Playing to a captive audience

Yeah, so this is how I spend a lot of my time now. Hanging out with this little fellow, babysitting to make life easier on his mommy, and to make life a lot more fun for me, his grandpa, or "Papa Phil", as I've been dubbed.

Today when I was alone with him for a while while everyone else went out to look at houses, I'd sit and play the guitar on the floor. He isn't interrupting me as much anymore. He likes to strum and pluck while I hold the guitar. And he likes to pull himself up on it. But more and more he likes to listen. I even caught him clapping along today (he just recently learned to clap. He seems to like music, and he likes bouncing to lively music.)

He'll watch for a while and then trundle off to get into some michief ... destroy the train set, or head for something dangerous like the stairs. Which reminds me. We need to re-babyproof the house. Haven't had to since Cassie and Nathanial were little.

Anyway, the second I stop playing the guitar as he's shuffling off to Buffalo, he stops in his tracks and turns around and looks at me like, "what the hell do you think you're doing??? Keep playing!!!!"

I was singing him "Monkey and the Engineer", "There She Goes", and "Knotty Pine". I gave up and just put some Jimmy Buffett on later while I played baby monitor. I like to let him explore as much as he can unfettered. But when I did have to pick him up to, ahem, remove him from a situation he shouldn't remain in ... I'd distract him from being upset about it by singing whatever Buffett song happened to be playing at the time.

"... then they're off to catch a stripper with their eyes glued to her 'g' ... oh, but I don't think I would ever let 'em cut on me"

Oops.

Oh well. He's 11 months old.