I used to feel silly talking to Maya in the womb, or when she was an itty-bitty newborn … telling her about our day and what we were doing and who we would see. I pretty much never shut up as it is, so it’s no surprise that with a baby, it was any different. I sang to her, read to her … always hoping these things would eventually make sense, but never really knowing what she was absorbing until she could verbally communicate with us. Now that she’s a little chatterbox, I find solace knowing my incessant dialogue had some value down the road … even if my singing hasn’t improved any 😉
One of the songs I sing to her at bed-time goes like this (to the tune of “You Are My Sunshine” — the song my parents always sang to me at bed- time):
You are my Maya
My only Maya
You make me so happy
And I love you soooo much
I love you. I love you, baby, I love you
Cauz you’re the sweetest …
Baby in the whole world
I love you Maya …
Oh yes I do.
Lately, I’ve noticed her humming along with me or singing certain words in a whisper — especially if I pause and give her a second to fill in the blank. I cannot tell you how big my heart bursts when she does this. It’s our special song … not something anyone else sings to her. It’s ours. All that time spent singing it to her has caught on. I hope she always remembers it, too.
I’ve thought about when she gets older, how I should change the lyrics … But truth be told, I don’t think I will. Today, tomorrow, forever … big or small … she’ll always be my baby. My sweet girl. Light of my life.
And the way she says “so much” … just melts me a thousand times. The grown-up love I feel for Luis makes me weak at the knees, but so does motherhood. Love really does have so many layers … it’s amazing. And yes, I’m a giant schmoop. Feeling very, very blessed.
How about you? Do you remember a special song from your childhood, or is there one you sing to your child(ren)?
Let There Be Light 
Aw, I sing Nate the same song and sometimes fill in other words, too. The first day he did sing along with me, I did actually burst into tears. (Poor Nate, his mom is an unstable mush. lol)
SO sweet. Isn’t it hard not to be a mush!??
Yeah, I wanted to get in the habit of talking to DJ when he was still inside, but it felt awkward and stilted most of the time. Even right after he was born, I felt weird trying to chat up a newborn. So within a few weeks of him being born, I started singing to him. Singing almost anything, including a few old Amy Grant favorites (even though I’m not religious anymore) and—especially—music from the Celtic Woman Lullaby CD, even though it was weeks before I could sing “Baby Mine” without tearing up (“Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine…”).
We work with a local Parents as Teachers contact, and when she visited us at 3 months, she sang a little bit to him and said, by the way he responded, she could tell that he was very used to being sung to.
He’s 5-1/2 months old now, and while it’s gotten easier to chat to him, singing is still important to us. Sandra Boynton’s “Snuggle Puppy” is “our” song—when I start singing it, he’ll break into a big, gummy grin.