Hello, Laurie!

Last Sunday we took Zeke to his very first concert to see Laurie Berkner*. The concert was a natural part of the day as we went right after Zeke's nap when Zeke would normally watch the Laurie Berkner DVD. From left to right, that is Susie, Laurie and Adam.

The concert was at the Symphony Hall, so we got to show Zeke where we would take him if we were more cultured people. I bought the cheap seats in the balcony, unwilling to spend the $120 it would have taken for us to sit on the floor. I think it goes without saying why I balked. They were good seats at center, but certainly high up. It afforded us a great view of the hundreds of toddlers and young children there, most at the ready for Berkner boogeying with stuffed animals, hats and shaky eggs. We, too, had brought a stuffed pig for "Pig on Her Head" and eggs for "I Know a Chicken".

I think Zeke got what was going on. He certainly was interested, both in the music and in the other moms, dads and kids near us. I was a little disappointed about the quality of sound, but glad for the Laurie's energy (she even played part of an Indigo Girls song for the Atlanta crowd), for the selection of songs (it's an audience that knows exactly what it wants and as a hint they don't want surprises) and for getting to introduce Zeke to a new experience. I actually felt a little emotional that the last song she played was one of the two songs that I sing to Zeke every night, "Goodnight".



Yes, this is Zeke on the floor. No, he is not finishing his nap. This is what he does everytime he hears one of her two songs where there is "resting". What always cracks us up about it is that he sticks his feet way up in the air like a clown.

"This is my belly button!" As they say, good time had by all and Zeke was ready to take another nap after we got home and he had a snack. Even though there is a Dan Zanes concert this weekend, I think we will wait a little longer for the next concert.

* I think our Laurie experience is pretty well captured in this essay.