We all have our hangups on the biological child quest. For me, it was music. I'm a vocalist and so is my mother. My sister plays flute. Most of my cousins, aunts, and uncles on my mom's side are musicians. I even have a cousin on Broadway. So when we were facing our last IVF cycle with very little hope, the biggest sentence that could stick in my throat was, "What if I never have a child to share music with?"
One of the biggest joys of parenting the Chipmunk has been the very clear realization that she LOVES music. She throws her fingers up in the air and "sparkles" them when she wants to sing "Twinkle Twinkle." If you bust into "Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "If You're Happy and You Know It" she knows the difference and does the appropriate choreography. When I practice at home, she "sings" along. I don't care if she has perfect pitch or sings like... well... her father. It's clear that Chipmunk and I will be able to share a love of music.
This past weekend that became even more clear. I was singing at a benefit for my office. It was an outdoor thing with a band and food trucks and we brought her along. She was a little fearful of the band at first. She hadn't really seen a live band before. Instruments at church usually consist of a piano and maybe a guitar. This was new. When I went on stage, J brought her near the front, crouched down, and helped her to stand up in front of him. When I started singing, neither me nor most of the band could keep our eyes off of her. She was LEAPING up and down while J held on to her. She was laughing and hollering and singing along. There was so much joy in that little girl in that moment. I felt so much peace and happiness. It was amazing.
