/sauce/other veggies.
Spinal Tap was a hit recently. The music wasn’t blasting, and he wasn’t in front of the speaker long.
I really enjoy watching James bang on pots with his plastic spoons. I tend to join in and bang on them as loud as possible….at least we’re both having fun!
This was the year I put Foo Fighters entire collection on my ipod as well. Glad I finally did that since I think a lot of the music that I was able to play in front of James won’t get a whole lot of play time next year. Should be able to play a fair amount of Foo Fighters with him around. Although it should be interesting to see what we’ll start playing for him next year too…..will next year be the year we discover kids music and the strange bands that are out there? Who knows, but I can’t wait to find out.
After Goatwhore was no longer necessary, we still wanted some music playing while he went to sleep. Every night, Putumayo Kids Presents Instrumental Dreamland was played for James. Sometimes we played it once a night….other times, if he woke up in the middle of the night….. it got played more. It’s a cd of quiet, soothing songs.
This CD didn’t help put him to sleep when he was just a few months old, but halfway through the year, it did the trick. It ended up getting the most plays out of any download/cd/vinyl during the year.
Two of my closest friends suggested to me awhile ago that I look into purchasing a record player. I finally came around and started a collection for James. Hopefully he’ll actually want him, and hopefully he’ll appreciate music in physical form. I’m sure he’ll be getting most of his music online when he’s older, but he’ll have this collection to enjoy as well.
I became a yard-sale junkie once I started collecting….checking out craigslist daily to find the latest/best options for buying records. Sometimes I’d find people selling their collection online… go to their house….and buy whatever struck a nerve with me. The collection was mostly classic rock…with a few random albums in the mix. Towards the end of the year, I finally became a bit more picky on what I was buying. I also began buying a few new albums that were released recently.
I started playing just one record a day for James when I became a stay at home dad. Eventually, it turned into ‘let’s see how many we can play in a day’. The band that got the most reaction from James: Van Halen. I was never a huge fan of theirs, more of a casual fan, so I knew I wasn’t being biased. Along with a smile and look toward the speakers…. he just seemed to focus/pay attention more to the music. So I’m putting Van Halen as his favorite band on vinyl for 2012. Mine was Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd.
and if you have some classic rock on vinyl that you no longer want….James could always take them off your hands!
I’m not listing this in a particular order….they’re just albums I downloaded that were played a lot during his first year….they may not have been released in 2012, but this was the year I purchased them.
Goatwhore - Blood For the Master
This was played mostly during his first few months. There were times we could NOT get James to sleep. We would try all the tricks we read about or heard from family/friends. When nothing was working….this came on. Something switched off in his head when the album starts because he’d stop crying and be asleep by track 3. We discovered this new sleeping medicine while driving home from upstate New York.
Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
I would play this right after the 3rd or 4th track off Blood For The Master. This would keep him asleep and finish the job.
Atlas Moth - An Ache For the Distance
Mastodon - The Hunter
Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction
Junius - Martyrdom of a Catastrophist
Devil’s Blood - Thousandfold Epicentre
Puscifer - Conditions of My Parole
These were all listened to a ridiculous amount while running errands. In May I became a stay at home dad, so these albums were on heavy rotation while we would drive to and from stores during the week.
