Rasta baby

I know it's only a matter of time before Baby Boy EC falls under the hypnotic sway of the Wiggles, Barney, or some other parent-grating musical entertainment act. For the time being, we can take solace in the fact that BB EC seems to dig the reggae. The missus is convinced its because she listened to lots of reggae in the car while she was pregnant. I'm hoping its because BB EC was born with a fully functioning good taste gene.

We've actually been trying to play BB EC a good mix of music, from jazz and classical to reggae. We tried, we really tried to expose him to a CD of baby lullabyes, but it sounded like folk music with what little energy that type of music might have sucked out, and then mixed with a heavy-duty valium cocktail. I know the point is probably to relax babies and get them to sleep, but I would feel bad if he was nodding off not because he was relaxed, but because the songs were boring him to pieces.

When it comes to reggae, BB EC is especially fond of Toots and the Maytals, and he likes dancing around his room with his mom to Funky Kingston and Reggae Got Soul. Reggae also soothes the little guy. One of the last nights before we moved out of our apartment, the college kids next door had a party with a live band that specialized in hippy-dippy type of music. BB EC was starting to get a little fussy, until the hippy-dippy band broke into a pretty decent cover of Stir it Up, causing BB EC to immediately calmly sigh and fall asleep.

Now, we will play BB EC the Toots and the Marley and the Jimmy Cliff, but I draw the line at dressing him up in little tie-dye onesies or getting him a little baby rasta cap. We've got enough to do as new parents without trying to be hip and cool by dressing our baby up like a little hipster. Plus, the dinosaurs and little trucks are just so darn cute...