What was that? Do you hear it?

We went to the Lehigh football game yesterday with our friends Julie and Jonathan (their son is K&O's best friend Jackson and their baby son, Joey, is K&O's wishful thinking brother) and had a great time. It was a gorgeous day, everyone was relaxed and it couldn't have gone better. We hung out at the end of the field on a large slope and the boys all played while we hung out and watched (kinda) the game. Hamburgers, chicken fingers ice cream and root beer floats were much enjoyed.

I have some strong feeling about music, but try very hard to not drill the boys hard on songs or look closely for tell-tale signs of musical inclination. However, I am not too good at trying; when we play Rhapsody in Blue in the car, the boys can now pick out the piano, the violins, the trumpet and their favorite - the clarinet. It might just be they have memorized where I call out - "trumpet", but it's hard not to read into a bit.

I do have the sense that both boys have a special relationship with music, each in their own way. Owen tends to really enjoy it and it it seems to quiet him (if the music is quiet); Kyle tends to obsess about it. Kyle was particularly into the marching band at the game; it was definitely the highlight for him. We went early and watched them parade around the tailgating parking lot. Owen followed them along (it seemed that he was pretending to be one of the marching band), several times I had to pull him out of the way of on-coming trombones, piccolos and clarinets ('watch out, marching band coming!); he pulled away and kept marching. Kyle, on the other hand, held Mama's hand - he couldn't be bothered with watching where he was going, 'just let me watch and listen!'

This morning while Heather was buying Kyle the Big Elmo, I was going to the Lowe's to get cold-weather stuff for the house. Owen was with me in the white car and we were listening to music. It always strikes me how when they hear a new piece of music, it's the first time for them to hear it. In this case we were listening to Gorecki's Totus Tuus and I realized it was his first real choral piece - that is pretty amazing.

While listening, it would get loud and quiet. When it got quiet, Owen would say - "Papi, hear it? Loud Papi" - he wanted me to turn it up. After a few times of getting loud and quiet, he started to say "Music BIG loud and quiet Papi!'.

Then after one section, Owen said "Papi... feel it?"