Two things…
Thing 1:
I’ve been slammed with Daily Mom work due to the upcoming ABC Kids Expo that I will be attending. It’s very exciting and I cannot wait to introduce some of the most amazing products both on here and on Daily Mom. Having been away for two weeks didn’t help, so I have been digging out ever since. Hence the silence here.
It doesn’t look like things will change until I am back from Vegas and back into the swing of things. And then we have the holidays…Oh my! I have a crazy schedule and amazing plans, let’s hope I can find the time to blog amidst all that excitement.
Thing 2:
Lexi’s obsession with music has topped all the charts. She loves ANY instrument that makes a sound, especially the ones she watches in her Video Touch apps. She’s been into violins for a while now, pointing them out, watching videos of violinists, pretending to play them with sticks. So I decided to actually get her one. And man, was that the right decision! Like I said previously ( here), I will be writing about what we do to foster her love for music ( it’s not hard), but in the meantime, this photo was begging to be posted.
Alexis “playing” her voilin for the first time. You should have seen her face when I opened the box!
{Voilin: Mendini specially sized for a 3 year old’s arm span} {Romper: Anais and I}
She has since improved her “technique” (read: the way she holds the instrument and gets sounds out of it), but of course she is still just a 20(!!!! turned today) months old, so nothing coherent comes out. Obviously. But it’s just OH SO FUN to watch!
Oh and neither one of us knows how to play/use/tune a voilin so we are kind of winging it. (It took us a week to figure out why it wasn’t playing straight out of the box)
Bless. Go find a Suzuki method violin teacher. I think they’ll probably say she’s still a little young at 20 months, but, every single person I know who learned Suzuki is a gifted, accomplished musician.
Sorry to see you will (basically) be leaving the blogging world. I too am in the trenches of working (part time) and keeping up with my 18 month old– it is a LOT of work; my little ones newest obsession is exploring, so we are constantly taking walks. I guess I will take you off my reader, but will check in from time to time to see how Lexi is growing. She is such a doll, and I can’t wait to hear her talking!
Best of luck to you in the coming months with all you have going on.
my 20 months old has a harmonica. we figured that was good enough for now.
A violin? I never would have thought! She is just adorable!
This is so sweet!
Cannot wait till the kids expo post 😉
play her a video of a beginner oboist…. I GUARANTEE she will cringe away from it. Only the professionals oboe sound pretty.
Do you have any pictures of your playroom? I would love to see them; I see all the toys in the background of Lexi’s photos.
I think these may be the sweetest pictures Ive seen you post. I’m dying over the cuteness.
If you are at all interested in having her take lessons you need to put the violin away and give her a toy one, they make plastic versions and cardboard ones as well. The strings can possibly break if not done correctly and could harm her, violins are very fragile so I would hate to see her break it, one drop can cause irrepairable damage, same with the bow. I am a violin teacher and one thing to keep in mind is that letting her have free reign of a musical instrument can cause some very bad habits that can take years to break. Most teachers won’t start lessons till age 4 or 5 anyway, I myself will only take 4 year olds on a case by case basis because learning the violin takes a lot of concentration and fine motor skills that not all kids have mastered by 4. It may be cute to see her ‘playing’ the violin but it is not a toy.
Oh how dear is she?! We have a little musician (he turns two TODAY!) with a love for guitars, so we have been looking into lessons as well. I’m sure you will research it – but we are looking into finding a teacher that uses the Suzuki method as well ( which is essentially learning through imitation).
Elena, do you have any shopping recommendations for other instruments in toddler sizes? I am looking for a toddler ukulele at the same price point as you Mendini. A good quality real instrument, but I wouldn’t cry if he breaks it. I would really appreciate your help!
Both Janod and Hape have great ukuleles. Hape has one that was just released: http://amzn.to/HkxByV and Janod has a bunch of amazing instruments, toddler guitar being one of them.
They aren’t as REAL as this violin, but both are tunable and playble and cost under $50.
Thank you! Those both look great, exactly what I was looking for. Any recommendations for a ukulele as REAL as your violin? Budget is $100.
I don’t have one I can personally recommend. There are a ton if you search on Amazon. I bought a child sized guitar (6 strings) off of Zulily but I am not crazy with the tunning, since it seems to be faulty.