Tokens of Love

Ellie's list of favorite music has expanded a little since I told you about the wonders of Paul Simon, but only a little. She still loves French music and the "drum songs" are still her favorite.

Recently, though, I've gotten her interested in a set of CDs that her Daddy made me when he first told me he loved me. Yes, one of those cheesy stories. Ellie digs it. The CD includes Paul Simon's "Obvious Child" and Ellie absolutely loves it. I think she likes the story behind the CD just as much as the music, though, because when I play it she'll remind me that it was the CD that Daddy made me when he told me he loved me. She seems to understand that it's special music because Daddy loves Mommy.

I think she actually thinks that Daddy wrote the song itself because she tells me "Daddy make song. He loves Mommy very very much." She seems impressed that he loves me so much he would write a song for me. Let's hope that when she gets into college, she doesn't tell a friend "my dad wrote the lyrics to Obvious Child" only to be told "are you an idiot?" I'm sure everyone has their version of stories like that. For me, I thought my Dad made up "Plop. Plop. Fizz. Fizz. Oh what a relief it is!" for a nice, appropriate song to sing while on the toilet. It wasn't until I saw the old Alka-Seltzer commercial when I was in college that I realized he wasn't the brilliant mind behind the lyrics. I was crushed.

Anyway, I've digressed...
Ellie has her own special token of love too. A week or so ago I gave her a "special rock" explaining to her that it was because Mommy and Daddy love her very much. It looks just like the picture above (that I found online). I gave it to her because on multiple occasions she wanted to put some rocks under her pillow when she slept at night. We were concerned about them being choking hazards so I gave her a rock that can't fit in her mouth.

She loves the thing. She likes to know that it's always under her pillow and she likes to hold it while she's getting ready for bed. In the morning you'll hear her say "Oh oh! Where's my rock? Oh, dere it is!" And she'll explain to me things like "I love my rock. Mommy and Daddy love me!" This girl takes after her Mommy. I'm so proud of her.

It's neat for me to watch her grasp the concept of how something can be meaningful without costing a lot of money or being really flashy. She knows the music is more special than the other stuff and she knows that her rock is more special than the ones she wanted before. I think that's a good lesson to learn and I love that my love for simple things like rocks seems to be rubbing off on her.