Do a little dance...

Pretty much since he has been able to walk, the Elder Boy has had the wonderful habit of dancing in front of the TV. Actually, he does it in front of the TV to certain theme songs. Lately, he's added singing to the mix. It is a classic.

We have a whole series of Hard Hat Harry tapes. Hard Hat Harry is a character in said videos, actually he's a (insert the theme) genie. For example, two little kids are coming home from school, walking around a construction site, and find a thermos. They open it - BAM, Hard Hat Harry the Construction Genie appears to grant them three wishes. They want to learn about construction sites, equipment, etc, and Hard Hat Harry knows all about that. We have HHH Videos on Police, Boats, Construction, and Trains. Each one has a snappy theme song that plays after the kids discover the genie. After we establish our two kids (its always two kids?), and the Genie, they always fade to the snappy theme song that plays much like a music video for that particular genre.

Take the train one. Kids are walking along a rail road track (great life lesson for young kids, walk along a train track!) and find an old signal man's light, rub it, BAM. Hard Hat Harry (but since it is trains, he's wearing a conductor's hat - which doesn't make sense to me, since he's supposed to be Hard Hat Harry - he should always have the Hard Hat.) Fade to the train theme song, two minutes of snappy song, with trains trains trains on screen. Ethan goes ape shit for this. Loves it. He'll sit and patiently watch the intro, but as soon as the song starts, he's up and dancing like a whirling dervish in front of the TV. It is, for me, pure joy to watch him do this. Funny too. As I wrote a few graphs back, he has now added singing to his act. He doesn't sing along to the whole song, he repeats the last line of a verse. Example.

TV/VIDEO:
We're riding on the rails...
ETHAN:
...rails...
TV/VIDEO:
In a big old steam locomotive..
ETHAN:
...locomotive...

You get the picture. He does it on all the videos, and dances non-stop. Often, when the song part ends, and it gets back to the gripping story line, Ethan will politely request to watch it again. Rewind. Repeat. Other times, one dance is sufficient and he gets sucked up in the story.

Again, it is pure joy to watch my Eldest Boy dance, because, well, the music moves him and he's firmly in the moment. One down note to the above, and the main reason I want to BLOG about this (posterity people - so we don't forget in the Buck Rogers future) is that lately he has become a bit self conscious when he dances and sings. At times he'll get upset if you watch him to intently. I'm sure it is just part of growing up, becoming more socially aware of what others think, and having reservations about yourself, etc. I know he's not yet 3 - I shouldn't be a dork and over think it. But, deep down I realizes that this singular habit of his, will more than likely fade as he gets older because of the self conscious thing. He might do it, but he won't do it in front of me is my point.

If Ethan or the Little Warrior ever solicit my advice on dancing..."Dad, how do we dance?" I have my answer ready and waiting. I'll tell the Boy(s) this..."with abandon!"

Until I BLOG again...Get down tonight.